School Days

Since school has started Hunter seems to be doing a little better his notes each day are that he had a good day mostly. Each morning when he gets to school he puts on his headphones to block out the noise of the other kids but for the most part he is doing fine. We have had a few days where he used bad language so we are working on that he always apologizes and says he wont say it anymore and when asked why he says bad words his response is "because I did". I find it odd but typical of my child that when he cusses it is on Wednesdays. Cliff and I both work afternoons on Wednesdays so he spends the night with my mother in law so each Thursday I drive him to school so I always have to face his teacher and feel like the bad parent because my kid says bad words at school. Oh the joys of parenting! All in all we are hoping to continue a great school year and see Hunter continue to prosper.

First day of 4th grade.

As always we have to prepare Hunter way in advance for everything so we have been telling him everyday for weeks that school was coming, so we were a little nervous about his first day ,so I decided to take him to school. He actually woke up good and was hesitant but ready to go. This year we had to miss open house because I had to work, as always, so when we got to school I hoped and prayed it would be ok to get him to the classroom and be able to leave without to much trouble but as we approached his class(same classroom as last year and teacher)it was gone the lights were off and door closed.Now if you don't know Hunter personally let me explain CHANGE is not his friend so immediately he was puzzled and asking where is classroom went. Luckily there was another teacher standing close by and I asked where Mrs. Marsh's room was and she told us. As we got there we saw Mrs. H Hunter's teachers aide and he told her I am not going in that classroom.I thought oh my this won't be fun but she was able to talk to him and calm him down and I left and his first day notes were that he did great despite all of the change so hopefully 4th grade will be good.However, he did tell me when he got home his day was great but he didn't wanna talk about it so we shall see.

sweet summertime

It has been a few months since I have posted we have been busy enjoying summer vacation. Hunter has been enjoying summer by swimming and playing on his computer.However, we have very good news he has been wearing underwear for 3 straight weeks with no pull ups not even to bed. We are very proud of him he is doing great and we hope it continues. Hunter has new babysitters and they are wonderful.They live just around the corner from us.Samantha is the main sitter but she also has 2 sisters that help out if she can't. I am very thankful for all of them it isn't easy taking care of Hunter all the time but he looks forward to them coming over.He seems to be such a night owl these days he follows Cliff's schedule he wants to wait up for him every night and sometimes it will be 1am before he goes to sleep so I'm sure it will be fun once school starts again.I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer and I will keep you posted with more Hunter stories.

Mother's Day 2011

On Mother's Day we took Hunter to the cemetery where my Mom is and even though he doesn't exactly understand it he knows that this is where we visit Grandma Kate and she is in Heaven. I feel it is important that he goes there because I find myself there alot and I want him to have some kind of link to her. After the cemetery we decided to go visit my Grandma Dennis for a bit and Hunter was asking the whole way there where we were going we often times don't tell him even thought he knows the drive because he will want to go home.He got out of the truck for a minute but once he reached the deck he turned right back around and went to the truck. As always there is alot of commotion at Grandma D's and if you are not used to it you think it is out of control. Cliff will always sit in the truck with him while I visit for a while,on this particular day I brought him a plate of food to the truck so he could at least eat.lol!We have to do what is best for Hunter and even though it seems strange to most people that he stays home or sits in the truck we know he can't process what is going on like most people. For instance,we pulled up to Grandma D's there were dogs barking,motorcycles revving,scooters racing,air horns blowing and that's just some of it so for any person it's alot but for an autistic person it is overwhelming. Now don't get me wrong I absolutely love going to my Grandma's because I am used to the khaos but Hunter is not. My family is finally getting used to me going alone or Hunter sitting in my grandma's room by himself on holidays.It's taken a long time but they now understand you can't just make him go somewhere and put him out of his comfort zone. We have been taking gradual steps to make going places better and it is getting easier we just have to take it slow.

new obsession

Spring Break has come and gone and Hunter enjoyed his time off he has been doing great with potty training.Hopefully we can get rid of these pull ups for good.His new obsession is with what I am doing I either have to be on the couch with a blanket or in the recliner with the footrest up.He will follow me around the house until I do one of these things.It can get out of hand at times.We think it started because he thought if he went in his play room I would get on his computer but now I have my own so he doesn't have to guard it like he used to. We hope this is his new obsession for the time being and we hope it passes soon.If someone calls me they can hear him ask me over and over again "momma are you gonna lay on couch?or momma are you can sit in recliner with chair up?"If I tell him I am not gonna do either he will say"momma are you gonna go to work?"Dont get me wrong the relaxing is great but it can get overwhelming to hear him asking me that all day.If he hears me put the recliner down he is out of his play room asking me all over again.Oh the stuff my kid does cracks me up.I will have a post soon called "The Sh*t my kid says"lol.

the little ticks...

