Insurance, Insurance

What a shock it was for me to get a letter back in October telling me that Kevin aged out of the Insurance Program that he was in here in North Carolina.  BUT! It was an even bigger shock when I went over to the pharmacy to ask them how much his medication would be without insurance.  Well over $900 a month.  So with that thought I applied for Medicaid for him.  After waiting and getting requests for the same documents 3 times I was finally able to get someone on the phone.  Sad to say that I understood more things than they did, maybe I've just been doing this longer.  Anyway, at the end of the conversation they found that he wouldn't qualify for Medicaid either. Let me explain one thing here. If he got $1 of SSI (Supplemental Security Income) then he would have qualified automatically for Medicaid. He doesn't qualify for SSI anymore due to our income.  Some of my friends and family were rather surprised by that because Kevin is disable by the state.  The truth is you can be disable, but still have an income.  That's the loop hole for Kevin.  He and I make just a little too much to qualify for Medicaid.  My income counts because he lives with me and I am his guardian. In the end I had no choice, but to see how the Affordable Health Care site worked.  I found that I qualified for a tax credit, but that kind of scared me because it said I most likely wouldn't get a refund on my income tax return if I used the whole tax credit. I like my refund. It's kind of like Christmas in April for me, so first I checked to see how much the payments would be if I didn't use the tax credit. Over $600 a month and if you have never paid for private insurance I'm sure the amount would be a shock to you.  I did once and could afford to keep it, so $600 for insurance is better than over $900 for medication, but still way too high. Oh and watch out for the deductible. Make sure you can afford to pay both the insurance payments and any medical bills until that deductible is met.  In the end I used half of the tax credit and prayed. With that it cut the payments down to something I could work with and not have a huge deductible.  On top of that I added myself to the insurance, which is something I haven't had in years.  I'll give it a year to see how it works out for us.  As for Garrett he is still covered until he turns 19 unless something changes with that.  Lets all hope and pray that 2014 is a great year for all of us.  Better yet it Will Be a Better Year!  Think positive folks.

  

Understanding Kevin

Sometimes it's very hard to explain Kevin's abilities to people.  On the outside they see a 19 year old young man that doesn't talk very much, unless you're trying to take a nap.  It's even harder to explain to people that he is at times very aware of what you are saying or doing. Often it's not the words, but the way you represent yourself.  Recently I had a problem on the school bus with the assistant wanting to block him from standing up in the aisle before the bus stopped.  I completely understand  why she was doing it, but it was the way she was doing it that was causing the problem.  To him she was bullying him and he flat out told her to get out of his way.  The last thing I want is for my son to be rude to people, but I can understand why he reacted the way he did.  When the assistant told me that I need to have a talk with my son about staying in his sit I explained to her that I do that almost every time he gets off the bus, because I'm watching him as the bus approaches.   I suggested they take another approach by asking him to wait.  I also asked his teacher to help with explaining to them how Kevin reacts to the way people approach him and to see if she can help find a better solution for them.  I thought it was a wise choice asking for her help, because she gets to spend more time with them at school than I do here at the bus stop.  How she approached them was to explain that Kevin has an intelligent score of 110.  What she was trying to do was make them realize that Kevin had no mental retardation and most likely takes in a lot around him.  She wanted them to treat him with respect and they have been since she talked to them.  Now they seem to be in awe of my son.  Why wouldn't they after hearing he has an intelligent score of 110.  The average score for most of us is between 90-109 or something like that.  You can google it if you want to. LOL Well, the problem with telling them this is first that test was done back in the 5th grade and it was a non-verbal test.  Kevin is now in the 12th grade and was tested not to long ago on another type of test to show where he stands age wise and grade wise.  This was the Woodcock-Johnson III and the one that was done back in 5th grade was the Lieter Scale.   The WJ III test showed that he falls in the grade range of 1st grade and the age level is between 6 to 7 yrs old, which I believe shows the true Kevin.  So, now the people on the bus love Kevin and we have a new problem.  On Halloween they thought it would be nice to pass out candy and Kevin walked off the bus with an empty wrapper for Peanut M&M candy.  I was floored to say the least.  Dairy impedes Kevin from focusing.  I had a feeling that someone on the bus gave it to him, because his teacher fully understands his diet and supports it all the way.  So, I stopped Kevin in the middle of the yard knowing that they were watching us as they pulled away.  I held up the wrapper and asked Kevin if he ate it.  I held it up so they could see what I was doing.  Over my shoulder I could hear the bus stopping and a window coming down.  The assistant called out to me "Can he not have Chocolate?"  I called back NO, No Dairy of any kind.  They said they were sorry and I'm sure we'll have a conversation about it come Monday.  I called his teacher to tell her about what happened and once again she will talk to them while they are loading the kids at school.  I have 2 ID tags on Kevin.  One is from the school and the other is one I made last year with my phone number and my brother's phone number, along with an explanation that he's Autistic and his can't have Wheat, Rye, Barley or Dairy.  What amazed me was they gave someone PEANUTS.  OK, I'm not going to get rude here.  They meant well and were enjoying the Halloween Holiday.  It sadden me that I had to stop my son in the yard like that and ask him if he ate the candy.  It's not his fault that if you hand him something to eat he"ll eat it.  Ok, some stuff he'll gag while he's eating it, but he'll still take it.  My point is my son has feelings no matter how he's scored on any test.  The last thing I want to do is make him feel like I'm scolding him for something that in truth he did naturally.

