Koopman Kraziness

It has been nine months since I took the time to write here, and I regret that.  Writing here has always been cathartic for me.  There's no excuse.  I got distracted by and busy with life and just didn't make time to do it anymore.  After going back and reading some of my old posts, I realized how much I was actually able to get out and sort out just by writing.  That being said, tonight will be a general update and then I'll get into a routine with it all again. Since the last time I wrote, there have been NUMEROUS changes in our lives. Kamden was accepted into a specialized autism program at another school in our district and was moved to attend there at the start of the spring semester last school year.   Within the first three weeks of attending, he was fully potty trained, was excelling in his classes and was showing more independence than I have ever seen him have. We moved out of my parents' home and into our own place.  I was lucky enough...

Well, sickness has hit the house again.  Kamden started with the sniffles a couple of days ago, but hadn't been showing any signs of feeling badly in general, so I opted to just watch him.  The next day we had coughing starting up, but again, nothing major.  Yesterday, his sinuses looked to be swollen and Over the course of the night last night, his cough turned very wet and he was gagging and gasping for air part of the time.  I got him comfortable and he slept through the night.   * Disclaimer - before anyone freaks out and says I should have gone to the ER, this sort of thing happens in our house like clockwork about every 6 weeks.  We have a nebulizer and medication on hand to take care of any asthma attacks or breathing troubles that may come up, so I was prepared and we were watching carefully.*  Fast forward to this morning - his sinuses seemed less inflamed, but his cough sounded terrible and it was causing him to dry heave and gag.  I o...

I always say that I need to blog more often, but it's really going to have to happen.  Things are looking like they are going to become really intense and involved over the next few months, and I have to document it all somewhere or I'll never keep track of progress. In regard to my sweet Kamden...  Where do I start?  Just before Spring Break, we started noticing some behavioral changes.  Nothing to severe, but enough to catch attention of those at home as well as school and therapy.  After returning to classes, things seemed to just keep going down hill.  Kamden has been very much not himself in regard to how he acts and reacts to those in authority, and even in how he treats his friends and classmates.  Additionally, he has started to lose his motor coordination, speech processing, and other normal functions.  The most likely cause is that he has started having complications tied to bilateral ventriculomegaly.  We were told after his MRI ...

I get told all the time by people in my life what a good mom I am to Kamden.  I can never thank anyone enough for saying so, but I have the hardest time believing it. Let me explain. I bust my butt to make sure Kamden has what he needs to the fullest of my ability.  I'll pick up odd jobs to make money fast to cover extra expenses, push for help at school, make sure he's at therapies and that the therapists are up to date on anything new going on with him.  I double check to make sure he's received his medication on time and that he's used his essential oils for the day and I make sure that he has his doctor's appointments on time. However... Tonight is the first time I have ever played tag with my son. I get so caught up in all the things he appears to need that it becomes easy for me to forget that the thing he needs the most is me. I forget that just being in the same room is not the same as spending time with him.  He needs me to be his mother and his a...

It is so easy to make a snap judgment about a person.  I cannot even imagine how many times I have mistakenly judged someone based on their actions or demeanor when I came into contact with them and it might have been something as simple as a really, really bad day. Having a child with autism has made me much more aware of what goes on around me.  I used to walk through a store and hear a child screaming or see what I perceived to be "bad behavior" and the first thoughts to flood my mind consisted of, "If I were that's child's parent..."  Now, I see things quite differently.  Yes, that child may be behaving horribly, but what if that child is also a high functioning autistic?  A simple glance at one moment in his or her day is not going to tell me what a child is like, not will it give me an accurate picture of what that parent deals with all day long.  I know that I cannot realistically expect others to extend the same thoughts to me when Kamden is havin...

I really should write more often.  It clears my head and gives me a bit of peace in a chaotic world.  Maybe this summer is the time to get back on that horse. The last two months have had their fair share of ups and downs.  Thankfully, there have been more ups than downs, but it's been a bit exhausting. Kamden finished his first year of school and was given the Memory Award.  He managed to memorize the names of all the students in the entire kindergarten (between 60 and 70 students).  We also had an ARD meeting (aka IEP meeting) with the school regarding his autism.  The school officially recognizes him as autistic and have provided a confirming diagnosis by way of the school psychologist.  They did emphasize that he's extremely high functioning and that he's incredibly bright, but that they do see areas that he definitely needs help.  The team we met with was very apologetic that it had taken a full year to get him evaluated and set up for he...

We are now halfway through the school year, and thankfully Kamden is seeing some improvements.  He can almost write his name and can finally cut out things with scissors without cutting through the pictures completely.   He is regularly (at school at least) initiating going to use the bathroom, and most days comes home dry.   Last Saturday, he was presented with a therapy bike called an Amtryke . His is equipped with both pedals and hand cranks and should help build his muscle tone. (One of his diagnoses is motor apraxia .) Most nights, he sleeps through the night with no night terrors and wakes up dry. The school is supposed to be trying to get a special needs aid to sit in on class with him to be a one on one help. Sadly, there are still a lot of things to work on as well. He still is considered about 3 years behind on his basic motor skills.   He is not able to recognize the physical cue to have a bowel movement. His mild OCD seems to be...

I generally have no issues with anyone commenting that they are offended or put off by my blog posts, but I feel like I should put the disclaimer that I'm writing this particular post with a quite heavy heart and extremely raw emotions.  It is not my intent to offend or hurt anyone who may read this, but to help to educate and speak for those who feel like they don't have the words anymore.  I will use generalizations in the form of "we/us/they" but in no way believe that I am speaking for everyone who is related to this topic, but merely sharing the feelings of those who I have talked to most frequently.  That being said, and you being warned, let's begin. In the last 3 days I have seen two different posts by two different moms.  One has lost an infant and one is in the middle of a scary process of numerous tests and surgeries to try to give her yet unborn daughter a chance at a "normal life".  In both posts, the mother was either accused of  somethin...