Learning to learn

Well here we are almost through June- this month really shot past for us- and I haven't said much of anything about my little June Bug. Eamon Jo had a lovely little birthday. Spiderman cupcake and pasta were the features of my splendid three-year-old inspired spread. Eamon had requested cole slaw and juice for breakfast which was hard to beat for originality but alfredo sauce with zucchini and farfale noodles was an acceptable dinner for the little birthday prince. 

I know we all have been going through some of the biggest "firsts" of life since being together last. Graduations, grad school, jobs, moves, babies etc have crammed themselves into what seems like not THAT long ago at school together. I know we all have yet to mingle our little families together, and to meet all the new additions that are toddling, drooling, and giggling in our new lives. 

I know you all still need to meet my little Eamon guy. Sweetest guy you could ever meet. A very gentle little scholarly type. I wanted to share some of Eamon's life with you and what might be next for my little guy. 

Eamon has always been a "different" child. Since he was an infant he had been very different from the other little ones i had ever known. He was very easily upset by what seemed to be minor changes in his environment- light, music, clothes, sheets on our bed etc. He was also very very visually adept from a you g age recognizing letters and numbers pretty early on. He has always LOVED animation and can identify very minuscule color variations and shades. 

We began to struggle with eamon as he neared his first birthday. He had not said a word. He was very easily upset and had a very difficult time sleeping at all. He would wake up so frequently and violently that he was tested for sleep apnea. At a hearing test ordered by our doctor- which he aced- we were advised to seek professional diagnostic treatment for developmental issues. Smiley as ever he went through his diagnostic analysis as ordered. He had a significant speech delay and a delay in cognition of language. He struggled with attention and communication. He would easily lose attention while working with others and has a very difficult time following verbal-only directions. Initially we were informed Eamon had different sensory "needs" than most children. In other words "sensory processing disorder"... 

Not really a "disorder" (i dislike that term strongly) but more appropriately called sensory "difference." Eamon sees, hears, tastes, smells, and MOST importantly feels the world diffetently than you or I. Like a bloodhound Eamon senses things very strongly- but on the other side of this is a decreased sensory prception in other areas. Eamon made amazing progress with an Occupational Therapist- she was a gift from God. 

Eamon become a new man. He needs a much more significant input of physical activity (heavy work) than most children. He sleeps with a blanket that is weighted, carries gallons of milk when he gets up in the morning when he gets up to align his nervous system. If a toddler could work in construction- he would :-) 

The pressure and exertion of these activities are "needs" for his little body and brain. Like trying to read in dim light, eamon needs to meet these sensory needs to be able to develop. It was amazing to see his language rapidly improve as we learned the methods of sensory integration he needed. He routinely needs to be "brushed" across his back throughout the day- like a little puppy- to help him stay focused. As weird as it looks for me to be brushing across eamon's back with a surgical wash brush (gentle plastic bristles) he absolutely needs it. Its like his "smoke break" he needs to reset his little senses ;-) It was described to us as if we had a huge itchy yucky tag on the back of our shirt- think like An itchy big thing hanging down your neck and back- but were being told to sit still concentrate and work your way through some lovely algebra. You would lose it! Thats what Eamon feels nearly all of the time without intervention. 

So we have been learning a lot. Since about 20 months Eamon has had bi-weekly therapy and learning sessions. He does wonderfully. They include the parents in the therapy so we can learn how to help him whenever he needs. He has improved significantly. He is able to sleep and has improved drastically at communication. His vocabulary is rapidly expanding more like a traditional child. 

At age 3 wisconsin offers evaluation and educational assessments for children that have developmental differences. Eamon had an evaluation in mid May. 

I was very excited and expecting a wonderful result. He has been doing so well verbally, he has been able to attend to activities and even sleeps here and there ;-) 

But at the followup of the evaluation we recieved a bit of a shock. The teachers, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists were absolutely wonderful. Such sweet women- they all interacted with eachother like the little fairies from Sleeping Beauty. 

We thought their demeanor was a bit more serious than the evaluation. Maybe it has been a long day? I thought. 

We were handed pamphlets and piles of wonderful information. I felt frozen when i was hearing them using all of the technical explanations for their results. All I could see was the "A" word I had been dreading plastered on the front of the materials. 

Eamon has been identified as being on the Autism Spectrum. I had a very hard time listening through the rest of the meeting. Eamon was giggling and playing with one of the millions of toys in the room- and all i can feel is "no, that can't be right." 

I tried to deal with this scary word andcwhat it might mean the way I deal with everything- READ! I have been researching, reading, and watching anything I can. The more i learn... The more hope i have. Eamon is not at all what anyone pictures when they hear "Autism." It is unlikely many people would percieve him as diffetent in any way during an encounter.

He is extremely bright- he can read basic words and has a HUGE aptitude for memorization. But he has challenges that are harder to see. He has trouble in groups or with verbal directions. He is very habitual and can become completely panicked when there are changes or unexpected things in his environment. Socialization can be tough for him. ohher children are unpredictable. His sensory disorder can make his ability to sit still or listen quite limited. He has so many marvelous skills and aptitudes that can be used to help him learn the other skills so many children just have naturally. He will be attending a specialised school this fall. His teacher is amazing. They have VERY high expectations of Eamon. His academic skills are strong. But it will be an environment that can accomodate and understand his challenges. I'm very grateful he has that opportunity. 

So, we have been adjusting and learning as much as we can to be the parents he needs. He is a wonderful amazing little child I'm so grateful to have and to love. I know he will become an amazing young man and love learning. He is such a blessing. 

So thats just a snippet of little Eamon's life so far. I just wanted to share this with you all. I'm so excited for you all to meet him. I haven't really shared this with anyone except my Mom and sister. I don't want people to think differently of Eamon or reduce expectations of him because he learns differently. But I also want people to know how hard he works and what types of challenges he has faced. I love him and am so proud to be his "bragging" Mama :-)