On a much lighter note.  Speaking of my sons feeling he and his friend from last year have been able to see and spend time together at a couple of Special Olympic Events already this year.  The first time they saw each other his teacher said they gave each other a great big hug.  Big smile when I think of that.  At the last event they ate their lunch together.  She was sitting by herself and Kevin's teacher asked Kevin if he wanted to join her.  Kevin scooped up his lunch and ran right over to where she was sitting.  They are so cute together and it thrills me that my son has formed a friendship with someone outside of the family. Aren't they cute?

What a Character

Kevin just had us cracking up.  Every so often his brother will decide to make himself a snack in the kitchen and today when he looked up there was Kevin watching everything he was doing.  So just to mess with Kevin he took his snack into the office to try to pretend he was hiding it from Kevin. No, Kevin wasn't having any of that.  He followed him to the office.  What Garrett was making was some Peanut Butter Icing from a small amount of Vanilla Icing I had left over from last night. In the end Garrett gave some to Kevin, but I have to tell you it was fun to watch.  The best part is realizing that Kevin is more and more aware of what's going on around him.

The other thing Kevin does is if you try to take a nap in the recliner he'll call to you. It doesn't matter who you are.  If your eyes start to close he'll say Grammy, Jeff or Mommy.  No sleeping on his time.  It's just nice that he's like this now.  There was a time when he didn't pay attention to anything going on around him.  He'd sit there in his own little world. Not anymore!  He just came down here in the office to see what I'm doing right now.  LOL That could be because it's getting close to dinner time.

I had a moment today to realize how far we have come since starting the Gluten Free Diet and then next the Casein Free Diet.  I'm thankful everyday that I decide to go this route with him.  It was overwhelming the first few months, but once I realized I couldn't change his world in one day I started to relax a lot more.  I'm so glad that there's some much more information and products out there for new parents looking into these diets to help their own children.  I can't imagine how hard this would have been to do when he was first diagnosed Autistic.  He'll be 19 this year, so that was what about 16 years ago. Where does time go and why does it fly by so fast?

1st Week of School Done

What an awesome week we've had!  The boys are back in school and this week has gone by fast.  Kevin is at a new high school this year due to the program being closed at his old school.  I took Kevin with me the Friday before school started to drop off his medication that he needs during the afternoon.  While we were there we got to meet his new teacher.  I think I lucked out.  I don't have to explain Gluten Free or Casein Free for the first time in years.  His new teacher is on a similar diet herself, so no crash course for her.  Another big plus, the two assistants from his classroom last year have been transferred to his classroom.  I talked to Mr. T on the  phone the first day of school while he was outside waiting with the car riders. He wanted to see if I was picking Kevin up like I did last year or was he riding the bus.  While talking to Mr. T he said Kevin saw him when he got off the bus that morning and gave him a big hug.  I already knew that Mr. T is one of Kevin's favorites, but that just proved it even more.  Ms. Jones the other assistant wrote in Kevin's communication notebook that he's been answering questions from the work board and he's been getting most of the answers right. Yeah Kevin!  He loves school and when he finishes I just hope his CAP (Client Assistance Program) has kicked in.  There are other things I want to do when the boys both finish high school, but that's a ways off right now and something to think about as time goes on.  Right now I'll worry about this school year and helping both boys have the best year possible.

