Today Was A Good Day

Today Was A Great Day 

 

The Sweet

 Well to be fair things have been looking up for at least a week now. Starting last Friday one of Colton's therapists came to his co-op preschool to observe him and he did really great and was responding well.I was so proud of how hard he was working to try new things. He has been making tremendous progress in a few areas especially in speech. He now says "Mama", "Dada", "Papa", "Baby" and "Nona/Nana". This is huge for us. I'm also happy to report that we are finally getting a speech therapist for him and I feel the timing couldn't be better. Our son wants to talk, he wants to work hard. I feel so lucky. Of course with the sweet we have the bitter.

The Bitter 

 While we have been seeing a lot of improvement in some areas especially speech we have encountered some new and worsening behavior. Mainly with Colton's tendency to self harm and cause harm to other people and animals. I'm not sure if this is due to the frustration of still not having the right words to be able to communicate wants/need/emotions etc. I'm sure they play a part in it. It's really hard to kind of have to admit that your child has a mean streak, a tendency for violent behavior. I'm desiring a behavioral therapist more now than ever. The other issues have been with our ongoing battle against our insurance company. 

Many of you who have been reading along probably remember how early on in this blog I explained that our insurance company does not cover anything related to autism. Yeah,nothing. Our son is only 2 1/2 and even trying to get "developmental delay" covered is a struggle. I have recently hooked up with WAAA which stands for Washington Autism Alliance And Advocacy. They have already felt like a godsend. I no longer feel so alone in this fight especially after learning from them that our insurance is violating federal laws by doing this. This only adds to my need to triumph over this problem not only for my son but for the children struggling presenting and the children of the future. Part of this battle for me will have to be in taking on my husband and I's work union. Turns out that even though it's a huge union no one has ever stepped up to the bargaining table to end this problem. It's truly hard to believe that there are no other people belonging to our same union that have not encountered this problem. Nevertheless I will not stop until it's resolved,whatever it takes I will do it. After all it has to do with my child and his medical needs! 

More Sweet 

I'd like to close with some more happy news because ending on a positive note is often best. I have recently starting getting more into my local autism community,I have already met so many incredibly strong and smart women who have filled me with comfort,hope and positive feelings. I highly recommend any of you out there reading this who may have only recently had their child diagnosed on the spectrum or have not yet actively sought out their local community/support groups to please do. The best resource and support we have is each other and I promise you while not everyone you will always meet will be like you,you will make some great connections and learn something new and helpful. I'm more excited now than ever to become as involved as I can be especially since it won't be long before Colton will have to get into the special education public school system. Thanks as always for reading and for your support! 

P.s. For more info about WAAA visit http://www.washingtonautismadvocacy.org/updates/