A New Dawn, A New Day...

As usual, a lot has changed since my last post... As time went on, we began to realize that Katelyn needed an educational placement that specialized in children with autism spectrum disorders and other related issues. After having her neuropsychologist visit her preschool classroom, it was determined that an out-of-district placement was necessary in order to provide Katelyn with the most appropriate educational setting. We hired an educational advocate, and subsequently a special education attorney, and we were able to achieve the ultimate goal for our daughter. After an emotionally and financially draining process, the school district agreed to out-of-district placement at a very reputable private day school that specializes in autism that provides ABA instruction all day, which also happens to be the same place where she was originally diagnosed at age 2.5. She also has been receiving home ABA services again through one of the agencies that worked with her a few years ago, and this has been extremely productive for her. We always knew that she responded well to ABA teaching, and we're so glad that she will be receiving ABA instruction on a consistent basis again since it was so successful in the past.

Today was her first day at her new school and it truly could not have gone any better. She was excited this morning to be going to a new school. We had created a social story with pictures of her new school to help with the transition and she really enjoyed reading it. When we arrived at the school, she was very happy and talkative. We were brought to the integrated preschool classroom, which has peer models. When we arrived, the other children were not in the classroom, which made it very easy for Katelyn to get situated and check out her surroundings. After a few minutes, the children returned to the classroom, and I was not sure how Katelyn would react. But she surprised us and was happy to see "new friends" and even asked one little girl her name (indirectly, asking us "What is her name?")! The little girl responded with her name and then I prompted Katelyn to respond that her name was Katelyn, which she did. It was snack time, so Katelyn sat at the table with teachers around her and I made my exit. Katelyn asked me to stay, but did not get upset at all when I told her I had to leave and would be back later after she played with her new friends.

When I arrived to pick her up, I saw Katelyn playing with toys near the other children. The staff informed me that she had a wonderful day and that she was able to spend the entire day in the integrated preschool classroom! The original plan was to have her in another classroom without peer models and slowly introduce her to the integrated setting, if possible, but once again, she surprised us! She went to the cafeteria for lunch, sat independently with her friends at circle time, and even participated by raising her hand during art class! At times, she was taken aside to work on some discrete trial training and assessments, and while she was a little distracted, she did not have to be removed from the room or behind a partition as was expected. Overall, she had an amazing day!

When she saw me, she was very excited and she said she had fun at her new school. She even went over to her new friends and said bye to them. Then she shouted, "Thanks, new school! Thanks, new friends!" and became very happy and clapped when I told her she would be coming back tomorrow.

We are so relieved that she enjoyed her first day at her new school and we feel 100% confident that this was the right decision for her. We can't wait to watch her continue to flourish and exceed our expectations. We are eternally grateful to all of you who provided support and prayers that Katelyn would get what she desperately needs. There is nothing we wouldn't do to help our daughter and we will continue to be vigilant to ensure that she continues to receive the appropriate services that she deserves.

Getting ready for her first day at her new school!

Taking it all in...

Braids, Barrettes, and Balls...

This morning I decided to braid Katelyn's hair. Katelyn thought it was great and asked for "more braid" and began to pull on her hair. Since she had pulled some strands of hair loose, I decided to put a barrette in her hair. Well, that was all it took to bring out the girly girl in Katelyn! She began demanding more and more barrettes! I finally had to say it was enough because otherwise she would have the entire box of barrettes, clips, and scrunchies in her hair all at once :)

Later on while the girls were napping, I decided to bring up Katelyn's old ball tent/tunnel set that she hasn't seen in about a year. The thing is huge, so I only assembled the ball tent and two tunnels. When the girls got up from their naps, I brought them over to the tent. Katelyn immediately became ecstatic and wanted to get in there and play. Ashley also was very interested, so I plopped her right in the middle of the tent.

The girls had a blast, Ashley sampling every colorful ball and Katelyn going in and out of the tunnels. Katelyn also learned to "shoot hoops" with her bumpy ball.