Angel watching for Kevin

So far having both boys at two different schools getting out at the same time hasn't been a problem.  Let just hope I didn't jinx myself there.

Very Happy Kevin

PS: Sorry no picture of Garrett. He was already in his cave. LOL

Short Vacation

This summer I had planned on doing several things with the boys, but one thing after another changed my schedule.  We did get away for a long weekend to my sisters house in Ormond Beach, FL.  Nothing like a day relaxing on the beach.

Kevin ready for the sun

Garrett and his cousin Cody heading out to the sandbar

Vacationing with someone that's on a gluten free diet can be hard, but when you throw a casein free diet in the mix it gets even harder.  Thankfully we were heading to my sister house, so I didn't have to worry about much of anything.  For the road trip down and back I took lunch meat and made sandwiches at the rest areas.  Plus we had simple snacks for in the car just in case anyone got hungry. During our stay at my sisters I already knew where the local heath food store was located, so that was the first stop in town when we got there. The only mistake I made was one night running to the health food store to get Kevin a frozen pizza and not getting one that was gluten free.  Slap my head!  When I got back to the house with it I realized I didn't check for gluten free.  I was so caught up in looking for one that was dairy free that I didn't check for gluten free on the box.  Luckily I had just bought it and Holly, my sister, called them to make sure they'd take it back when I went back to the store.  LOL I had no choice but to go back for another pizza, but we weren't sure if they would take the one I'd just bought back.  The manager did check it to make sure it was still cold before ringing up the return.  Thankfully I had one of the hot/cold shopping bags with me when I bought it and in the end things fell into place.  Kevin and I had pizza along with everyone else.

It was nice getting away for a few days even if it was just for a long weekend.  I needed a break from the house and the boys needed to get out of the house.

Guardian of the Person

Today I was sworn in as Kevin’s Legal Guardian.   Yes, I actually put my hand on a bible during the process.  I had two choices for being sworn in and I chose to have it done on the bible.   I cannot describe to you how it felt to have my son declared Incompetent.  I know I’ll hear a lot of “You did the right thing for him” and so on, but that is not what I’m talking about.  I know I did the right thing for him.  Kevin can’t make decisions about medical care, educational choices and in the future choices for after school programs.   Some people feel a sense of loss when they find out that they have an Autism child.  I didn't only because one of the first things his doctor said to us was “He can be taught”.  I thought okay that’s something to build on.  I never thought at that time that I’d have him declared incompetent.  During the hearing I never gave any of it a thought until the very end when the Judge said yes he will be declared incompetent.  That brought tears to my eyes.  Thankfully, the Judge also recognized and remarked on how hard it is for a parent to make this decision.  It was hard to come to terms with.  Kevin’s father and I discussed it months before he passed away.   He knew that the term incompetent really bothered me and I think he understood how I felt about it.

Why did I do it you ask, well let me tell you.  If you have a child that is handicapped like Kevin and when they turn 18 then you will not be able to make any of the decision for him or her.  As it is I've been working with his Doctors and Case Workers for so long now that they have looked to me for answers to their questions without thought.  They know he can’t answer them, but one of these days I would have hit a brick wall without that document.  I was very lucky to have someone as my legal representative and to guide me through the process.  Yes, you can do it on your own, but it will take longer and as I found out you will make mistakes on the paperwork.  I tried to address this myself at first, but in the end after feeling so much stress with the emotions of the process I opted to have someone help me.  There are some things you will be asked to present to prove their incompetency.  For Kevin it was reports from his doctors showing that he is in fact Autistic.  The other was his IEP plan (Individualized Education Program).  I also had a report from a test that showed Kevin’s abilities levels.  The one thing I just happened to have with me was his social security number.  I needed it for the last form I filled out before being sworn in.  That is something I never carry with me and I just decided at the last minute to put it in my wallet.  Kevin himself had a representative appointed by the court and she came by the house to interview me and meet Kevin.  At the end of my meeting she asked me for documents from his doctor’s and his IEP.  I was not prepared for that.  We had just torn our office apart to remodel it (hopefully to make it a little more functional) and I had no idea where that stuff was at the time.  It took me a minute or two to dig them out and make copies for her to take with her, so be prepared when someone comes to the house to represent your child.

