Monday, August 15, 2011

AWESOME AMAZING NEWS.....

So its been a while since I last updated you all on Carson so I thought today would be a great day to do so!

Today, we received some AWESOME AMAZING NEWS!!!  Carson got approved for his SSI disability claim!!!!  This is going to help Carson in so many different ways!!!  We will finally be able to get him some of the high-end learning toys to help him w/his education & his speech!  And once he starts his services through the school systems, We'll be able to afford to pay for his speech therapist to come out a couple of times a week for private speech therapy!!!  I can't wait to get started on everyone new that is coming our way for Carson!!!  Getting this money each month will open so many doors for Carson!!!  I cried so hard once I got off the phone today w/the lady for the SSI Office!

In Other news, Carson has been doing great w/his therapist!  He, like always, has his good days & bad days!!  For the last couple of weeks, he has been "fighting" us on using his words.  He has been acting out alot & not wanting to use his words at all.  When he does use his words, he won't stop talking!!  LOL!!!  Which I love completely!!!  Erica is not liking it too much b/c she has gotten use to talking for him & telling him what to do but now the tables are turned & Carson is telling Erica what to do!!  LOL!!!  He has also gotten better w/using his words to put 3 to 4 word sentences together!!  Which the whole sentence thing is a BIG step up for him!!

We are planning a BIG project for Carson's birthday/christmas present!!  We are putting in a train track in his ceiling!!!  He is going to LOVE IT!!  And David is going to fix it to where Carson will be able to use the controls of the train so that he can choose how fast or slow his wants it & ect.!!!  We are going to have 1 HAPPY Boy on our hands once its done!!!

But that seems to be it for now & I'll update again soon!!!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Autism=Carson Ben Kamalei Williams

Kamalei is Carson's Hawaiian name.  And it means "Beloved Child".  And he lives up to that meaning completely.  


Alot of people have been asking me to explain what made us think that Carson would be autistic to begin with, so I'm reading this blog to help explain our reasons...Even though alot of people disagree w/us.....So here it is...


As I have said before, Carson was a normally baby from the beginning.  He didn't really start showing any signs of something being wrong til he was alittle over a year old.  He started to throw fits to the point that he would hit his head on anything that was near him, i.e. the wall if in time-out, the hardwood floors, & toys...And of course, his speech was no where near where it should be.  He would not play w/other kids his age or older & would rather play by himself & if you tried to make him, he would freak out completely & break down crying non stop.  He would get mad if you messed up the line of cars or toys that he had just got done lining up & would throw a HUGE fit.  At 1 point, he was completely afraid of Play-doh.  He couldn't stand the feel of it what so ever.  He would walk on his tippy toes & still does from time to time.  And when it came to being in the grass or dirt, you could always count on the biggest melt down ever.  He was NOT A FAN...LOL!!   One of the biggest things that got to me what the fact that he wouldn't make eye contact w/me at all.  He has the most beautiful blue eyes & I had to find them every time I wanted to make eye contact with him.  And when it came to responding to his name, its like he put up a sound proof wall so that he couldn't hear you at all.  And when they say that Boys are Mama Boys, Carson was just that...A MAMA'S BOY!!!  I couldn't be out of his sight if we were out in public or at someone else house.  Even if we were at church, I had to sit in the nursery w/him or otherwise he would freak out.  


Carson has gotten alot better with something, like playing w/Play-doh but everything else is coming along slowly.


Here are a few Signs and Symptoms on Autism.....



Signs and Symptoms
People with ASD may have problems with social, behavioral, and communication skills. They might repeat certain behaviors and might not understand change in their daily activities. Many people with ASD also have different ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to things.
A child or adult with ASD might:
• have severe language deficits or differences;
• talk about or show interest in a restricted range of topics;
• not point at objects to show interest (point at an airplane flying over);
• not look at objects when another person points at them;
• have trouble relating to others or not have an interest in other people at all;
• avoid eye contact and want to be alone;
• have trouble understanding other people's feelings or talking about their own feelings;
• prefer not to be held or cuddled or might cuddle only when they want to;
• appear to be unaware when other people talk to them but respond to other sounds;
• repeat or echo words or phrases said to them, or repeat words or phrases in place of normal language (echolalia);
• have trouble expressing their needs using typical words or motions;
• laugh, cry, or show distress for no apparent reason;
• repeat actions over and over again;
• have trouble adapting when a routine changes;
• have unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, look, feel, or sound;
• be oversensitive or under-sensitive to pain;
• lose skills they once had (for instance, stop saying words they were once using).

So this is my little insight on Carson!  Hope that you enjoyed it!!  

