My Insanity

Jason has been giving us trouble in staying in his seat belt.  He's getting huge!!  So we can't put him back in his 5 point harness car seat.  I wasn't sure what to do, so asked around.  No one had any inexpensive ideas until the kids Nurse Practitioner, Lisa, came up with a plan.  Put him in a life jacket and than us a carabiner clip and hook him to the seat belt.  Bingo!!

This was my little addition.  Brett has a life vest that is WAYYYYY to big for him now.  So I grabbed it and it actually fits around Jason and the seat.  He has escaped once and so we might still need the carabiner, but he hasn't been as much trouble since we started using the life vest!!! 

Rabbit Fur

I have a tendency to talk a little bit. So since I'm sitting next to people and keying for 4 hours most of the class knows that Jason has Autism. One of the lovely ladies told me at break time yesterday that she has a 21 year old cousin who has Autism. Her favorite calming toy is a rabbit fur. So I was, relaying this information to the person that sits next to me, and she advised me that she saw a rabbit pelt at Hobbie Lobby. She offered to pick one up for me. So today I came home from training with a rabbit pelt. Jason was unsure at first, but he loves the pelt. I tried to sneak it off his lap, just to see what happened and he grabbed it and put it back on his lap. Gotta love when people share information!!!!

Anyone want him?

This is what he has been doing lately. I'm not sure what the deal is, but he's driving me crazy!

Convenience Store

We got a new bell on the door, for a whole $5.00. It really does sound like a convenience store, especially when the older kids are going in and out of the house all day. However, it has saved me quite a bit of stress and heart ache over the last few weeks. Jason just went outside twice in 10 minutes. Without the bell who would have known where he would have taken off to the first time.

The reason he went out twice is I wasn't fast enough getting him dressed for his own taste. I got his pants on and went to go get his shoes and he went back outside. So I brought him back inside and put his shoes on. Then he heard the train 5 minutes later and so we are back in the house.

The bell has been a good thing for us. I just wish it didn't sound QUITE so annoying. =)

Diagnosis at last

Well today was the day. I dropped the kids off at my Mother's house and then picked Brett up from work. We drove up to the U of U and were advised that Jason is Autistic. =)

Yes I know, we've know for a VERY long time, but we wanted to finally get the official diagnosis. I kind of thought I would be a little upset. However, I wasn't.

He's Autistic. We've known that for some time. Getting a diagnosis changes nothing as far as who my son is.

The next step will be to see if we can qualify for Social Security Income. That would be very helpful in the event that we can get Jason to wear a loaner hearing aid. Of course it would also help with the many medical bills that Jason seems to pile up.

Keep your fingers crossed for us. I've heard that SSI can be a real bear!

PECS

We went through the parents PECS training last night. It was quite enlightening. We are going to try this system at home and see if it will help alleviate some of Jason's stress. If you are interested in the program they have a website.

PECS.com

I also see some benefits with working with the kids at school. I'm going to have to bring this up with my Teacher.

New Autism Article

There is a new article out that indicates that Autism may be linked to Mutated Genes.

Brett and I have decided that our youngest 3 children will be the first X-Men! We figure that they will be developing gills any day now, which would make Duncan VERY jealous!!