All of that is behind us now and we are off on a new adventure.  We are going to visit my sister and her family in Florida.  We can’t wait!  It’s time for a few minutes of R&R, if you ask me.  Where did July go, anyway?  I barely remember the 4^th of July.   I remember going to Michele’s and watching Kevin & Dylan bond once again.  Okay that put a smile on my face just now.  Then Garrett and Dylan did a little golfing in the backyard.  Okay, it may have been a little on the put-put side of golf, but they had fun.  Let’s not forget Cole.  Kevin thought he was something, which didn't surprise me.  Kevin likes babies, but Cole is getting to be more of a toddler now days.  These kids are growing on us fast!  I almost forgot! Yes, I am still Gluten Free myself.  Best thing I ever did for myself.

Garrett and Dylan

Kevin and Dylan

Little Man Cole

Friendships

Kevin developed a special friendship this year.  This was a big change for him.  He has never showed affection to anyone outside of the family other than hugging his respite worker whom he's known for years.  This friendship was with one of the girls in one of his classes that has Downs.  I think he's drawn to her because she quite and just seems to like him the way he is.  The sad thing is they won't be together next year at school.  The program at their school was closed and all the students are being moved to other schools.  She won't be going to the school that Kevin is assigned to for next year.  It was heart breaking the last few days of school knowing this.  I took Kevin in a few times the last week of school for meetings with his teacher and his friend's face would just light up when she saw him coming.  I decided to have Kevin give her one of his school pictures and from what I hear she basically did a happy dance when she saw it.

A week before the last week of school their class went on a picnic at one of the parks and I was told that the two just walked around the baseball field holding hands just enjoying each others company.  His teachers have all said the she seems to calm Kevin, too.  Interesting when you think about it.  I'm still hoping that she'll end up at his school next year.  You never know.

       

2013 Prom and Changes

First I want to say that Kevin had a wonderful time at the Special Prom at Rocky River High School.  I heard he danced!  Don't you just wish you could be a fly on the wall sometimes.  This year I decided to buy him a suit coat to wear.  The two of us went to Kohl's one day and he tried one a couple of different coats. I had thought of going by myself to get the coat, but changed my mind after measuring him.  Truthfully I'm so glad I took him.  It was so much fun to watch him look at himself in the mirror. You could tell that he was excited about wearing it.  In the end I had two coats that I couldn't decide on, so I held them up and said which one.  He picked the one I thought was the best one of the two. He has such good taste.  Next I mentioned that he'll need a belt. Off he went to the belts and pick one out before I could even look at them.  Thankfully there was one in his size.  Sure we could have picked another, but this was about his Prom Dance.

Prom 2013

I did buy a tie just in case we needed it, but instead of the tie he wore my Father's Bolo Tie that my Grandfather made years ago.  I think he had a lot of fun that day.  As for myself I was my usual self worrying. We had just changed his medication the day before, because he had been have problems at school again with getting really worked up.  One day his teacher called me and said we need his medication. When she brought him out to the car she was having a hard time getting him to the car.  The poor guy just couldn't stop swing his arms around and roaring.  He wanted to stop doing it, because he kept looking over at me. As for me I was trying to get the pill bottle open.  Don't you just hate those child proof caps!  Anyway, we got him in the car, gave him his medication and after a few minutes he started to relax.  I called his doctor, because this had been a growing problem for him this past month.  I kept holding off, because I wasn't sure if it was his medication or if he ate something he wasn't suppose to eat.  That's a hard thing to figure out at times.  In the end his doctor upped his medication and so far it looks like it was his medication that was giving him problems.  I know there are many parents out there that are against medication for their children, but in my opinion if it's needed then do it along with the diets.  The diets help to reduce the amount of medication that Kevin needs.  As for it having to be raised up, well I won't be to surprised if it stops working all together for him very soon.  Hopefully not, but I've seen it in the past.  Some of these medications will work for two years and then stop doing what they were meant to do.  After that they have to stay off of them for a year before they can be reintroduced.  I'm not in the medical field that's just been my experience in the past with my son.  Your child may very well react differently.

