Yep, I'm the dumbest woman on the planet.

At least, according to Spencer.  Yesterday, he took his Madagascar book and held it up to the TV screen.  He then pointed at the book and then the TV.  I got that he wanted to watch the movie.  But, the best he is going to do will be a couple of "Penguins of Madagascar" cartoons off of on demand.  I got it, really I did. However, we don't have the movie with us and I wasn't about to let him veg in front of the TV.  Poor thing got so upset.  He kept looking at me like I was the stupidest person he had ever met.  I guess he figured since he let me watch my beloved Saints on Sunday, I should repay the favor.  I think I already paid for my dose of TV.  Right at kickoff, he hands me his shoes and wants to go for a golf cart ride.  Of course, we go. Then we came home.  I got to watch a little of the second quarter and the end of the game.  He was so good!  He played in his room and ventured out for drinks and snacks.  He doesn't like watching football with me, as I yell and scream at the players, jump up and down, you get the picture.  I even made him some gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies (they are good, really.)  

Friday, Spence got a star at Brain Balance for wonderful work on the balance beam.  Yippee!  He has been working on the balance beam pretty well, but he is rather hesitant with any direction other than forward.  And yesterday, he got another star for great listening.  Yep, we are getting on board now.  We are currently on the waiting list for the hippo therapy and I have a call in to another therapist to discuss some more options.  

Maybe one day I'll start a sentence, "Remember back when Spencer was autistic...."

It can happen.

A reason to smile :)

I know it has been a long time since I I have blogged, and there are tons of things that I will leave out, I’m sure.  But, I just HAVE to focus on what I’ve recently learned.  We took our three week break from Brain Balance and had Spencer reevaluated.  I got his results last Thursday.  THEY BLEW ME AWAY!!  He has progressed so far since his first session back in January.  I could talk particularly about all the results and make your head swim.  I’m not going to do that.  There are checklists that parents, teachers and evaluators fill out that that give you an idea whether your child has a high or low probability of autism, Asperger’s or ADHD (depending on the checklist).

For all of these checklists, the higher the number, the higher the probability of the disorder.  On the autism scale, Spencer went from a 106 to a 70.  The main thing that is holding him at a higher level is the lack of communication.  His Asperger’s numbers went from 78 to 90 and his ADHD went from 60 to 62 (parent checklist).  This is exactly according to plan.  As he progresses, he will become less and less autistic and move more toward Asperger’s and ADHD.  As a spectrum disorder, you have to move through the spectrum to healing.  

Another change we have made is that Spencer is no longer riding the bus.  It became much too difficult to wake him for the 6:15 pickup.  He now gets to sleep until 6:45, instead of 5:45.  That extra hour is certainly helping him.  As I was lamenting how difficult it was to wake him, a staff member at Brain Balance remarked, “Well, as he becomes less and less autistic, he will want to sleep more.” That’s right, “AS HE BECOMES LESS AND LESS AUTISTIC…”  WOW!!!  Still, his lack of communication is holding him back.  Instead of focusing on just getting him to talk, we are focusing on  getting him on track.  

But some people need to see to believe.  Here is Spencer’s school picture from last September:

Here he is in March, 2011

You'll notice that he is looking off camera, where I'm sure they had to get him to laugh to get this picture.  Now, here is the one from August, 2011

He is looking at the camera and smiling.  We do need to work on that posture, though!  (HaHa) Now look back at the photo taken just a year ago.  You'll SEE the difference.  Yep, Brain Balance WORKS!!!!!