 Everyday is the same but different with Hunter he has a lot of coping mechanisms that keep him calm. For instance he will sit on the floor with a book and strum the heater vent like its a guitar,he will stand in front of the microwave lay his book on the table and bang in rhythm on the front of the microwave and he will often bang the top of the glass candy jar on top of the microwave for added affects.Lol.It can get loud at our house.Most kids have a favorite teddy bear mine has a old insert book to a leapster that we call 2 pages because it used to have 10 but it is so old and disgusting it fell apart and with it he carries the handle of a fly swatter the swat is gone but he twirls the handle.I'm not sure about this one yet but he covers up the clock on his dvd player with the dvd remote so he cant see it he has from time to time done it to our tv and he does it at the inlaws too, at first I thought it was odd but I work with a 28 year old Autistic girl and one of her jobs requires her to sit across from my desk and every Friday she comes in and covers my clock with whatever paper is laying their.I asked her one day why she covered my clock and she told me because my break is at 1145.

 Hunter recites his tv or movies that he watches all day everyday and it never stops and when he is real excited he flaps his arms and the crazy thing is this is all normal to us we dont even notice the little ticks he has I just wish someday I could really understand what he has going in his mind.He just called me into his room to look at the computer to read a word and he has his you tube that he is watching in Arabic and I said Hunter I can't read that he said oh mom yes you can.lol.Any movie that he can convert into another language he will and watches it then he will rewind it back and forth.I'm sure some day he will speak another language and I will have no idea what he is saying.

Dvd's and Movies

Kids with Autism tend to like and want to have the same thing.Have I mentioned he has so many movies and dvd's that when he gets them all out they cover his play room floor.They are mostly the same title when he asks for a movie he wants the same as he already has.I think he has at least 6 copies of Toy Story 3.This may seem crazy to most but this is normal to us.Yes, we have spent alot of money of the same movies.If he goes in the store that is IF he goes in a store with us he will grab all the same movies he already has and we dont ususally leave without getting one he already has.

he likes....

Hunter likes....spaghetti,doritos,goldfish crackers and diet coke.

Hunter dislikes....dogs that bark,kids that cry,geico commercials.

Hunter likes....tootsie pops,ring pops,ice cream.

Hunter dislikes....anyone that sings to him however he loves music we just cant sing it.

Hunter likes...blinds shut with blankets over them,doors shut,sitting freezer strumming the grate like its a musical instrument.

Hunter dislikes...going places,birthday parties,me on his computer so we had to get another one.

Hunter likes....computers,you tube and Thomas the Train.

Hunter dislikes....wearing clothes,shoes,and gloves.

Hunter likes....long sleeved shirts,his hood or hat on at all times.

Hunter dislikes....Haircuts.Thank you Miss Michelle for putting up with us.

Hunter likes....Toy story,Scooby Doo,and Curios George.

Wonderful People

Words can not describe  how wonderful all of Hunter's teachers,aides.bus drivers and therapists have been.He is a handful at times....he escapes from the classroom and runs down the hall,he runs into other classrooms and says non appropriate words,he has taken off or tried to take off his clothes a time or two in class,he says NO alot and clears his desk of schoolwork,and this is just some of the things he does but at the end of the day they still care about our son so much and want to help him succeed in school.These people are not paid enough for what they do for our kids at school.

While I am on wonderful people let me tell you about my in-laws if it wasnt for them I don't know where we would be they have watched Hunter from day one and have helped us in every way to assure Hunter gets to where he needs to be if we are working or just being there to help give us a break.He has his own room at their house and his habits are usually the same eats the same things,watches the same movies,wears the same clothes.He loves to go there and see his Mamaw and Pawpaw.They are definetly Hunter's Heroes!

