|
Post by Radonna on Mar 13, 2009 12:35:13 GMT -5
OMG Steff you are GORGEOUS!!!! Olivia was so sweet!!! When she said you looked "cool and nice" I wanted to hug her!! Can you post some pictures now that the show's aired??
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Mar 9, 2009 1:11:12 GMT -5
I am so excited!!! I am really flusterated with my cable company and was going to cut my cable off. I was so ready to tell them to stick it last week when they missed two scheduled appointments to bury my cable! I put telling them to stick it on hold because I remembered you were going to be on!!
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Mar 5, 2009 0:28:36 GMT -5
Sue, my son is 15 with Ds/Autism. He isn't able to be medicated. I can totally sympathize with the screaming and some of the stuff you describe. I pretty much try to prevent Kaden from ever reaching that point. I have found that many times when Kaden melts down the screaming and hitting himself (biting, head banging) is when I am in a hurry and have ignored all his signs. I can kind of predict when he has had enough and sometimes just a weighted blanket and a dark room and giving him his "chain" which is plastic safety chain he dangles will work. I sometimes have to let everything else go which isn't always easy but it's easier in the long run. I don't know if Milly is like Kaden but once he gets going it is almost impossible to calm him down.
I am really interested in checking out the link that wrblack posted for the chew tubes. I use to fight the self stim so much because if he was stimming he wasn't paying attention at school or to what I was trying to get him to do but the older he gets the more I think that stimming is my friend. Big Hugs to you and to Milly!
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Mar 5, 2009 0:13:16 GMT -5
I would not say that Ds itself is a blessing but I would say some of the by products of having a child with Ds is a blessing. Of course we all want our kids to be typical and to not have to face some of the challenges they face. I say the one blessing that having Kaden has given me is the ability to be flexible. We have this rigid way we define a "good life" a "normal life" having that "million dollar family" and Ds comes along and it just shatters that dream. No matter how blessed many of us feel I think for most our first reaction WAS devestation, and asking why me. Ds redefined my dreams. I am grateful for the experiances I've had being Kaden's mom, I'm grateful for the dimensions that he has added in my character and that of his brothers. I wouldn't have chose it if I had my own book to write but I would have missed out on a whole lot of joy.
The rosy picture you are seeing on the Ds boards have been painted by Moms that have a few years under their belt. We didn't all jump into it thinking Down syndrome was the best thing ever.
I also wanted to add that having 46 chromosomes doesn't guarentee a happy "perfect" life. What scares me the most is the unknown. I'm sure that is what feels so overwhelming to you right now.
My only advice is just take it one day at a time and just enjoy your baby.
Congratulations on the birth of your son.
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Mar 3, 2009 13:36:06 GMT -5
Okay I was watching TLC and seen the show I'm thinking you'll be on. They are showing new episodes!! Do you know your date yet? ?
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 21, 2008 9:37:18 GMT -5
I can't wait to see it!! It will be awesome to see Olivia too!!
|
|
|
Autism?
Nov 21, 2008 9:31:16 GMT -5
Post by Radonna on Nov 21, 2008 9:31:16 GMT -5
Kaden has the dual dx too and he sounds so much like Erin. Like Allisa said you "expect delays" and if you aren't really that familiar with Autism you just miss it. Before Kaden received his dx at 8 years old I had heard that kids with Down syndrome didn't "get" Autism. I don't know where I learned that but I was completely floored when the Down syndrome clinic said he had Autism. He has zero interest in Tv, has never played with toys appropriately. He does not point to things. He is very "self centered" He constantly stims, sucks his hands, dangles things, slaps his face. He is a wrecking ball to. If left unsupervised for even a few minutes he will destroy the house. He's tips chairs too and pushes things off tables like the TV and computer, even cats. I can not ever leave him alone. He also has Pica eats non food items. I think I always knew that something was different about Kaden but I ignored it. Told myself it was his vision and found a million reasons why it couldn't be Autism. My Mom had actually mentioned it a year before the Down syndrome clinic did. I have even had people recently question his Autism dx I've had Doctors say "Well MR mimic's autism" and his deaf blind dx explains most of his autism traits. Kaden was born with cataracts so he's always had vision issues but he has not always been deaf. He was four when he started having trouble with his ears. Before that I had two ABR's because I thought he was deaf. He did not respond to my voice and just always seemed like he was in his own little world.
Like CC said autism has a very wide spectrum. What I've learned is many many kids can fall into that spectrum.
