Goodbye 2, hello 3

 Cameron is now 3. He has "graduated" from Early Intervention. What that means is that he will be going to PPCD in the Fall... or Preschool for Special Needs Children. It is done through the regular public school system, and they are required by law to offer education and preschool to those with disabilities... like Cameron. He was evaluated earlier in the summer and accepted full day, from 8 till 2:30 m-f. I couldn't be more thrilled with the school district we live in, especially when it comes to Cameron, but this IS the public school system. A lot of parents of children with special needs find homeschooling a more viable option for their children, considering all of the tests and guidelines administered thanks to government bureaucracy.

Veggie Wars

I was finally able to get Cameron to eat some sort of fruit or veggie... shhhh. He literally went over a year without ingesting so much as a pea, apple slice, or carrot... even "hidden" in his food. I tried doing the whole "juicing" thing, the pureed and hidden thing, the serve with every meal thing, hidden in sauces, or even veggie burgers. I Still served him a variety of finger food friendly veggies at every meal... breakfast, lunch dinner, snack. I tried offering him nothing but fruit and veggies for an entire day, and guess what... he didn't eat. I found some toddler meals, Chicken with Vegetables and Quinoa at Target.... omg He LOVES it. It has VEGGIES!!!! and they aren't even hidden really well. They are about $3.50 a meal, but hey, I will take it.

Insurance Debacle

 I know a lot has been said about ObamaCare and everything related to healthcare recently, and opinions have been very VERY heated. I think everyone could agree that whatever system we have now is broken (really, 12 bucks for a toothbrush in the hospital?), and there isn't a magic wand to fix it all tomorrow either. Cameron has been very VERY fortunate to get certain services for his Autism Diagnosis that have been critical to his development. As we reach a new "milestone" and he gets ready to go to Special Ed preschool in a little over a month, I look at what is offered, and other options that have scientifically proven to work that simply aren't covered by insurance.

Year in Review Part 9

Part 9, the final review of the past year! In Feb of 2011, Cam was going twice a week to a kids day out program that helped in ways I never thought it would. One goal we were trying to work on was nap-time though. He would run back and forth banging into walls seeking that sort of stimulation. He wouldn't see kids below him and would end up stomping all over them. I would usually pick him up a few minutes into nap time and call it a day... so in essence, at first, he spent about 3 hours playing, going to music, and art. His therapists would come to the kids day out program to work with him there in the new setting too. His occupational therapist introduced him to

Year in Review Part 8

In January, we made our annual trip to go see Kevin's mom. She lives about 9 hours away, so she doesn't get to see the kiddos often. We enjoyed some decent weather while we were down at the coast, and Cameron got to go to the ocean. Casey stuck his feet in the sand for the first time. This wasn't Cameron's first visit to the beach, but it WAS the first time

Year in Review Part 7

For those of you just now visiting my blog for the first time, This is basically a summary of life events, regressions, achievements, about my child Cameron. He is on the Autism Spectrum. It is also a diary of sorts when it comes to my personal feelings and outlook. I wanted to do this to document our journey thus far in the hopes that this information could help at least one other family cope and deal with a new diagnosis. Hopefully, they will see the light at the end of the tunnel, they can feel that SOMEONE can relate to them and know that they are NOT alone in this journey.

Year in Review Part 6

So, now we know where we were before diagnosis up through the diagnosis, and the overwhelming grief that came with it. So, Lets just keep on trucking so we can get to happier times. :)
Cameron has his diagnosis, Casey is born, Cameron starts with his Occupational Therapist, he is introduced to PECS (more on that in a moment) and starts signing "more".  It is now around October 2011. UGH, another holiday already?