In The Blink of An Eye

That is so true. In the blink of an eye Kevin can go from having a wonderful day to throwing his arms all over the place with no control of himself.  That's what happened yesterday at school. His teacher called me 30 minutes before it was time to go pick him up and said we need you.  Thankfully my boss was in at work and I was out the door in a split second. Unfortunately I hit every red light on my way.  Go figure!  It took awhile but he calmed down and Gram was able to watch him for me while I went back to work.

Not sure what the cause was for yesterdays out burst at school. It could be anything to tell you the truth. He could have eaten something off the cafeteria table during breakfast or it could be because it's the end of the school year.  Things need get out of sync for these kids the last month of school. The teachers are in other rooms helping with testing and the schedules are often a little off for them. I'll just wait to see how he is after school is out. Beside he has an appointment coming up with his doctor and we can talk about it then.

As it is the past couple of days have been wonderful for him. He has even been coming outside on his own to eat dinner on the patio with Garrett and myself. Normally, I'll ask him if he wants to go out to the patio to eat with us and he'll say no.  He shocked me one day, because he came out and sat down in the patio chair just to hang out with me.  He's even been coming into the kitchen to see what I cooking for dinner.  I'm loving every minute of it!  Even the out of sync days for him, because I know he won't stay that way for long.

Manners

Yes, I have to teach my son a nice way to ask someone if he can sit in the chair they are in.  Kevin has been doing wonderful at school, but the other day he wanted to get on the computer that someone else was on.  What did he say to her?  "Get up."  Hmmm ... when the teacher told me that I thought that is something we need to work on.  Now as for the girl she did get up, but she was not happy with Kevin.  I don't blame her at all.  So when he came over to me while I was sitting in the recliner I knew what he wanted but I told him to to say please first.  No, he didn't say "get up" to me.  He just stood there staring at me.  The trick is with Kevin instructions have to be short and to the point or you will loose him right off the bat.  Shoot I have the same problem with my youngest son.  Anyway, today I'll be thinking up phrases that might work for him.

Going gluten free for myself.  I wasn't sure if I would notice a difference, but I really do.  One night I decided to have a couple of malt beverages and the next day I could not focus for nothing.  In a way I kind of understand what Kevin's world is like when he gets casein now.  Boy, I'm very glad I went gluten free.  I had to laugh at my youngest yesterday afternoon. He had me pick up a sandwich at a fast food place on my way home from the grocery store.  While he ate his lunch I made the Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Salad I just posted on my Aunt B's Blog.  He came in the kitchen and had this look of disappointment when he saw our lunch.  I just smiled and after I made Kevin's & my lunch I told Garrett I left a little chicken for him if he wanted it. You know he did.  It was gone before I could finish my salad.

Hmmm ... manners.  "Can I sit there?"  Short and to the point.

Yes, I Am ...

Kevin on Mother's Day 2010

Yes, I am going Gluten Free with Kevin. This is something I have thought about doing for such a long time, now.  I really fought myself on this, too.  There are so many things I will miss, but I really need to try this for not just Kevin, but for myself.  You see I've always had a problem with concentration and retaining things that I read.  But, lately it's getting worse for me.  The other day I went on my Facebook page to find a web site that I had posted on there last month. While I was scanning my home page I saw this one post and I just looked at it in amazement. I had no idea what I was trying to write there. The sentence made no sense at all.  There was no subject, so I couldn't even figure out what it was pertaining to.  I deleted it and thought wow I am really having more of a difficult time with focusing then I thought.  Granted last month was stressful for me, because it was my last month working part time out of the house. I was trying to make sure everything was in order for my boss when he took over my job.  The thing is I don't think it's just that alone that is effecting my concentration.  The day before yesterday I felt so foggy brained and I couldn't shake it.  I've had that feeling more than once, too.  I can't tell you how many times I've read about people with gluten intolerance & celiac disease feeling foggy and once they have removed the gluten it's like the fog has lifted for them. I have a friend and her brother who has celiac actually described it that way.  He had ADHD and found out by accident (a car accident in truth) while in the ER that he has celiac disease.  He said that after going gluten free it was like the fog had lifted for him and he didn't have any of the problems with the ADHD anymore.  Let me remind you that it takes months for you to heal from the damage that gluten can do to you, so if it's not working in a week remind yourself of that.  I'll be reminding myself, too.  Plus you have to stick to it. You can't do a little gluten here and a little gluten there. This is different than Kevin's addiction to gluten.  I had to wean him off of the gluten to help him to deal with the withdrawals. So, I'm going to be telling myself "stick to it girl."