Saturday, June 4, 2011

From the beginning...

 From the beginning, Carson was a normal baby.  He was healthy, active, happy & had the biggest smile!  He started talking around 5 months old by saying Mama & Dada in the same day!!!  And by his 1 yr check up, he was saying 5-6 words.  So I talked w/his doctor about it & he said not to worry b/c boys talk later than girls....As Erica(my 5 yr old) started talking at 4 months & hasn't stopped since then!!  LOL!!  The doctor said to come back for his 15 month check up & we would see where his speech was at that point.  Well we ended up not taking him til his 18 month check up due to not having any insurance.  And once we did take him back in, Carson was not saying as many words & his speech had dropped down to being maybe 3 words one a good day.  So his doctor referred us over to the Children's Developmental Services Agency(CDSA) for a Developmental Evaluation.

The CDSA came out to our house in June 2010 to do the evaluation.  And at that time, they got the background on my pregnancy w/Carson, family history, asked a TON of questions, played around w/Carson & pretty much just watched his normal activity in the house & playing w/his sister.  They commented so much on how spunky he was & how they loved his curls!!  He was interested in the marterials this examiners brought & was eager to explore.  He would sit in my lap & quickly flip through a book, but didn't really look at the pictures in it.  He stayed busy during the evaluation w/either his toys or the toys that the examiners brought in with them.  He babbled softly to himself as he rolled his cars around & he did this the pretty much the whole time they were at the house.  He really didn't have any interests in what they were trying to get him to do.  

They did a few test on him to get a better look at where his was compared to where he should be.  And here is where he started out at in June 2010--
Gross Motor--16 months
Fine Motor--18 months
Cognitive(Speech)--8 months
Self Help--15 months
Social/Emotional--17 months
And here is where he ranked w/the Speech/Language Pathologist as of June 2010
Auditory Comprehension--10 months
Expressive Communication-- 1 yr 4 months
Total Language Score--1 yr 2 months

So need less to say, they told me that day that Carson would need speech therapy.  I was totally grateful for that b/c I knew he need the extra help!  I thank God that night for giving Carson that chance to get into the speech therapy program.  It was a much needed weight lifted off my shoulders as I had no idea what direction I needed to go to help Carson.

So it took a couple of months to get everything put together & started w/the different therapist .  Carson didn't really start his speech therapy til the end of August 2010.  In September 2010, Carson went for his Big Evaluation at the CDSA since getting into the program.  At that time, they did a full family history report from both sides of our family, reviewed all of Carson's medical records & past medical history from all of his doctors, did a Full physical on him(which he HATED), had his vision & hear check, and pretty much just watched to see how he reacted to everything & what he did!  David went w/me to that appt. & it was nice to have him there b/c he was able to give his insight on Carson as well!  After reviewing everything, they told us that they were worried about Carson's head being "BIG" for his age b/c he had had such a big jump on the charts in such a short time & then kept getting bigger.  He went from being in the 75th % at 2 months to being in the 95th % or off the charts from age 6 months til then.  So they told us that they were going to refer us over to a neurologist just to be on the safe side.  But it turns out that David & I just have Big Headed babies b/c David & I have "Big" Heads...LOL!!!  But while we were at the neurologist, he told us that by looking over the review that the CDSA had sent him & watching him that day, he told us that Carson was PDD-NOS. And he told us that we were doing everything that we could for right now & that he wanted to see us back in 6 months for another check up.

Carson has been doing AMAZING in his speech therapy & Educational therapy since the end of August 2010!  His therapist as AWESOME w/him & he has greatly improved.  Even though his is still far behind where he needs to be, its much easier to understand him & deal w/him as a whole!  

I thank God everyday for the blessing that he has given us.  Its funny b/c everyone as me if it would be easier on us if we had a "Normal" child & all I can do is laugh and tell them that this is "normal" for us!  And I wouldn't trade my life for anything else!!  Being a Stay at home Mom has been the most rewarding job I'll ever have!!!

Thanks for reading & I'll update another day!!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Here we go..My very 1st Blog!!!!

So here we go....I have join the blogging world!!!

I decided to start this blog as an insight to my world & life as a parent to a child w/a mild case of Autism/PDD-NOS.....God has bless my family with a wonderful fun-filled gift that we call Carson aka Bubba.  As I get the hang of this blogging stuff, you will learn alot of inside stuff of living w/a child that is Autistic, but yet seems perfectly normal to everyone else.   I hope that you enjoy all the blogs that are to come!!

Carson Ben....Mommy, Daddy & Sissy love you very much & we have bought so much Joy to our life that we wouldn't have it any other way!!!