Final Horse Show

Yesterday was the End of the Year Horse Show at Freedom Riders. Brian hasn't been able to attend his weekly riding lesson since school has started- it just didn't fit into our schedule and being almost the end of the season they couldn't change his time slot. Yet, of course, they allowed him to participate in this last show.
Since it had been a few weeks since we have been to the stables I was a little bit apprehensive about how he would do. No need to worry. As soon as we pulled in, his face lit up, and he couldn't get on his horse quick enough. He was lucky, too, to still have his favorite horse to ride, Xanadu.
Seeing him climb on that horse and beam this incredible smile out to the audience brought tears to my eyes. I love that he has an activity that he gets so much joy from! Not to mention the fun that he realizes he is having he is also working on his balance, core strength, receptive language, expressive language, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, confidence, and more.

High Hopes Clubhouse

Yesterday, in my Psychology class, I attended a presentation on the High Hopes Clubhouse in Waterville, Maine. The name is certainly accurate as it definitely raised my hopes about different opportunities given in Maine.

Clubhouses follow international standards. They consist of minimum staff and members- individuals with mental illnesses that decide on their own to seek these services. They are completely run by their members. The staff and members work together as co-workers. They help with the taking care of the house, meal preparation, paying bills, doing paperwork, giving orientations, etc. All the tasks in the home are meaningful.

The Clubhouse's main goal is to help their members return to work or even get their first job ever! Yet, they don't push it if their members are not ready to be in a social environment. It's completely each individual's decision to decide when they are ready. The Clubhouse helps their members attain employment, the staff trains on the job so they can teach the members before they start. The staff will guarantee the employer to cover the member's spot if they needed to be hospitalized. The Clubhouse also offers after-work-hours social meetings and parties. They help with transportation to work. They help with housing. After the seminar I felt almost like there wasn't anything they wouldn't offer!

There are actually two Clubhouses in Maine right now- the other is in Augusta and is called the Capitol Clubhouse.

The Phenol Effect

Two months ago we decided to remove phenols as much as possible in Brian's diet and see if there would be any effect.
It definitely seemed to help with his mood swings he was having at the time as well as sleep. I was having many nights in a row of non-interrupted sleep. Bliss!
This past Saturday we decided to go apple picking. Apples are very high in phenols and also one of the food items Brian was previously "addicted" to. I decided to just let him have some apples- it couldn't be that bad, right?
Well Saturday, Sunday, and Monday Brian had an apple each day as well as a glass of apple cider. All three nights he has been up for hours at a time and yesterday he had huge, tears running down his face, meltdowns for simple things that don't usually unnerve him- like coming in from outside, putting his stuff away, etc.
I hate to see him so upset like that but it's nice to know that steps I take are working. Back to no phenols!

First Lost Tooth

Brian lost his first tooth last week!

The bummer of it all is I have no idea when or where he lost it.

Don't worry the tooth fairy still came but I don't have my baby's first tooth to put away with all his little treasures.

It's funny how you don't think about these little things until they happen but I got to wondering if I'd ever get one of his little baby teeth to save?

At the stage where he is now he wouldn't know to bring me the tooth or even tell me if it was wiggly.

Oh and by the way, Corbin is quite jealous because he hasn't lost his first one yet!!

Ups & Downs of Transitioning

During my online absence the boys had their first day of school.

Leading up to that day was full of stress, anxiety, unanswered questions, and anger. When we had our transition meeting for Brian last spring I was hopeful with all of the promises they had made to help make the transition for Brian go smoothly. Unfortunately all of those promises didn't happen as they were suppose to. I was extremely angry and was not looking forward to that first day of school.

I tried to put aside my own feelings so they wouldn't rub off on Brian. We arrived at the first day and I stayed with him until about noon. He really adjusted really well. He certainly surpassed what I had anticipated to happen that day. He continued to do well during his whole first week. Never needing to be removed from the general-ed room because of behaviors or disturbing the other kids. He has been removed a time or two a day as a reward, he gets to go in the special ed room to run around and be loud and get out all that crazy energy he has.

I'm in the process of putting on my finishing touches to my formal complaint letter to be sending to the principal, superintendent, and anyone else I feel should hear it and have set up a meeting in a couple of weeks. I think I'm happy with his placement, with his teacher and the special-needs teacher, but I can't just let it go that my wishes weren't respected before the school year started.

I'm subbing tomorrow at the preschool but am hoping to go again for a couple hours to just check in and see how he's continuing to adjust.

Oh, and Corbin is doing wonderful :) He's center of attention, social climber, and mad that he isn't learning anything new yet. He cracks me up every single day and I love hearing his stories everyday after school.

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Have this great link to share for forms you can print out to use with your child's teacher to stay informed on how they are doing in school- Teacher Handouts from the Autism Society

You Are My Sunshine

Your Mom Goes to College

An explanatory blog to let all my readers know where I disappeared to without even a word beforehand. The biggest reason I haven't been posting is my wireless adapter just stopped working- I have resolved that issue now.

The second reason is I have returned to college full-time two weeks ago. I'm not going to lie- it's taking up a huge part of my life right now. We've been rearranging everyone's schedules, figuring out finances as I'm not working five days a week anymore, and trying to learn, as a family, how we can all help each other out more.















I'm in an occupational therapy assistant program and am LOVING it so far. Yes, the course load is huge, but I'm so eager to learn! I enjoy the challenge of working hard for a goal I really want.

Now that the internet is back up and running here I will be trying to post a few blogs regarding the boys returning to school in between writing several english essays.

Hope everyone is doing well out there in the blogging world!