Spectrum Moms Take on The World! Our Last Day...Multiple Posts!

[oregonmommyof2]

This PTR is too much fun... I like it...

 

[mousescrapper]

Her love of Disney is as long as I can remember. The ‘theme’ in her room as an infant was Winnie the Pooh. She gravitated to Pooh Bear and especially Mickey and Minnie as a toddler and then expanded to princesses, especially Snow White as she got a little older. Halloween costumes were always Snow White year after year and her Barbie collection always grew with a new Snow White or Cinderella each birthday.


At home – in her school, while grocery shopping, while at the park, etc, her quirks and her reactions to things that make her happy draw stares of puzzlement. People for the most part aren’t trying to be mean; they just stare and usually don’t know what to do. It makes me defensive and a little sad and sometimes I feel like a broken record explaining her actions.


In Disney, Ariana can be herself. It’s her heaven on earth. Her favorite things and her favorite characters in her favorite place, her favorite World. Not only do I not have to explain anything to anyone, it is welcomed and expected. It brings smiles to people’s faces, not perplexity. Ariana is free to laugh loudly and compulsively dance and give hugs and jump up and down in excitement…. and just be herself. My little banana girl is not an outsider looking in or doing her own thing separate from everyone else. She actively participates and is a part of everything. She fits in. I don’t know that I’m explaining it well enough…. but there you are.

That’s my little banana girl.

thank you Tracy


PS: the twins & Rachel also had classic WTP nurseries....Naomi-Ruth share w/ Rachel now in our current home and of course it's a Princess room....

I am excited to hear all about your adventures. I am mom to a dd7 with Asperger's so I can totally relate to all of you needing some fun "grown up" time! Looking forward to the report!

thanks for saying hi and reading along...

This PTR is too much fun... I like it...

Hi and lots more good stuff to come....

 

[JPFamilyMom]

And we have a winner! Thank you oregonmommyof2 for playing!!

Number 31 is Spectrum Mom Tracy!!!!

You'll hear about her prize in a PTR update.​

We'll play another game day after I mow the lawn .... LOL

Man...that was fast...

 

[MEK]

Kathy and Moms -

Just stumbled across your PTR and I must say I am excited for all of you. I think this trip is going to be great and I know you will all have a wonderful time, I look forward to reading more.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I am LOVING this PTR!!

What a wonderful idea to take this trip! I am excited for you all and can't wait to hear all about it...

Hi Toni! Thanks for coming over!

Beautifully said!!! Disney is a magical place, isn't it?

Very much so!

And we have a winner! Thank you oregonmommyof2 for playing!!

Number 31 is Spectrum Mom Tracy!!!!

You'll hear about her prize in a PTR update.​

We'll play another game day after I mow the lawn .... LOL

This PTR is too much fun... I like it...

PS: the twins & Rachel also had classic WTP nurseries....Naomi-Ruth share w/ Rachel now in our current home and of course it's a Princess room....

Ariana's room now is a pale pink with a very girlie pink crystal chandelier, pink princess netting over her bed and a castle mural on the wall. Such fun we had picking all that out!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Ready for Round 2????

Same rules as last time: I'm going to post two numbers below (they are 2 digit numbers). You pick one number and post it. The first post after this will be the winner. This time each number represents a pair of Moms.



17

23



​

 

[mrsksomeday]

23

 

[MRYPPNS]

We have another winner! Actually two winners...... # 23 is Kathy and Tracy!!!! Tracy (Mickeys_Mom) is on a roll today!!!!!!


Too funny that our games players were Tracy and Toni, who will be in WDW in December together.
Thanks MrsK for playing

 

[Dancind]

I'm subscribing, can't wait to hear about the trip. How I wish I had found a group like this about ten years ago! I now need a support group for Moms of college age kids with Aspergers.

We did lots of WDW therapy, and I know it made a difference. I'm looking forward to that book, Kathy.

Kidani is perfect for this group. I think you will all be able to get into the master bath at the same time, but you might want to bring some extra lights. I'm a little night blind anyway, but I thought that bathroom was unusually dark!

 

[KathyRN137]

Wait until you find out what our "prizes" are!!

I will let MRYPPNS do the reveal since it was her brainchild...


Kathy

New Post: "Spectrum Moms"
http://wdwadventuresinautism.blogspot.com/
/

 

[mrsksomeday]

We have another winner! Actually two winners...... # 23 is Kathy and Tracy!!!! Tracy (Mickeys_Mom) is on a roll today!!!!!!


Too funny that our games players were Tracy and Toni, who will be in WDW in December together.
Thanks MrsK for playing

YAY!! Tracy is lucky today.