In Kevin's case I think this will be great for him.  I've been wanting to get back to baking for him and if I'm eating what he is eating then I will know for sure how something actually tastes.  Yesterday I made Pizza and for the first time in a long while I made the pizza crust myself.  I want to work on the recipe a little more, but it really did taste good.  On my half I want cheese less.  Yeah, I know what is pizza without cheese!  It's good that's what it is. LOL  Truth is I'm use to cheese and Kevin is use to dairy free cheese. The taste is different and I haven't been able to adjust to it myself. Garrett, my youngest, says he really likes the dairy free cheese himself. Go figure.  Garrett will eat almost anything.  I do remember reading that if you are going to change to a dairy free cheese that you shouldn't eat any cheese for a while.  This way you don't really remember the taste of cheese. Huh, truthfully I think this works best with little children, because I think I'd remember the taste of cheese after all these years.  I don't plan on going dairy free myself or at least I hope I don't have to do it.  Anyway, back to going gluten free for myself. I was just sitting here making my grocery list and started to write down this soup that Garrett really likes and it's my favorite, too.  That's when it hit me!  I can't eat that soup anymore.  Well, I'll just have to make a gluten free version of it then.  Yes, a lot will change for me, but I think it will all be helpful to Kevin. Going to a restaurant will be interesting for me, but in the end I'll have a better picture in my mind of what I can order for Kevin if I should decide to take him there later.  Honestly, we don't do a lot of eating out with Kevin.  I'm too afraid of cross contamination issues even if I give him some GlutenEase during dinner, but there will be times when we will eat out such as vacations or to Biltmore Estates.  Oh boy, this will be interesting.

Rough Weekend

Kevin's Dragon

Yeah, we had a rough weekend with Kevin and I'm out of practice with this. It's been so long since he's been like this to tell you the truth. It started Friday when I picked him up at school. I noticed he was dragging his feet getting into the car and I was thinking it was because he was tired.  As soon as he got in the car I could tell it wasn't that at all.  I gave him his medication and dropped him and Garrett off at the house where their grandmother was waiting for us.  I had to get back to work, because I was the only there that afternoon. My boss had to go pick up her grandson after school herself.  Friday's are usually my days to be there, so she can have a half day off. So, when I dropped them off I asked Garrett to give him some tonic water to see if that would help Kevin.  I called to check on them and the tonic water along with the extra medication seemed to help him.  Saturday rolled around and it started all over again. At this point I knew the best thing to do was to keep flushing whatever he got out of his system and hope that's the answer to his problems. No extra medication on Saturday.  Sunday I was going to take Garrett out for some driving time, which he needs badly.  We went up to help my mother with putting her awing frame down on her trailer, which didn't turn out well at all, and Kevin started back up while we were there.  I ended up driving us back home, because when Kevin gets like this it's hard for Garrett to focus on driving.  We got back home and I ended giving him extra medication along with more tonic water.  Why keep giving him the tonic water you ask?  It takes time to flush out any Gluten or Casein he may have gotten in his system.  Did you know that tonic water helps with leg cramps? Back to Kevin.  If you remember when you first remove Gluten it takes several months to remove it completely and to allow the stomach to heal.  When he gets a small amount it's a setback and there's no telling how long it can take to help his stomach to heal again.  It can take a weekend, a week or even a month.  Casein isn't as bad and usually with Kevin it's out within a day or two. All of it depends on how much he gets. For Kevin (everyone is different on this) it takes about 4 hours for him to react to the gluten.  As far as I can tell Casein takes about the same amount of time, maybe a little less.  So, for today I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I sent him off to school giving him more tonic water this morning just to play it safe.

