When did we first notice things about Robert that were different? When he was an infant. Looking back on those early hours, days, weeks and months all of the signs were there. What have we done differently since the diagnosis? Not much! We did a dairy free diet after he had his adenoids removed and ear tubes put in in March 2013 but that was under the recommendation of his ENT. Dairy creates more mucous and he wanted us to eliminate it for a few weeks. What therapies does Robert receive? In the early months (at about 5 months adjusted) he had physical therapy. That lasted until he walked at 13 months old. Robert really wanted to walk before crawling. He army crawled until 12 months and 3 weeks, crawled on hands and knees for 1 week and started walking. His physical therapist, Amy, really wanted him to crawl correctly before walking so we tried everything to get his belly off the ground. We started Early Intervention in August of 2012. At that point it was recommended that Robert receive Occupational Therapy twice a week, Developmental Therapy once a week and Speech Therapy once a week. We still do all of those therapies but we added an additional day of Speech and a dietician. So, he currently does some type of therapy 5 times per week. The twins turn 3 on January 15th and that's when they will 'age out' of early intervention and school will take over. We have our first IEP meeting with their preschool on January 8th. I'm excited and nervous for them to start preschool. I'm more concerned for Robert.
What does Robert do that 'screams' Autism? Unless you witness a meltdown you would probably just think he's a shy, quiet kid. He doesn't flap or toe walk. He doesn't rock. He does wave objects passed his face to look at them out of the corners of his eyes and he hums while he's doing it. Some of his favorite items to do that with are NAPKINS! Cheapest thing ever. They have to be crumpled just so. He's also a huge fan of sticks! Is Robert verbal? Yes, to an extent. He has several single words and a few multi-word phrases. He talks very quietly and we often aren't sure what he's saying. The other day while he was sitting on my lap he was saying something that I didn't understand. After listening to him, I heard the same thing on the TV. He was saying "Don't go away. There's more to come here on Sprout." That is called echolalia. Echoing phrases he hears on TV. Some echo other people. Robert doesn't line stuff up and he doesn't have OCD. < that's where Ronan comes in. (tomorrow will be all about Ronan) Robert has a weighted compression vest and we also have a trampoline and a sensory swing that hangs in their bedroom. I would love to get him a weighted blanket but they are pretty darn expensive and not covered by insurance.
Robert is a cuddly kid who loves his blankie, sitting in the recliner with mom and watching the Sprout Channel. He's a big fan of Elmo, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Tree Fu Tom, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and most recently, Power Rangers. Robert taught himself the alphabet at 2 years old, numbers to 20 and also knows about 10 states on the map. I will ask where's Illinois and he will point to it. Where's California? He will point to it. He also will point to states he doesn't know so I will tell him what it is. After a few times doing that, he memorizes that state. Robert loves books and storytime. He will pick a book and bring it to Dad to read. Sometimes its the same book over and over and my husband will tell him to pick another book and he will. Robert is a very picky eater. He used to eat pasta and garlic bread then it dropped to just the garlic bread now he doesn't eat either. He also used to eat cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now it's no cheese at all and just jelly sandwiches. Currently his list of foods is very short. He does food therapy with our speech therapist Carrie on Thursday's. Foods: Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (sometimes with milk, sometimes without), jelly sandwiches, McDonalds chicken McNuggets or Tyson chicken nuggets only - not chicken tenders, dinosaur shaped nuggets or any other brand - Plum Organics fruit and veggie shreds, Welchs fruit snacks (no other brand), GREEN apples (not red or yellow), GREEN grapes, white grape juice, chocolate milk (which I supplement with a half a bottle of Pediasure), Fish Crackers, CheezIts, Popcorn (but he can't have much or he gets diaper rash), chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni (no other rice - not white, not chicken fried rice - just Rice-A-Roni) and BACON. Bacon is the only protein he gets other than chicken nuggets. He's pretty small - only 26 pounds and his twin is teetering on 38 pounds. He used to eat hot dogs and steak and pork chops and mac and cheese and all that is a NO now.
Robert has the cutest little voice. He talks very softly unless he's having a meltdown - then his screams are ear piercing. Some of my favorite words and phrases he says are: you betcha, sweet dreams, No hit (he constantly tells Ronan no hit while he's in fact hitting Ronan. I know I shouldn't laugh, but it's kind of funny), stop that, oh Gilbert (our cats name is Diamond but Callious cats name is Gilbert so our cat is now Gilbert), Oh Rosy (aka Roni aka Ronan), IDEA he says idea a lot when he wants something and my personal favorite HELP. Of course that wasn't really a favorite when we were sitting the car with the windows down on a beautiful summer day waiting for my oldest son Jadin to get out of the Ortho office. Robert screamed Help repeatedly because he wanted out of car and there were a gazillion people walking by. I'm thankful no one came to his 'rescue'! The other day he wanted a lollipop and he already had some so I said no. He then said Idea - lollipop! Yep, he got another lollipop. There is also a difference between a lollipop and a sucker. A lollipop is a SafT brand sucker while a sucker is a Dum Dum brand sucker. He does not like any other kind.
He loves baths and water. He hates haircuts and having his nails cut. He hates the sound of the blender, blow dryer and the KitchenAid mixer. He loves to watch the vacuum though. When it's time for bed or he's tired, he tells us night night - he's ready for bed. He likes his sleep! Most ASD kids do not sleep. We are fortunate. He hates diaper changes and makes zero attempts to potty train.
That's it for now. I hope I've summed up Robert for you all. Have a great day!!