It is funny about Toni and I playing. We often joke that we share a brain, we tend to say the same things at the same time a lot .

 

[eandesmom]

rats I missed a game while I was writing my update! Wah... can't wait ot see what the prizes are!

 

[mousescrapper]

Ariana's room now is a pale pink with a very girlie pink crystal chandelier, pink princess netting over her bed and a castle mural on the wall. Such fun we had picking all that out!

I love girl's rooms, especially girly girl rooms...rachel and Naomi-Ruth have a combo of pinks and blues (think Aurora's color changing dress) and Rachel has a netting over her bed too....

I'm subscribing, can't wait to hear about the trip. How I wish I had found a group like this about ten years ago! I now need a support group for Moms of college age kids with Aspergers.

We did lots of WDW therapy, and I know it made a difference. I'm looking forward to that book, Kathy.

Kidani is perfect for this group. I think you will all be able to get into the master bath at the same time, but you might want to bring some extra lights. I'm a little night blind anyway, but I thought that bathroom was unusually dark!

thanks for joining in....I am just overwhelmed w/ the great outpouring of Mom's just like myself and my 6 special friends...this really will be a great group effort...from our 7 stories, Kathy's writing and all of the extended Dis support...

thanks for the tip too...2 of the gals have stayed here before too

Wait until you find out what our "prizes" are!!

I will let MRYPPNS do the reveal since it was her brainchild...


Kathy

that's what I was thinking....

 

[jenjolt]

I'm loving this PTR, you ladies are so much fun! I can't wait to meet you all!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Tracy, your story about Arianna literally brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your precious daughter with us!

Darn! I missed 2 games! I'll have to hang around on the DIS more often. (Like I need another reason. )

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi all! What a fun contest Heidi came up with! We'll be sharing what it all mean in the next couple days.

In the meantime... since I've been working on writing up this update for about three days, I'll share our piece of the puzzle & a little bit more about my boys.

Our story starts back in 2000 when Alex was born. We thought he was developing normally until around a year, when his language development stopped. He had a word or two, but never gained any more. Around 15 months we sought an early intervention (EI) evaluation. He was found eligible and started receiving weekly speech therapy. Shortly after his second birthday we received the PDD-NOS diagnosis. We added all sorts of therapy, more speech therapy, private & EI occupational therapy and ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy. We sought out special doctors to try special diets & alternative therapies. Everything we heard about autism was that the early years were the most important. So we put all of our efforts over the next few years into providing him with every opportunity possible.

Zach came along a few months after Alex’s diagnosis. We watched him like a hawk, knowing that autism is much more likely in the sibling of a child with autism, especially in boys. We had him evaluated through early intervention at 18 months and again just before he turned three. We were seeing some red flags that concerned us (less than perfect eye contact, significant meltdowns) but they assured us that he was developing normally.

Fast forward to 2006, we decided we needed a break, a vacation! Tim’s brother, Jeff, had moved to Florida with his family a while before so we decided to plan a visit. And while we were there, why not spend a couple days at Walt Disney World!! I had heard about a special thing they did for kids with autism at a seminar I had attended a few months before. After some investigating the GAC, we decided to give it a try! In March of 2006 we took the kids for their first visit to WDW. (Well that’s not exactly true because we had taken Alex as a baby…) We all had a really good time. I don’t know that it was magical, but it was a nice vacation.

I continued to look back on that trip with fond memories. Those were hard to come by during that time period and I wanted more. So I started looking into another trip. Alex was entering first grade so we didn’t want to miss much school. School had a four day weekend for Columbus Day so in October of 2007 we were going back! This is when I discovered the DIS. I was doing some more research for our trip. Our 2006 trip was only two days. This trip was going to be a full week – at least five days or so. This is what I consider our first “real” Disney vacation. I had a lot to learn. This was when I “met” Kathy. I was googling “Walt Disney World & autism” and her first Adventures in Autism report popped up. I was immediately sucked in! Shortly thereafter I “met” Julie & Heidi. I took my experiences visiting WDW before kids & during our short 2006 trip and added so much more from the DIS. In the process, I started making some great friendships.

We have had two return trips since 2007, in 2009 & 2010. Every trip seemed more magical.

This brings us to this year. This summer Zachary was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was a long road getting here and I feel like it’s more of a victory than a defeat. Zach has faced challanges socially & emotionally for a few years now… the diagnosis will help us get him additional services that he needs.

