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S E P T E M B E R . 2008 >

September 7

Luke was supposed to start preschool last Tuesday, but both he and I have horrible hacking snotty colds so I kept him home all week. So he officially starts tomorrow. We did stop in briefly to meet the new aide (wonderful!), and check out the room. I must admit I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. No one knows Luke like I do, all his signs and mannerisms, and there will be quite the transition as the ladies and other children adjust to Luke. I'm sure it will be a positive experience for everyone, but I still have a few butterflies. His new schedule is Preschool M-F 8:30-11:00, and ABA therapy M-Th from 1-4pm. He had a few ABA sessions last week and we had a meeting with Ms. S. and Ms. K. to go over a whole bunch of stuff since we missed a team meeting in August.

We've been a bit concerned about Luke lately as he seems to be regressing again. Just little things, and I hope they are mostly due to the two weeks away and the cold. He seemed a bit more energetic today, however his equilibrium seems more off than usual and he seems vestibularly extra-anxious. I pray it will resolve itself. He pointed to a UPC code on a kleenex box the other day, something he hasn't done for more than 6 months. These things alarm us inside, but we have to focus on the positives. One thing I keep telling myself is that he's toilet-trained. I will never take that for granted. He relapsed a bit in that department too so we had in back in training pants for a while (during his cold), but today he was great again... no accidents.

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On the holiday Monday Luke began to complain about his tooth again. This time there seemed to be an odour coming from his mouth, so we finally got confirmation that it is indeed an abscess, not a molar. So good to know, but I feel horrible that he's been in pain all this time. Anyways, I called a couple of dental clinics that specialize with these special kids and the clinic in Kelowna had amazing service and help. We have an appointment with them on Tuesday September 16 in the afternoon. This is just a consultation and from there a surgery (in the hospital) date will be chosen. We will have to go back for that. Unfortunately (of course) I waived the dental coverage while on my leave ($140.00 a month that we figured we didn't need to pay just for this year). The clinic has a Healthy Kids program that may give us a discounted price and the local Family Centre is looking into covering our travel expenses. I no longer have any problems asking for financial help wherever we can get it!

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On that note, I want to acknowledge that the great organization Cops for Kids has also graciously offered to pay for Luke's second Tomatis Training session (Sept. 29-Oct 2) – $675.00 and a wonderful angel gave me $500 which will help to cover Luke's third session in 3 months time. People are wonderful and generous and we are very, very grateful (as I well up!).

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Luke's dad bought a great swing set from the Buy-and-Sell ($40!) and set it up for the boys. We're supposed to "swing" Luke gently a couple times a day to help his vestibular system (balance). Our back yard officially looks like kidville! Luke has been on swings before and enjoyed them, but he did not like to swing today. Something's going on with him. He usually, also, hasn't "complained" about clothes lately, but he seemed relieved to have his red flannel shirt taken off tonight. It's almost like he's hypersensitive again... hopefully this is only temporarily.

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The Speech Therapist was here for a little while on Wednesday and she actually got Luke to blow a feather (once, just above his lip since he's been blowing "up" into his hair for the past week or so). We've kept the feathers as part of the ABA program and will continue to try to get him to "blow", an integral part of mouth muscle skills needing to assist in talking. She also got him to use a few different sounds for different animals (I don't know how she does it!). He said baba for rabbit, eee for sheep. We try every day to get him to say anything (a sound) for things he wants. He no longer signs daddy and mommy, but actually says daddy and mama.

September 9
Well, Luke's off to preschool and it was much harder on me than him. It's his second day and he seems to managing okay. It's hard not to know what he does during the 2.5 hours (and of course he can't tell me), but I went to a Parent Information meeting last night and feel really good about the Montessori program for Luke. It was originally created to integrate developmentally delayed children with other typical children as they were shown to improve and progress at a faster pace. Luke's assistant seemed to enjoy him and is already catching onto his capabilities and sense of humour. She actually said she was looking forward to seeing him again the next day!

Luke seems to be perking up a bit since his cold is much better. He's back in underwear all day with no accidents for the last few days. He seems a bit more smiley and making more faces and saying more sounds, so let's hope he's turned a corner. I love that we can talk to him and explain things and he really understands. We just have to continue to work on his speech, which is coming along very slowly.

We started the "chair spinning" technique yesterday (as per Dr. Larre's suggestion, to help Luke's balance). I was nervous to see how we would do it, but wouldn't you know it, Luke just obeyed, leaned forward like we asked and let us gently spin him one way 4 times and the other way 4 times. What a great kid.

September 11
Well, apparently Luke's been a bit disruptive in class (noisy) which is what no parent wants to hear. The nice part is that I talk with the assistant every morning and we discuss ways to deal with Luke. She applied some of the strategies I use and they seem to work! She's loving that he's starting to show interest and select certain activities. Today he "sorted" apples and oranges. He wasn't a big participant in the outdoor games, but the outdoor time shook his wiggles out. Not interested in snack either, no big deal (although he loves strawberries!?)

He's been putting everything in his mouth which is becoming annoying, but what do you do? Is it his tooth bothering him, or is it an oral "phase" (much like a baby) since he's beginning to verbalize more and more? We'll discuss how to respond to this with the BCs at the team meeting on Monday.

I asked Luke if he liked bubbles today, and after a while he actually signed "like", so that made me smile. He also wanted to go on the big new slide and even tried to climb up by himself. I think he freaked out a little going down, so that may put an end to that, but who knows? He wouldn't go near it a day ago. My theory is that the B12 shots are kicking in again, since I didn't do them for the 2 weeks in Abbotsford. He's much more sure of his footing and even jumped onto the couch (from standing on the arm of the couch).

September 16
Good news! Luke's tooth issue is NOT an abscess. It's just an "abrasion" which basically means it's "scraped" and tender and sore. This is probably from brushing too aggressively and/or something (toy or food) irritated it and it's just taking a long time to heal. Dr. Milnes was amazing, very fun and he taught us the "knee-to-knee" 2-person approach to brushing Luke's teeth more effectively. Luke's teeth look great and healthy, but we've scheduled him for a "training" on October 23 which is basically spending an afternoon at the dentist and conditioning/teaching him to lie back with his hands on his chest. This is a free session, and will help Luke adjust to the dentist. It's a very fun, family-oriented office and we felt very comfortable there. Even Joel was invited into the room. Luke was brave, but had issues with lying back, but we managed to calm him somewhat, enough for all of us (dad, mom, dentist and assistant) to be able to look into his mouth and see the rough skin at the back of his mouth. It was an interesting and really good experience and the boys were also very well behaved on the 2 hour trip there-and-back.

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We've decided to enrol Luke in ARCS again, so we'll be seeing his "old" buddies from the springtime :). It starts October 4, but we'll be on the coast for the hearing therapy, so we miss the first one.

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Cops for Kids is presenting us with a cheque on Friday, September 19 at the Executive Inn parking lot. They're coming through town on an Annual Bike Ride. It's at 4pm for any locals who want to come out and support us and the Cops for Kids Organization.

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We had a team meeting on Monday and things are going well. All my questions get answered and we're all on the same page! We'll be getting together with the preschool people and aligning our objectives. It's a great team, and Luke seems to be doing really well. Some great news is that we will continue with Ms. V. (speech therapist we hired in the summer) who is really pursuing verbal speech; her services will now be free as she's been employed with the local Children & Family Therapy Centre (they have a new website).

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