treatment update

We've been working hard to figure out the "maze of autism" and how to get Lewis the best help we can. Thanks to some other parents in the area, I'm learning how to tap into some of the resources Kentucky has to offer that will make additional therapy more affordable. While we pursue those things, we went ahead and started an ABA program. We had training for our first 5 volunteer therapists last week. They will be learning as they go for the next several weeks, along with Justin and I, and then we'll begin adding more helpers into the mix. I have to say though that we have a wonderful group of people who are generously giving of their time to invest in Lewis' life. We are so grateful for each one!

Lewis has had a mixed reaction so far. He loves the reinforcements that come with his good performance, but he obviously does not like having so many demands placed on him. That is a totally normal response, and we know he will get used to it in time. He is already vocalizing more which is wonderful. He's consistently using the "d" sound again, and understands that "da da" or "dad" means dad or father. I asked him to say it the other day when he woke up from his nap and he said the word and did the sign at the same time! We took a video right after that where he did both things separately. (Forgive the high pitched "good job" at the end!) We are encouraged that he is making this connection.



He's also learned several animal signs this week, mostly from his Signing Time Zoo Train dvd. He's learned: penguin, crocodile, elephant, gorilla, shrimp and dog. It is a random group, but he loves doing them and it is amazing that he is learning just from watching the video and not having us manipulate his hands.

So for now, we are keeping a lot of plates spinning, and praying that God provides in abundance for our needs. Here's what is coming up and we'd love for you pray with us:

--Our ABA program progressing and our therapists gaining confidence, Lewis adjusting.

--Applying for an HCB Waiver which would provide Lewis with a medical card, opening the door for several other programs (Impact Plus, respite, further speech and occupational therapies).

--Waiting on First Steps' Record Review. We have requested additional units (hours of therapy) including occupational therapy. They should have made a decision by now but we are not sure if this week's weather kept them from meeting. Pray we hear about this soon!!

--Biomedical treatments. We are seeing a DAN! (Defeat Autism Now) doctor this week who should be able to discuss food sensitivities, supplements and other medical treatments that have proven helpful to many kids afflicted with autism. We were very disappointed that our local doctor has seemed blind-sided by Lewis' diagnosis and really need a medical professional who can help steer us in the right direction.

--CDC at WKU. Lewis was accepted into the Communication Disorder Clinic at Western for the spring semester. We are praying he gets a scholarship to cover the cost of speech therapy twice a week. We are also praying he gets into the Big Red School for the summer term.

--Vanderbilt Sib Study. Vanderbilt is doing a study on infant siblings of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. These kids are at a higher risk of becoming autistic themselves and so the study will provide diagnostic evaluations free of charge (which are normally in the thousands of dollars) meant to give peace of mind to parents and to catch abnormal behavior at an early age. We are praying that Owen could participate!

what Owen's been up to

Owen's picking up some skills of his own. He's become very good and quick at rolling from belly to back. Here's a video of that in some of his new jammies.



We would love for him to be rolling more both directions, but we are so thrilled with his latest ability--feeding himself! He gave me the best birthday present this week (yes, I turned 33!) by sneaking his first puff into his mouth after lunch. I was somewhat shocked since Lewis was closer to a year old before he was consistent with this skill. The last couple of days Owen has had more practice and has fed himself lots of puffs and Cheerios too. It is nothing special for the average parent, but to us this is a huge relief. We can only imagine the foods Owen might be willing to eat in the months to come. :)




He's spent some time in front of the mirror checking himself out! Who can blame him?



He's also big enough to sit up during bath time. He's a sweet, happy little monkey.

lewis' skills

Lewis has been trying to help a little more lately. He got very interested in the blender since I'm blending food for Owen now. He stood and helped me push the button.




He also helped Justin build a shelf last week. Daddy would hammer, then Lewis would hammer.


He's also been using the camera a lot to take self portraits. Here's one of the better ones. We often find the camera full of Lewis' work. We need to find a better place to keep it out of his reach!

He also has been learning more signs. One of his favorite "Signing Time" videos is called "Welcome to School." It has a little song about a backpack and all the stuff you put in there. We didn't realize he had learned the signs for 'backpack', 'ready' and 'school', but when we figured it out he was so excited! Now he is always wanting to sing the song. Here's a clip for your enjoyment.

owen eating

Just after Christmas we started feeding Owen solids and he has caught on quickly! So far he has had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes and pears. We had already been giving him Puffs and he's moved on to Cheerios. He can't quite get them in his own mouth, but he pops his mouth open whenever he sees food coming his way.

This is a video from one of his first meals. He had scarfed down his food and was making his happy sounds.



He's also rolling very consistently from belly to back now, anytime we put him on his belly. Now we just have to figure out how to encourage him to roll the other way!

catch up

January has been busy so far. We celebrated the New Year with our Belarussian/American friends. The tradition in Belarus is to have a big meal at midnight and stay up well into the morning. We adjusted that a little because Justin had to work the next morning. We enjoyed catching up with these special friends! Ladies first: Vera Foushee, yours truly, Lauren Metelski, and hostess Heather Morozov.



The guys: Val Morozov, Yura Metelski, Justin, and Lovell Foushee.



On New Year's Day, we watched the Rose Bowl. Owen was really rooting for Penn State (his grandpa's and Aunt Beth's alma mater) and was devastated when they lost! He was really cute in his outfit though. :)



On January 5, Justin turned 28!



Then somewhere in there, Lewis got really into a book his Aunt Beth gave him last summer called "Book." It's about a boy who gets a book and loves it so much. One thing the boy does is wear the book like a hat. For a while every time we turned around we saw Lewis like this!



He's picked up a few more signs recently: mom, dad, train, animal, napkin, and he's working on grandpa. He's just about got it.

We're getting ready to start his ABA program, and we're looking very forward to seeing how it goes. Lewis has gotten really good at identifying objects in pictures and can point out all the letters of the alphabet in order. He also knows all his numbers and all his colors, including some random ones from his new 16 pack of crayons like turquoise and maroon. He's definitely a very visual learner because he learned to identify about 50 foods after showing him on flashcards just once. He doesn't want to eat these foods, but he can identify them perfectly every time.

lewis makes the paper

The Mother's Day Out that Lewis attends was featured in this week's paper. Photographer Miranda Pederson was nice enough to forward on these pictures to us.




It's hard not to love this boy!

more Christmas

Ellen and Lewis wearing bows on Christmas day (while Owen looks on).



Me and Owen commemorate his first Christmas.



The weekend after Christmas, we went to Shepherdsville to gather with some extended family. At the time, Grandpa Billy presented the boys with this Monster Truck. Lewis was thrilled. He loved climbing into it and playing with the radio that works. Justin and I are thrilled that it is staying at their house! They can enjoy it on special occasions since we don't have the space or neighborhood appropriate for such a piece of kiddie equipment.

In the first picture, cousin Olivia is pushing Lewis around the basement.




This is a picture of Lewis recovering when forced to allow his baby brother to share the truck for a brief moment for some pictures! He was not happy about that, but got over it. :)

christmas highlights

We had a lot of celebrating to do this year, and we're still recovering! Here are a few pictures.

Christmas Eve with Justin's family.