Jesse Update

[monicag]

I can't believe that he is growing up so fast. He continues to have no speech but uses his talker to get his point across. It is a cool thing. We just went to Disney and he absolutely LOVED it....we drove so he loved the ride too. Not one issue with the characters ...went up and hi-fived them like he's known them forever. He did get very excited when he saw MICKEY...now at home he loves playing with his little plastic characters. I wish I could hear what he is saying in his head...he has the cutest little smirk on his face when he is playing.

He is ready for Kindergarden...what fun that has been. They wanted to place him in a "Life Skills" class. Let's just say that none of these kids spoke and they were from K to 2nd grade. Most of them couldn't move well either. I SAID NO WAY.
There are no real alternatives so I decided we are going to do cyber charter school for this year. I figured that everything he's learned so far he learned from me.

Jesse knows at least 200 words by sight. Big words, butterfly....astronaut...etc. Very cool. I wish I could figure out if he can truly read. I'm not sure.
He LOVES learning and it is so neat to make it a game for him.

We are doing a brain program with him too. He has started from the beginnning ...creeping and crawling a certain amount each day. We also incorporate a breathing program, aromatherapy, sensory program and of course his favorite ....the reading program. I'm excited to see what he can do in October when we take him back for another evaluation.

The other day he made the sentence "I want bathroom" and guess what....he actually went in an pooped.... OH HAPPY DAY It was a great thing that he put that together.

Life is challenging some days but for the most part we are moving ahead. Jesse still can't run but has mastered giving us kisses and hugs on demand (I love that part).

The program we are doing is part of something called THE FAMILY HOPE CENTER. www.familyhopecenter.org/

We are hopeful

Good to catch up here...things have been hectic but I think of you often.

[wuvmyangel93]

Monica what an awesome update and I absolutely cannot understand why he is NOT allowed to attend regular kindergarten. He has his talker to explain his needs, he is NO different than a child who signs to speak.

I encourage you to fight it I just know if he went to kindergarten everyday with kids that are talking he would talk soon too or even if he didn't he would gain tons of experiences.

I'd love to see a new picture. I never tire of hearing of his amazing progress. Way to go Monica and Jesse.

by the way how are the older kids doing?

[monicag]

Thanks so much for the encouragement. I know he would do fine in a Kindergarden class if he had an aide with him. They assessed him so low because he can't speak and that doesn't count when they are doing evaluations. They wanted to put him in regular kindergarden for science and lunch....UGH....that's it. I wanted him there for reading and math and they said no. They wanted to put him in "Life Skills" because he still can't dress himself or do the bathroom thing alone. (he still uses pull ups...but can use the potty for BM's). The whole thing is so frustrating.

The school also couldn't guarantee me that he wouldn't come in contact with any of his allergins....during classroom activities or lunch...that is a chance I'm NOT willing to take. The last mistake almost killed him...literally (and that was Dad feeding him the WRONG thing because he wasn't paying attention)

We are taking this year to do is brain program at a very intense level. I want to see if he can make progress by doing the crawling and creeping at least 40 circuits a day. I am excited about the charter school and know that he will do well with it.

He is ready to move to the next level with the talker --- an electronic one much like windows program on a computer. He was tried with it and did great. We also have him going to our Children's Hospital for OT...but they are working strictly on computer needs. They are trying touch screens and different key boards, specialized mouse's etc....they are very impressed with the knowledge level he has and how much he LOVES the computer.

Someone just suggested a book to me. Autism and computers. I'm going to check it out.

My other two....
Anneliese is 15 and she volunteers in the high school special needs class for the summer. She really wanted to do it so I let her go.
Zach is 10 and has issues with OCD and anxiety but is an incredible artist....his drawings are amazing.

How is your sweetie doing? Hope she is enjoying the summer.

[wuvmyangel93]

Zach and his art, I love that he is still doing art and Anneliese volunteering how cool is that? Mine is holding her own, but its still a challenge at times. NOT looking forward to highschool they are doing nothing yet to make the building safe.

So yes I understand about the allergies and such and only wish they could see Jesse's potential rather than throw him in a class that clearly wont let him suceed.

I know he is going to thrive this year at home, the brain program sounds awesome as does the computer programs. We've always used computers with mine it really makes a huge difference.

I'm praying for you and Jesse.

[lindac]

((((((((((((((((((((MONICA))))))))))))))))

I love that Jesse is still surprising people with his progress. I wish the school was able to do a little more mainstreamig. I think the benefits for Jesse would be great. The computer sounds great and it is wonderful that he enjoys that.

Kisses and hugs are much better than running! ;D It all sounds very hopeful. Keep up the good work Jesse!

Many hugs,