It is indescribable how rewarding it is to see the girls playing so well together. As Ashley gets older and is able to interact more with Katelyn, Katelyn is becoming more and more interested in her baby sister. And of course, Ashley absolutely adores her big sister; her smile lights up the room when she sees Katelyn. Nothing beats seeing my two girls sharing special moments together, making memories that will last a lifetime.

Chalkin' It Up...

Today, Katelyn, Ashley and I went to my friend Melissa's house for a playdate with her two daughters, Mia and Megan. Mia is a few months older than Katelyn and Megan is only a few months old. I wasn't sure how Katelyn would be since we hadn't been to Melissa's house in over a year. When we first arrived, Katelyn met their dog, Fenway, and she said, "Tucker," who is her uncle's dog. Then Fenway began licking her face and rubbing her and Katelyn clenched her face and said, "Okay, okay, doggie, okay!" It was the cutest thing.

Katelyn was much more interactive with Mia than I had expected. She even played dinosaurs and blocks with her, and shared some snacks. We then went outside since it was such a beautiful day today. Mia brought out some sidewalk chalk and started drawing on the driveway. Katelyn hadn't used sidewalk chalk before, but she went right over and took a piece and began drawing nonstop for a good while. She used different colors and was really focused. I then asked her to draw a circle and she did, which is huge since she usually only draws straight lines. Then I asked her to draw a heart, square and triangle, and she did those as well!

She and Mia collected sticks and played with the wood chips and then it was time for us to leave. Overall, it was a really great day for all of us!

A Whole New World, A Whole New Girl...

Now that Katelyn is back in this world, she is improving so much, and in so many areas. Her speech is flourishing, her play skills are growing, and even her social skills are developing more. She actually initiated play and "conversation" with her cousins, Anthony and Lexi, who are 8 and 4, respectively. She usually follows their lead, and she normally does not approach other children, so this is a huge step! I am hopeful that she may initiate play with other children, especially peers her own age, since she usually does not even acknowledge their presence.

And she also has been incredible with her baby sister, Ashley. She loves to be around her, share toys with her, talk to her, sing to her, and more. And Ashley absolutely adores Katelyn. It is truly beautiful for us to witness this since we weren't sure if Katelyn would ever have a special bond with her sister.

Katelyn will be attending a new playgroup on Tuesdays, starting in early March, through Early Intervention. Unlike her Monday playgroup where the parents stay, at this playgroup the parents attend a separate meeting of their own in another room. This is specifically designed to help children get ready to transition to the pre-school environment. I am ecstatic about this opportunity and I believe that Katelyn will really benefit from this experience.

Katelyn has been doing wonderfully with her ABA therapy. Aimee, her ABA therapist, said that Katelyn is so bright that she is breezing through all of the programs so quickly that she is having to find other programs to do with her! This obviously brings a huge smile to her family! We couldn't be more proud of her. Aimee said that Katelyn is very academically smart, so we are going to focus on her behaviors and social skills, as well as providing more challenging academic work as well. And of course, being the mathematician that I am, I am really excited that she loves numbers and already counts up to 10.

Overall, we have seen a drastic improvement in Katelyn recently, and this gives us hope that she will be very successful academically and hopefully socially. But the most important thing to us is that she is happy, and with each success, she is gaining confidence, independence, and most importantly, happiness.

Boston Medical Center, Here We Come...

I was not expecting to hear from them this soon, but the hospital called this morning to get the ball rolling for Katelyn's 24-hour EEG. It will take place next Wednesday! We have an appointment for a neurological evaluation at 10am and then she will be admitted for the procedure. The pediatric neurologist who will be doing the procedure sounds wonderful, and he has experience specifically with autism, which makes me feel very comfortable.

We started Katelyn on the low-dose Keppra and so far she seems to be tolerating it. She actually seemed to be able to focus more and was actually interested in playing and interacting today, which is a very good sign. She also did not appear to have any of the strange facial movements that we suspect could be the seizures, but she did cry spontaneously and thrash around a little bit from time to time, for no reason that was obvious to me. I really hate the idea of having to medicate her, especially since we are not even 100% sure that she is having seizures, but we have put our trust in the doctor. Hopefully we will be able to get some answers after the testing next week.