As I pen down this blog post, my emotions ebb and flow between a heavy sadness and a flicker of hope. The subject at hand is not merely personal but resonates with the countless parents navigating the intricate landscape of special needs care giving in Washington State. I extend my sincere gratitude to those who have lent their time and ears to discuss the pressing concerns surrounding in-home caregiver training, especially for parents of children with special needs. For the past four years, the State of Washington Department of Disabilities Administration has been a lifeline for my family. My lovely …
How Would You Feel If You Could Not Communicate?
Fellow parents, I know it can be very staggering when your child is diagnosed on the autism spectrum. It will take time to access and figure out the next steps and that is OK! The spectrum is huge, variations vast and many assessments of the child’s struggles should and will be done. During these times others will be focusing on the weaknesses and this can be very emotionally draining for you and your family. One thing that I do to help myself during these draining times is to make a list of goals that I would like to accomplish. Doing …
Stimming & Sensory Stimulation Triggers
Brooklyn when excited and over-stimulated, tends to cope in many different ways. Stimming being a big part of it. Stimming is defined as making repetitive movement with your body, making sounds, and pacing. I try to think of it as being overwhelmed and struggling to cope with your emotions, not a fun thing! Brooklyn uses repetition as one of her key ways to de-stress, with her hands repeatedly covering her face, pacing back and forth and replays of a scene on her iPad. Myself being irritated by hearing the scenes play over and over, I grab my earplugs to help …
Safety In The Home Is a Must
In a prior posting I talked about bolting and outside safety. When a stereotypical child starts to approach their terrible 2’s, it’s time to start building the safety boundaries in the house. Common problems that can come about include, falls, burns and scalds, drowning, poisoning, strangulation and suffocation. Obviously severe injury or death are not the only worries, destruction of items is a key problem as well. These are concerns with all children but with supervision and redirection, typical children can be taught safety. The concerns can be addressed much earlier than a child on the Autism spectrum and modifications …
Early Intervention Services Are So Crucial!
In Washington state, the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) administers services for eligible children from birth to age 3 through Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT). Families can contact ESIT directly, or they can reach out to their local school district to request an evaluation to determine eligibility and consider what support a child might need. The ESIT website includes videos to guide family caregivers and a collection of Parent Rights and Leadership resources, with multiple language options. As soon as my daughter was diagnosed on the Spectrum I started making lists and researching different options. The birth to 3 …
Next Step After Diagnosis? Determine If Eligible For SSI Benefits.
My story titled: “Brooklyn’s Autism Diagnosis” talks about the first steps I took in getting her diagnosed. The biggest question then was what is next. The doctor at Children’s Village gave me many flyers talking about what services thru the state and government may be available. The list was very detailed and hard to know, where to start, so I took the stack home, did research galore, and came up with what worked best for me. What are the benefit of applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)? SSI provides monthly cash payments to help meet the basic needs of children …
My Unafraid Adventurous Daughter
As a parent you are taking on a full-time 24/7 job but as they get older, they become more self-sufficient and the job becomes a little less time consuming. However, as parent to a child on the Autism spectrum it can often feel like 3 full-time jobs and you wonder if it will ever become easier. Although autism can be fatiguing physically and mentally it can also teach us a lot about ourselves. Which helps us be a much more patient person, which is required as a parent. One of the scariest places for me to be with Brooklyn is …
The Steps To My Daughters Diagnosis
I am known to be the type of person who tackle’s things as soon as possible. The faster I can address the problem then the easier life will be. It is so much better to get the worries off the list because I know there will be more to come. I am incredibly lucky to have been born into a hardworking family. My father was a farmer and my mother handled 2 jobs and 4 children. Being raised in this type of environment has made me become a strong, independent woman. Thank goodness my parents raised me this way because …
The Week Before Encephalitis Hit
Everyone has a different story to tell. Where we were born, how we were raised, and the most important stories are the ones we have survived. My journeys have not been easy to make it through, but I have, and I am so much stronger because of it. I always focus on the positive and make sure and grow from the experience. I was lucky to have been raised as a hardworking, independent woman. In my early years, my father was a farmer for Agri-northwest in the Umatilla area. It’s a large agricultural business that grows corn and potatoes. Oh …
My brain before and after Encephalitis
I noticed during my research of the brain that it is not typical for people to share their medical history and never did I think I would be in this position. However, the diagnoses I had are interesting and a little rarer than the ordinary. Two in a million people get HSV1 Encephalitis and if they are not treated within a few days then it can result in death. There are several variations to Encephalitis, some treatable and some not. My optimism in sharing this is so that others can get a better grasp on how fragile our brains …