Even when you receive a dx you will still go back and forth between well is this "really autism" or could it just be this. Even as autistic as Kaden is I still have my moments but at the end of the day the dx is just a word. It explains alot, it helps just to know it wasn't I was too lax on his therapy, or I didn't give him enough early attention. It helps to know it wasn't that I failed Kaden by not doing enough that there is a reason that he has the delays he has. All his dx has really did is help me understand his delays. Most his stuff at school has stayed the same. There is more attention to his sensory issues but for the most part he gets the same now as he did before his autism dx.
I think as a parent you always feel guilty for what you should have done and I go back and forth now with had I gotten his dx earlier could I have done more for him. I don't know if this will come out right or not but Kaden dx of autism means more to me than it does to him. It hasn't hurt him but it hasn't helped him that much either.
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 10, 2008 13:25:55 GMT -5
I keep checking this to see if there is an air date yet!!!! I don't want to miss it!!
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 10, 2008 13:25:28 GMT -5
we are at 205 here. Its such a huge huge difference in our gas budget for the week. Before we were paying close to 180 dollars a weeks for gas and now we are down to 70. I hope they stay down!!!
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 5, 2008 13:56:47 GMT -5
Oh I wish Kaden would be consistent with it!!!! One day he is all up under the shower sticking his tongue out and enjoying it and the next he acts like it's acid and burning his skin.
My nine year old Jonathan still can't take a shower he hasn't learned the art of Mouth breathing!! LOL
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 5, 2008 13:54:26 GMT -5
Tifany, My Momma is very conservative as is everyone in my family except my brother. Everyone is entitled to how they believe.
I was raised very strict pentecostal one thing I have learned about the world is that things don't have to fall apart because people disagree.
For the record I didn't compare him to christ. I just stated Jesus was the ultimate socialist (according to the bible)
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 5, 2008 13:33:09 GMT -5
Change is always scary.
I don't understand why healthcare for all freaks so many people out. I would have gladly given up my stimulus package to help people who can't help themselves. I would much rather have seen that money go to help an elderly couple that survives on less than a hundred dollars every month after their bills are payed than to AIG.
There are people that can't work. It isn't that they don't want to. Think about this when I go to the Doctor I pay a 20 dollar co pay. My insurance pays a percent of the bill usually up to 80 percent the other money is "discounted" or written off because I have insurance. Someone uninsured goes to the same Doctor and has to pay 140 dollars just to be seen. No "discounted rates" no write offs. Tests that are charged to my insurance hospitalization 800 dollar ambulance rides. I mean the cost of health care could be greatly reduced and Doctors, health care providers still make a profit. I believe children of McDonalds workers deserve the same treatment as children of the Governor of Alaska. That children of people on welfare deserve the same treatment. How can this be American the land of opportunity if some children are denied basic human rights.
Yes Tifany there was a savior and he instructed Nicodemus to give up all he had and take up the cross and follow me. Nicodemus was a wealthy man and Jesus asked him to give it all up and become a servant of man. He couldn't do it. Jesus was the ultimate socialist.
I don't believe Obama can work miracles but I do believe in the principles if there is a child hungry or in need somewhere in the world that it effects me. "Whatsoever ye do unto the least of these children you do unto me"
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 5, 2008 9:14:34 GMT -5
Susan I can remember a long long time ago when it went to 75 cents a gallon and my Grandpa would drive miles and miles to find a station where it was still 65 cents. He said it was ridiculous to pay that much for gas. LOL
When I started driving gas was 99 cents a gallon. Wonder if it will ever get that low again???
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 5, 2008 9:03:36 GMT -5
just my thoughts....I think everyone reacts individually to ANY immunization....most handle it just fine...some not so fine. My son Eric was premature...maybe his immune system couldn't handle all those shots at once..kind of like a "overload". Maybe those trace amounts of thimerasol can be absorbed by most kids without a problem, but maybe some of the kids had conditions that were aggravated or caused by the addition of mercury. I'm no scientist, but I do know that SOMETHING is causing this autism epidemic. So I would definetly weigh all my options. Spreading out the vaccines isn't the same as not giving them at all. Great explanation!! Kaden had his shots late because he reacted to his first ones. I had never heard of the autism link at that point. I was told he needed it and I let them catch him up on his shots at 23 months old. Previous to that Kaden was saying words and afterwards he is non verbal. I've had Doctors tell me it's unrelated ,that his hearing issues began around the same time and that most likely that causes him to become non verbal. The hardest thing in the world was the decision to vaccinate my youngest son Evan after really believing that it caused Kaden to be autistic. In the end I chose to have them spaced out but to go ahead and give him all but the chicken pox. He had them all no problem but like Ericsmom said in her post the reaction is most likely individualized. I just wish they could find out what factors make someone more likely to have autism.
|
|
|
Post by Radonna on Nov 4, 2008 23:32:19 GMT -5
It's 2.25 here
|
|