Halloween 2006

The first picture is of the boys just before bedtime:)
Big Brother getting set to trick or treat.
Big Brother as SpiderMan.

I took Big Brother trick or treating and K.C. stayed at home with my Mom and Adam. My Mother brought the movie The Labyrinth for Adam and K.C. to watch. My Mother said there were only about 10 trick or treaters this year. She said she walked K.C. to the door and helped him to drop candy into the trick or treaters buckets. He didn't run and hide when he heard the doorbell ring, hooray K.C.!! She also said he loves Skittles and must have ate 10 snack size packs of them.
Big Brother and I walked a lot! He got a lot of candy and I know that I am going to have to put some into zip lock bags and hide it away from the boys and save it or another day.
Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

I.E.P. Meeting (to make some changes)

K.C.'s teacher asked me to come to a short I.E.P. to make so changes to his I.E.P. K.C. is in a different school now and his Teacher and Speech Pathologist are adding an Assistive Technology to help him progress on his I.E.P. goals. His teacher said he is in need of an AT Service in order to receive FAPE. His Speech Path said the AT would give him a voice. She said she isn't getting any sounds out of K.C. They are using a Cheap-Talk4 in class with K.C. right now but she also said that she handed in a consult for some folks to come out to the classroom and try to show K.C. different types of AT to see which one he responds best too. The great thing about the AT is that he will get to bring it home and carry it to school! They are very portable and the teacher said as he gets older the AT devices become very complexed. His teacher also mentioned he needs assistance with behavioral issues. She let me borrow this book, http://www.amazon.com/Solving-Behavior-Problems-Visual-Strategies/dp/0961678623
From what I have read so far, this book is awesome! Can you guys believe it? If K.C. learns to use an AT he will finally have a voice! I am so excited for K.C. and hope it doesn't take the school too long to get the device. The teacher also said I might want to put a bug in K.C.'s DDD managers ear about the AT device. I am going to call her first thing in the morning. There are 6 in K.C.'s classroom and his teacher said that this morning she told the students it was Monday and has each of the children said , "Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday and when it was K.C.'s turn had he had a AT device he could have pushed "Monday" and he would have had a "voice."
If there are any Blogger Parents out there who are using an AT device, which device worked best for your kiddo and how long did it take to learn to use it? I am so excited for K.C.!

Have a Great Halloween Bloggers and Kiddos, be safe.

My Parents Came To Visit Us Today

My Parents came by our house early this morning. They were headed up North with my brother Adam. K.C. was happy to see them but hid "or so he thought he was hiding even though we could all clearly see him hiding under the television) My Dad kept asking, "I wonder where K.C. has gone off to?" "I sure miss him, I guess we are going to have to eat all these gummy bears." My Dad will walk around the house calling out to K.C. and it's the cutest funniest thing ever, cause K.C. will hide but you can see he's still smiling real big:) So he just kinda stayed in his hiding place and just before they were about to leave, my Dad crawled down to where K.C. was hiding and left the gummy bears next to him.
Big Brother went with my Parents and Brother today. I know he will have alot of fun:)
I know in my heart one day when my Dad comes to visit he is going to run out of his hiding spot and smile and sit with my Dad. He's so close to coming out!!

Waiting For The Bus/Going To Visit The Dentist

K.C. had a great day today. On Friday he has a dentist appointment and we have been trying to prepare him as much as we can. He has been before, but screamed and cried a lot. This time I have pictures to show him of the Dentists office. He had work done on his teeth before, they were able to work on his teeth because he was given a shot that knocked him out right away. I know that he has at least 2 cavities and I am sure it's from me brushing his teeth so quickly. We have tooth brush battles every night and each morning. I tried buying one of those electric toothbrushes but it was too noisy and hurt his ears.

Big Brother's teacher made the comment that, "he is the only one in class who calls a diamond, Rhombus." I am still working with Big Brother at home as much as I can. For those of you who aren't familiar with Big Brother, he used to be homeschooled but now goes to a private school. He is doing well. He gets the giggles when he hears he word, " dodecahedron." I asked him to find it and told him it would be a challenge. He came home and said, "a soccer ball!"

Some more good news, last night K.C. and Big Brother actually ate together at the table without K.C. throwing ANY food or leaving the table. I am hoping it will happen again tonight so I can get a picture and laminate the thing. I think if I show him the picture of both boys sitting nicely and laminate it it will make a huge difference. I have to learn to be quick with the camera!

An Amazing Little Guy Named, Noah.