Third Grade

So here we are third grade...a new teacher,new kids,new expectations and new nerves.The first day of third grade Cliff and I were real nervous Hunter is so routine oriented that a new classroom and teacher had us freaked out.I took him to school the first day just to see how he would react he seemed to be fine I thought for sure he would want to go straight to Mrs. Ford's classroom which is right down the hall but he didn't.The first few days were ok but he did have to be harnessed to his bus seat again for a few weeks but as Cliff put him on the bus each day and Linda his bus driver and Marie the aide(have I mentioned they are saints for dealing with what they deal with)they just kept at it and eventually he figured out he was not going to get his way he stopped needing that harness....for now.

Mrs.Marsh was his new teacher and he had new aide but she decided to quit and Miss Michelle was floating from school to school so she was only in the room a few days a week.The classroom got a new aide her name is Mrs.H (aka Cookie) and she is WONDERFUL.I appreciate this woman more than I can describe.She has so much patience with Hunter.Hunter is still not completely potty trained but she has put him on a schedule and he now can wear underwear all day long at school.Hunter follows his picture schedule everyday and if he sees a change he is questioning why.He seems to like the older kids more because they dont cry as much in the classroom and wants no part of going by Mrs.Ford's room now in fear a student will be loud or cry.Any kind of crying or yelling puts him in shutdown mode.We were at ease hoping third grade would go great.

Growing up....

So know we have been through 2 years of preschool and it was time for Kindergarten.Cliff and I were a nervous wreck Hunter does not deal well with change his first two years of preschool were tough it took 6 weeks of someone sitting behind him so he would not get out of his chair.He was learning how to follow directions and play with his peers mostly those two years but it was a slow process.So we went to open house for Kindergarten and there we met Mrs.Jenny Ford his new teacher.Hunter immediately went to look at books and I was able to start to tell her about him.She was so interested in learning all about him and eager to help us with his behavior since that was the struggle.The first few days were good and when I found out Miss Michelle would be in his room again I was ecstatic it was a famaliar face and someone who knew how to deal with him.He would escape the classroom and make a game out of it and run into other classroooms but they just kept on him.Mrs.Ford,Miss Michelle and Mrs.Lehr are saints they deal with so much every day from not just my child but all the kids in his class.Hunter wasn't participating in class or even interacting much with his peers he would rather be with Miss Michelle reading books.He started to read and was picking up words that I couldn't even believe he was reading 1st to 2nd grade level in Kindergarten.His writing was rough they would draw boxes so he would be able to stay in the lines this seemed to help.He really enjoyed his picture schedule and for those of you who don't know it's a breakdown of the day and the different tasks he is to work on as well as lunch and choice time.He was still eating just ragu and fries and would come straight home and put his Thomas shirt on.Kindergarten came to a close academically he wasnt where he needed to be on all levels but his behavior was improving.

As 1st grade started he still had Mrs.Ford and the same group of teachers aides so that was refreshing to us.He had trouble on the bus Cliff would have to help harness him in with the bus driver and bus aide and it was no fun task.We came to the point that we were gonna drive him because it was so terrible each morning but Mrs.Gilson said just let him cry and don't give up or he wins and gets away with it so we did and he doesn't wear a harness anymore.He was interacting better with his peers and completing his work but he still had behavior issues such as yelling,hitting and crying he wanted to go home.Mrs.Ford kept up with his daily routine and by the time 2nd grade ended he knew he couldn't get away with as much.During 2nd grade we took him to University of Toledo for a semester where students were taking classes to work with kids with disabilities and they would swim,play in the gym and other fun stuff he really enjoyed it.At school he was getting all of the therapies he needed as well as music therapy which he loved.Music is his thing.He sits next to our freezer chest with a book and strums his finger over the grate on the side its a soothing mechanism for him.He also bangs the back of his hand on the microwave to make noises.

