I am thinking about making this blog more public

I have been following some other mom's blogs for a while and I'm thinking about making mine more public. I so enjoy reading other people's journeys and want to share ours with more people. So, let me introduce ourselves and then if you want to, you can go back and read more from the past.

My name is Carla. I have 2 amazing kiddos. Jake is 6 and has an autism diagnosis. Lydia is 3 and has an ornery diagnosis. lol. I have a wonderful hubby of almost 15 years, Craig. We have been doing RDI for 2 years...since Sept. of 2006. During that time we've made good progress and are at the beginning of stage 5. Prior to RDI we've done:

Speech therapy 16 mos-3 1/2 years
OT 18 mos-24 mos
ABA 2y4m-4y4m
ABA shadow in typical preschool from 3 years-5 years
Speech again from 5 years-5 1/2 years to fine tune some conversational skills
OT again from 6y2m-6y5m to work on fine motor
RDI from 4y6m-present

Our family LOVES RDI. We've loved almost every therapist we've worked with in all types of therapy. Each therapy has been very beneficial to Jake. If it wasn't, I cancelled it or switched therapists. If I found a good therapist, I hung on to them. But, if I found one that wasn't good for Jake, I didn't. His time is too precious to spend on ineffective therapies or therapists that just don't happen to mesh with us and his needs.

We never went the school district route. When Jake aged out of state early intervention, we privately paid for therapies. We are lucky that we were able to do that. I had complete control over the therapies he got, the therapists who provided them, and his schedule. I protected his nap dearly. I always felt that sleep was a very important part of his remediation. I feel like junk without sleep (like today b/c I can't sleep well at night due to this cold!) and I knew that for optimal learning he needed good rest. He still naps on the weekends at 6 1/2. He napped every day until the day before Kindergarten started this past August. I also left him lots and lots of time in his schedule for just being a kid. Looking back, I don't know how on earth I managed to have him napping every day, have a 30+ hr a week ABA program, and have plenty of time for playgroup outings, playing at the park, hanging out with us just being a family, going on vacations, going to the pool, etc. But, I did. I do remember it was a juggling act for me.

At this point, Jake is 6 1/2. He attends Kindergarten at a typical private Christian school without any supports. I kept him out of K until he was 6 1/2. He did 2 years of pre-K instead. Something I would not have been allowed to do in our school district. In our school district, they make you age on to Kindergarten. Ready or not, here you come! I couldn't/wouldn't accept that. I knew that he was not ready socially for K at 5 1/2. So, we stayed out. I'm not saying that is right for every child with ASD, but I knew it was right for Jake. I have one friend in particular whose child is in K this year at 5 1/2 and has ASD and is doing very well. But, I feel pretty certain Jake wouldn't.

The start of K was HARD. A very tough transition for him. I blogged about that a few posts back. At that time we were also starting some ADD meds and so that really complicated things. Now, things are going GREAT. Craig and I are VERY pleased. WE have his ADD meds figured out. He just needs a touch, but it definitely helps him. He is making wonderful grades in school, has made new friends, and is finally enjoying going. Mondays seem a bit stressful after being gone the weekend, but Tuesday-Friday goes very well.

During our rough transition, we took about a 6 week break from RDI. Neither he, nor us were available emotionally for RDI. We were just in survival mode at that point. We started back several weeks ago and are rocking and rolling. We had to start with keeping him regulated, spotlighting his successes, and helping him feel relaxed and build trust in us again. The first few weeks of school sort of zapped a lot of that from him. At the time we took the break we were just starting stage 5. We were finishing stage 4...I think we were finishing one last objective there and were getting ready to move on. He has several objectives in stage 5 already accomplished, but many to work on. Over the past month or so we have started having regular peer dyad playdates with a boy in his class, Grant. Grant is perfect for this. The peer dyad thing is going extremely well. Both boys look so forward to Wednesdays when Grant comes home from school with us for about an hour and a half. Having Grant do these dyads with Jake has helped him really form some bonds with other boys on the playground that Grant plays with. Jake can now be seen playing with this little "posse" of boys on the playground regularly. It is too awesome!

Right now our favorite things to do as a family are to play Uno, play Go Fish, bake cookies, go on walks (although it is too cold now), go bowling, go out to dinner and travel (especially to Disney World...we are making another trip there in February. This will be Jake's 3rd and Lydia's 2nd.)

Craig and I are very thankful to God for all of the progress Jake has made. Jake is a hard worker. We still have issues to work on, obstacles to overcome, and progress to make. But, we are very very pleased.