Over the years Alex has made great strides! He needed a 1:1 aide by his side throughout his early years at school, was a runner & could be gone in the blink of an eye, had a significant speech delay and was almost always in his own world. Now he is almost ten years old and the last school year was an amazing year (third grade). He decided he would stop wearing pull ups to bed & did so successfully. He decided he would learn to shower on his own & he did. Once he gets his mind set on something, he seems to be able to get it done! He is an athlete and wants to play along with any sport, even though he always the smallest kid on the field. His mouth is what usually gets him into trouble. He tends to seek attention & can’t differentiate between positive & negative. He has to get the last word in ALWAYS… they call it Oppositional Defiant Disorder. He is like having a little teenager around all the time! This year he enters fourth grade without an aide. He no longer has math on his IEP, but continues to have challenges with reading comprehension. He has worked so hard and has almost caught up with his peers, but I worry that as kids transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" and text books get thicker and thicker, he'll fall behind even more. I'm also deathly afraid of middle school... luckily we have two more years of elementary school before then.

Zach’s challenges are very different. He developed much more like neurotypical kids. As I mentioned earlier, we saw some red flags early but the majority of his issues didn’t pop up until late preschool. He was misunderstanding other kids, thinking they didn’t want to play with him or that they were teasing him when they were just laughing at something unrelated like a joke. He has serious emotional swings. Every day is either the “Best Day Ever” or the “Worst Day Ever.” He also has a lot of sensory issues – something we don’t really see in Alex. Zach has come a long way too. He was in OT for about a year and has been seeing a psychologist for almost two years. He is much more aware of his issues and how to deal with them. Just the other day he reminded me how difficult the start of kindergarten was last year. I asked him if he was worried that he would cry on the first day of first grade. He replied with, “No, remember I’m strong now mom. Remember Mrs. K (his kindergarten teacher) said that at graduation?” I almost cried. He really is much stronger and much more aware of his needs, and able to express how he is feeling. And I'm so grateful for that.

Here are some pictures of my boys from our last WDW trip:
Me & the family:

Alex (or Alexander as he now likes to be called):

Zach:

After conquering ToT last year:

So why is WDW so addictive to our family? It’s simple… it really is a special place. Our kids can yell and scream with excitement or even have a meltdown and it’s totally normal. Zach can wear his headphones if something is too loud, and nobody cares. It’s more than just the accomodations that WDW offers. There are other parks out there that offer line accommodations to families like us, but the magic isn’t the same. At WDW everyone is happy and there are special moments everywhere! It has to be magic because it’s unduplicated elsewhere!

 

[MaryAz]

Tracy and Amy-thank you so much for sharing both your stories. Amy, I have loved reading all your TR's. I am very excited about seeing what the prizes for the numbers game are!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Tracy and Amy-thank you so much for sharing both your stories. Amy, I have loved reading all your TR's. I am very excited about seeing what the prizes for the numbers game are!!

Thanks Mary!! Glad you are reading along! You'll get a good chuckle about the numbers game... and we're going to come up with some more games to keep this fun.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I'm sorry if my replies seem to be to some and not others.... I'm currently battling internet issues and replies occasionally disappear....

***********************

Around 15 months we sought an early intervention (EI) evaluation. He was found eligible and started receiving weekly speech therapy. Shortly after his second birthday we received the PDD-NOS diagnosis. We added all sorts of therapy, more speech therapy, private & EI occupational therapy and ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy. We sought out special doctors to try special diets & alternative therapies. Everything we heard about autism was that the early years were the most important. So we put all of our efforts over the next few years into providing him with every opportunity possible.

Such early intervention! Incredible!

Zach came along a few months after Alex’s diagnosis. We watched him like a hawk, knowing that autism is much more likely in the sibling of a child with autism, especially in boys.

At five years old, I'm still looking for signs in Demetri. I think a part of me always will.

This summer Zachary was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was a long road getting here and I feel like it’s more of a victory than a defeat.

He has to get the last word in ALWAYS… they call it Oppositional Defiant Disorder. He is like having a little teenager around all the time!

Zach’s challenges are very different. He developed much more like neurotypical kids. As I mentioned earlier, we saw some red flags early but the majority of his issues didn’t pop up until late preschool. He was misunderstanding other kids, thinking they didn’t want to play with him or that they were teasing him when they were just laughing at something unrelated like a joke.

Social cues are so difficult to teach to Ariana. She understands what the expressions mean, she just doesn't know how to apply them to conversations.

I asked him if he was worried that he would cry on the first day of first grade. He replied with, “No, remember I’m strong now mom. Remember Mrs. K (his kindergarten teacher) said that at graduation?” I almost cried.

Where is mrsksomeday's kleenex smilie when you need it? Such a big boy thing to say...

 

[jenjolt]

Awwww...Amy thank you so much for sharing your story!!! Your boys are amazing, as are you!!!!!