All the same

Have I mentioned how picky Hunter is about eating?Let me tell you...cheerios seemed to be his first love and what we called ragu it was a microwave pasta dish kinda like the mac n cheese that goes in the microwave.He would only eat those two things and drink pop and it had to be in the same cup.My mother in law would drive to timbuktoo if she had to to find his ragu.We would try everything but he would not eat anything else just then we introduced him to pop and fries from Mcd's big mistake that was all he was eating.His eating habits really never have changed he would eat a hot dog now and again but to this day we have tha same cup and bowl and if it isn't in the same cup and bowl he will not eat it.lol!I have caught alot of grief over the years from people saying try something new but it just doesn't work I will not make him eat somerthing he doesn't want.Food isn't the only picky thing he would only wear one red Thomas the Tank shirt til it was literally falling apart and even then he would still wear it we have gotten better with that but he doesn't like to wear clothes at all he has even stripped down at school he really is something else but we just take each day one at a time.You will hear more about his obsessive behavior later.

Preschool Years

Hunter first started school in Ida and his teacher was Tammy Castiglione and she was amazing she helped us so much.Hunter then moved to Summerfield for his 2nd year of preschool his teacher was still Tammy and I was so excited because she was wonderful and then we met Miss Michelle and I couldn't ask for a better teachers aide EVER she has been Hunter's support system from day one.He has given her alot of trouble but she just keeps on going you will hear more on Miss Michelle throughtout the years.So the 2nd year of preschool was a lil better.He was 3.5 and we had our doctor appointment for his diagnosis it was about 6 hours long of evaluations and activities and then the doctors conferred and called Cliff and I in the room for what they had diagnosed and we got the news it was Autism his label was mild to moderate.I just knew we could finally get him all of the help he needed because his current label was just speech delayed.We tried alot of things over the years with much family and friend support we tried ABA(applied behavior anaylsis)a very good program but Hunter needed one on one 24/7 to make it work we started with such a good support team,My best friend Laurie started a candle fundraiser for us ABA is not something covered by insurance it is out of your own pocket and just to have the first appointment would cost us $600 and every visit after was $70.We raised around $1300 so we knew it wouldnt go far but we tried anyway.Cliff,Laurie,Tammy his teacher and myself got very intense training on how to do this and Laurie and I attended seminars with Kim Renner the ABA instructor it turned out to be very hard for all of us to keep up with it since we all had full time jobs and it seemed Hunter was not getting what I expected.During that school year Hunter was granted a scholarship to take a class for a month called the CHIPs program we drove him everyday to Toledo for a month and he attended school just on Friday that month it was great he was with a couple other children at his same level they had a routine just like school with a lot of coping mechanisms and there was an observation room where we could watch the whole day if we wanted without him seeing us.

The Beginning

So as most of you know my son Hunter has autism and I decided to blog about or daily trials and tribulations and tell his story....Hunter is 9 now so I will bring you up to speed...Hunter was born on September 28,2001 at 1:05 pm and it wasn't an easy birth I dilated to 9 after 36 hours and ended up having to have a C-section.He was a happy baby and was developing normal as we thought he had alot of ear infections at first so when he was 14 months I took him to the doctor and explained to her I didn't think he was hearing good because he wasn't saying words or making sounds that all of the parenting books said he should be doing.The doctor examined him and said to me"I would say he has autism but he has good eye contact"my heart dropped when those words came out of her mouth.Autism was the new growing term used alot then and I had no idea what it was I just knew I had to help my baby.I did exactly as the doctor said not to do that day I looked up info in the internet.I had pretty much diagnosed him myself by reading what the signs were.One sign was rolling cars or trucks on the floor and staring at the wheels, yep he did that, another was opening and closing cabinet doors repetively, yep he did that too.That was all I needed to read and I just felt in my gut that he had autism.Over the next year we did everything to rule it out we had hearing tests and all were normal it was going to be a waiting game because they usually do not diagnose Autism until children are 3 or 4 is what my doctor told us.We immediately got him in speech therapy and boy that was not fun he did not want to cooperate when we took him he wanted out of that room.Not to mention it was costly the insurance would cover 10 visits with a copay of $100 and had we had the Autism diagnosis at that time it would of not been covered at all.Hmmm....I was told to contact the Monroe County Isd after our 10 speech therapy visits ran out to see if we could get help from them and that was when I met some of the greatest people I know.Hunter was now 2 and they came to our home and evaluated him and told us he could attend preschool in the fall because he was definetly showing signs of delay.