Autism

Over the last couple of months, Brendan and I have been making trips to our school district to do assessments with student services. For a while we have had concerns about a few things, ie: eye contact, behavior, speech, social development. He has been struggling at pre-school as well with some of these concerns.

 After 6 assessments with a child psychologist, speech pathologist and an autism specialist, we had our IEP meeting today and it was decided that he has characteristics of Autism. I was told about a month or so ago that this is what they were feeling, but had to wait until the IEP was done to have a final report. I cried when I was told, but I feel it was more because I was relieved that we could move forward and help Brendan. 

There were lots of struggles that came during the assessments, such as, his behavior intensified and he became much more temperamental as he was being forced to do things he didn't want to do. He also became physical with me when I would have to restrain him. He starting hitting me in the face and wouldn't stop until he was able to knock my glasses of my face. This was very difficult for me to deal with and I would often break down because of it. It was a struggle for me to actually have my child hitting me. Through this I have realized that he doesn't know any better and this is how he is communicating. It is still a struggle for me though. 

Today was hard for Deron and I because we know what the struggles are, but to see it in writing and to see that these specialists are identifying the exact same things we are, made it that much more real. I think that we both came away from the meeting today feelig better and knowing that there is a lot of people that want to help him. 

Now, we are working on getting him into the services that the school district provides. There are lots of resources available for him at the school district, but the services they offer are at times that are difficult for us because of our work schedules. Lots of praying is going on over here to find what works best for him and our busy lives. God has truly pointed us in the right direction to help our little guy succeed in this life. Thank you to everyone that has been praying for us. Please continue to pray as we move into this next chapter and get Brendan that support that he needs! 

They're not my plans!

God is the only one who knows what will happen in our lives, He's the one that has planned them out after all. I have struggled this week with worrying about the unknown. I am an over planner, have always been. I don't like feeling like I do not have control of a situation, especially when it directly affects my family. This verse has popped up on Facebook, Instagram, books and the radio a lot lately and I know that it is God reminding me that he is in control. He is pretty persistent and his timing is always perfect. Just when I am feeling anxious, he sends me another reminder. We are sure learning a lot about waiting on God over the last few months and there will be lots more learning to be had going forward. 

We had our last assessment with the school district for Brendan on Thursday. While we still have not received all the information we need, we did hear a bit more. We have an IEP meeting with the school district in a few weeks where a lot of our questions will hopefully be answered. Please keep our family and our little guy in your prayers, we will need them! 

Big Brother

Liam is such a kind hearted, thoughtful little man. He has always had a very caring heart and wants to help with everything. Life for Liam hasn't been easy since Brendan was born. Liam went from being an only child, to having a brother that requires much more attention from Mom and Dad than usual. Liam has learned to wait while Mom or Dad take of Brendan and then we can move forward with what we are doing with Liam. With all the changes that are occurring and will be occurring in our family, Liam has really taken the big brother role seriously and is wanting to learn more about what we need to do to help Brendan. He has been asking lots of questions and watching how Mom and Dad handle certain situations and tries to help as much as he can. This little man is having to learn a whole new way of how to approach his brother, and it is going to take some time, but it is so refreshing to see how interested and willing he is to learn. God has blessed us with such an amazing little man that has such a loving heart and wants nothing more than to be able to help his family. We are so proud of who this little man is turning in to.