I just stopped by Melinda's sons page, "Dear Noah." http://dearnoah.blogspot.com/ Melinda has put up the most amazing video of Noah doing Quick Math. Noah is 7 years old and this handsome fella is like a little calculator:) Stop by and watch Noah, this video is so inspiring. It is here >
http://media.putfile.com/Noah-doing-math

My Little Daydreamer

My Mother and I went through photos of the boys and my brother Adam. My brother Adam is Autistic. My mother and I noticed some striking similarities in Adam and K.C. The first thing we noticed immediately in Adam and K.C. is that they both have the "daydreamer look."The "disconnected look" as my Mother describes it. K.C. is like this many times during the day if I am not engaging him, he's drifted off. He seems completely lost in thought. His eyes tell so much, if I stand right in front of his face when he's "daydreaming" he'll look right through me. I would give anything to know what he's thinking! Do any of our fellow Bloggers see the "daydreamer" look in their kiddos?

Visiting The Neighborhood Park / Tagged!

My two little guys.
The first photo is of K.C. going up the stairs of the slide. When he climbs he always stops and throws his head back and looks at the sky.
Photo number two is K.C. trying to understand how to climb on this structure. He was totally baffled, Big Brother tried showing him how to climb but I think K.C. was just not sure.
My little daydreamer.
Big Brother sitting in the middle of the play structure.
K.C. throwing his head back to look at the sky. Big Brother getting the giggles as K.C. throws his head back.

It was a very warm day today and the boys had a great day at the park.

I was tagged by my dear friend Lora so here goes!

1.Things that scare me- War, Diseases and any harm that could come to my boys. 2.People who make me laugh- Big Brother, K.C. and College Boy.3. Things I hate the most- having a tic, things that are not finished and selfish people 4.Things I don't understand-How people talk so smoothly, how their thoughts flow freely-Why K.C. has Autism and War 5. Things I am doing right now-Listening to a Green Day CD with College Boy-Wondering how College Boy can do his homework, eat and listen to Green Day at the same time. Trying to understand how to upload videos to Blogger 6. Things I want to do before I die- Live in Israel , Have a conversation with K.C., and know that I have raised my boys to be honest, caring, compassionate individuals. Things I can do-Juggle, Complete a Rubix Cube and Be a Good Mommy. Ways to describe my personality-Open, not judgmental and Friendly .Things I can't do- Listen to Bullcrap, let someone walk all over my boys and listen to Rap Music (yikes) 10.Things I think that you should listen to-Your children, your heart and the silence. 11.Things you should never listen to-Negativity Spreaders, Hate and Preaching 12. Things I'd like to learn-Trig, How to best teach a child with Autism and how to be a better advocate for K.C. 13. Favorite foods- Knishes, Matzah Kugel and Salads - 14. Beverages I drink regularly- Dr.Pepper, Dasani Water Flavored with Grape and Orange Juice -15. Shows I watched as a kid- Saved By The Bell, Wonder Years and The News with my Parents (blah).

The Boys Are Doing Well

The boys are doing very well these days. K.C is doing very well in his new school/programs. He is finally happy, going to school happy and coming off the bus happy. When K.C. first started his new program I was very, very worried. I feared he would be ignored and left behind. His teacher told me the children in this Autism class were very mildly affected by their Autism and needed very little sensory. The children are verbal and toilet trained. His teacher said K.C.'s Autism severely affects him but that being said- the school is there for him and they are going to help him. Our case manager made a surprise visit to his new school and said from what she has seen they are really looking after him and he always had at least two aides helping him all the time. His teacher reported he isn't aware of his peers yet, not really. She also said she was going to make some changes to his IEP and would go over the changes and why she made them with me soon. He is happy, screeching/screaming every other minute. He'll screech and run to the couch or the side of the entertainment center and bite it as he screeches. His OT wants to give him a long piece of a clear tube to bite instead of the furniture or wood. Big Brother is doing great! He is doing well in school and just as curious as ever. "College Boy" is still with us, for those of you who aren't familiar with "College Boy," he is a student taking Psychology who is living with us/helping with the boys. The Boys Daddy left him with us before he left for California. Big Brother is always in contact with his Daddy via web cam/ phone and K.C. still looks very perplexed to see his Daddy on the web cam and isn't exactly thrilled about it, lol.
Cooking in the kitchen has been a wonderful experience for Big Brother! He loves it! This weekend I told him we are going to buy cookie cutters in hopes of getting K.C. more involved. He is definitely interested in what goes on in the kitchen. He'll peer around the corner. Little by little he's coming around. I don't want to push him too much to get involved, he'll come around when he's ready. I did tell Big Brother when he does come to the table to help to try to keep words to a minimum. Big Brother loves to see K.C. try new things and when he does he'll shout, "Look Mommy he's trying it!!" K.C. will take off from the kitchen with hands over ears.
I nearly forgot...if any of our fellow bloggers have photos of the first snow of the season could you post some photos? Big Brother has been asking alot about snow after he heard the news in Buffalo and their snow. You see it's still in the upper 80's here. Can't wait for cooler temps!

Is He Tuning Me Out?