My Cartoonist

I know I haven't written anything in some time now. We had been going through some changes with Kevin's medication and I've just been really busy lately. I'll be starting a new adventure next month myself, but I'm not going to talk about that here. I'll post that later on my Aunt B's Kitchen and Garden blog.  As I said we went through a change in his medication. Thankfully it wasn't anything major. His doctor helped me adjust the Fanapt, because he was having issues mid afternoon. So far it looks like we may have worked though it for the most part.

Today he's hanging out with me at home. We're having a very quite and relaxing afternoon.  Kevin went with me to the grocery store this morning and I picked up a sketch pad for him. He loves to draw his animals.  It's amazing to watch him, because he just pulls the pen to the paper and it doesn't leave the paper until his animal is finished. One day I should take a video of him drawing, so you can see what I mean.  I use to always carry a little note pad in my purse for him and anytime we went to a restaurant I'd pull that out for him to keep him occupied while we waited for our food. He'd fill a notepad in one night, which is what he's doing now to the sketch pad.  I don't mind at all, because he's happy as can be right now. Most importantly he isn't bored hanging out with his mom.  LOL He just finished off the sketch pad.  So, your wondering why I don't carry the notepad in my purse anymore or maybe you just assume it has to do with Kevin's age. Nope, I just don't carry a purse anymore and Kevin usually has his Nintendo DS with him.  Believe it or not that thing does seem to be helping him with keeping his hands open more often.  It's become a great tool for him as it turns out.

I don't know if you can see his finished drawing or not, but he tells me it's a Lemur.  I think he said it was Mort from the Madagascar movies.

All in all things are going good here.  We got through the holidays and Kevin's class has started practice swimming for the next event coming up for school.  I plan on going to that event, so be ready to see some pictures in a month or so of his swimming event with Special Olympics for our schools here.

Ice Skating 2013

Kevin went to Special Olympics Ice Skating a few weeks ago and I'm finally getting around to telling you he came home with two silver medals. Yap two of them! I know I should have posted this sooner, but it just seemed like too much was going on at the time.

Thumbs Up!

I'm so proud if him.  I needed to find out from his teacher if he uses a walker or skates on his own. She said he does it on his own, but stays near the wall to help himself balance. WOW No walker. I'd need the walker myself. I've never ice skated. The interesting thing his teacher told me was that most of the kids do better ice skating than roller skating. I wonder what the difference is for them. Maybe because the blades don't move like the wheels on the skates. One of these days I'm going to go watch him Ice Skate. I really wanted to go this year, but it just so happens that was the week my car died. Next year for sure.

Goodbye Sir

Me and my boys

Sometimes you think Kevin isn't paying any attention at all and then out of the blue he says something like "Goodbye Sir."  Lately he's been having some issues late in the day. Nothing serious. Mostly not being able to focus and waving or stretching his arms around, which is not really any fun if your trying to drive.  Once or twice I've had to give him a 1/2 extra of Ativan, because he seemed to be getting a little wound up. Yesterday I even had my brother ask me if he had eaten something that he wasn't suppose to be eating. I told him not as far as I know, but he could be eating the crumbs off the table at school in the cafeteria. You'd think that even a small amount as that couldn't effect him, but sometimes I wonder. I do know of one child that ate just the corner of a cracker and had problems from just that small amount.  Anyway back to the "Goodbye Sir." The other day my brother and I picked up the boys at school and went to look at a car for me to drive. We took it out for a test drive and the longer we were there the more Kevin seemed to sink into his own little world.  You know how it is when you go to look at a car and want to talk about financing. It takes hours whether you actual buy the car or not and it did take hours for us. The later it got the more my brother and I keep looking over to see how Kevin was handling the whole thing. We finally left the dealership around 6pm and as we were walking out of the office Kevin looked up all of the sudden and said "Goodbye Sir." Needless to say we all looked at Kevin in shock.  I have no idea if it was the fact that we got up to leave the room or if he was really listening to us or not. So, remember that folks! They may seem like they aren't listening, but they just might be.