K.C. has been tuning me out, well at least I think that is what he's trying to do. When I talk to him he closes his eyes and plugs his ears. My Mother said that she thought my voice was too loud for him. I think he's just being a very clever boy.
He has always covered his ears with his hands and squinted his eyes a lot but it is so much lately that I wonder if he could have something wrong with his ears or it's just sensory? We have had his hearing tested every year, they put this little device in his ears and some how it can tell if he's hearing or not. It has always been fine.
I am going to try to lower my voice and see if it helps or not.
He's been a happy little boy today playing with his cars . Big Brother has been watching a lot of scary movies, tonight he is going to watch Little Vampire on Disney Channel. I have been trying to find a classic Frankenstein movie for him (1931) but haven't had much luck. He really likes the black and white films and so do I. The old scary movies are the best, last night we watched The Birds.
We are going to try to make Rice Krispies Treats on a stick. I have noticed K.C. tends to stick around longer when Big Brother and I are in the kitchen. I have to be very careful not to over encourage him into the kitchen because he will leave. He does much better if he comes into the kitchen to watch on his own terms and then we can slowly involve him in what we are doing. He'll help add things hand over hand as long as its not messy on his hands. I am hoping cooking in the kitchen will be some sort of break through for K.C. something we can do as a family and have fun. We'll keep at it:)

Trip To The Store

K.C. has been in the house quite a bit lately so I decided to get him dressed and take both boys to the store. The dollar store (pictured above) is the first store I started taking K.C. to try to teach him how to just be in a store, wait in line, (waiting in line is very difficult even now, K.C. tends to make shrieking noises, squeals and some really strange noises that are hard to describe. If anyone has any ideas as how to get K.C. to stop making the noises in public let me know. The folks in line were staring at K.C. and this time I noticed Big Brother looking very nervous having people staring at us. But K.C. was a happy little kiddo in the store today and did a great job waiting. He picked out a car all by himself and Big Brother looked over the Halloween stuff. Big Brother is so excited about Halloween in fact he stashes his costume in his backpack and takes it to school. So far he wants to be SpiderMan or a ghoul type thing.
I just noticed in the photo above that K.C. and Big Brother are nearly even in height! Big Brother is 6 and K.C. 5.
We have a live in college student who is staying with us. The Boys father brought him to us before he left for California. He is taking Child Psychology and is wonderful with K.C. and Big Brother. I never really realized just how busy college students are and how much homework they have these days!
Big Brother has been keeping in touch with his Daddy by phone. They take pictures on the phone and send them to each other. Every other night we turn on the web cam so their Dad can see them and he turns his on so the kids can see him.
It is still very warm here and I am so looking forward to cooler temps:)

My Previous Blog (Please Read) Important!

I just learned today that my previous blog that Blogger "fixed" has been taken over by someone else :( WITHOUT my permission. Everything I had wrote on Autism and K.C. is deleted and someone else has replaced it with something else about Autism under the profile name "me." Everything I wrote about K.C. is lost. If there is an old link in your blog roll with Autism and KC please delete it right away because it is not me who is writing there. Really ticks me off, sad really.
Please update your blogrolls to Autism Schmatism http://autismschmatism.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone:)

Cookies and The Bus

Big Brother asked if we could make Halloween cookies tonight, he loves to help cook. These little cookies had Ghosts on them. K.C. slept through cookie baking and seemed very tired today. I snapped this photo as he waited for the bus. He lost weight since being sick and his clothes look like they are hanging off of him. He did really well on the bus today, no crying and boarded the bus like a little trooper. He is still wearing the harness on the bus so he will stay put. He got a new monitor on the bus, she is a very young girl, maybe 20 years old. She knows how to get the harness connected in the four spots in no time flat!
The transportation department allowed us to keep the harness at home so we could have it on him before he gets on the bus. It has helped a lot!! They real key is having a good monitor who is faster than K.C. can escape. It has made a huge difference.
I went to the Synagogue today when the boys were in school. The public schools in Arizona give no holiday off for Yom Kippur :(

Recent Photos

The Boys are feeling much better! This morning we drove their Daddy to the airport, he is going to be in San Francisco for awhile. Talk about a sad little boy, Big Brother was in the downy dumps most the morning. His Dad did phone him when he got to his destination which brought a big ol' smile to Big Brother's face. While driving I looked in the rear view mirror at both boys. One boy looking very sad and another boy screeching with joy:) At one point K.C. finally quieted down for a few minutes. Then, out of the blue, K.C. let out a very loud scream! That made Big Brother laugh hysterically and me too. K.C. was a happy kiddo this morning.
Big Brother bought a Halloween cup with a straw from the supermarket today. I thought I'd let K.C. give it a try. I added water to the cup and before handing it to him I did show him how it worked. He took the cup from me but just couldn't grasp the idea of what the heck he was holding or how it worked. I don't blame him, he probably thought, "now she's trying to make me drink out of a monsters head, what is wrong with my Mommy?"
The temps are still around 100 degrees and I am so looking forward to cooler temps so we can go for walks. It may not happen until the end of October.