Carbon Monoxide - in our home?

12:04 am, we were woken to our Carbon Monoxide detector squealing the four consistent beeps - which, on the alarm says "move from area". Terry and I had two different first instincts - Terry first pulled the battery out of the smoke alarm (??), then stood by the Carbon Monoxide detector and covered it with his hand. I, on the other hand, had been sleeping a bit longer, and am more used to getting up and thinking immediately (due to Dawson's wacky nights), so I went to the detector and read what it said. Then I went over to Dawson to see if he was breathing.

Trying to get my whits together, I returned to Terry to say "Terry, it says we need to leave the area. Get dressed and lets go to the car." Grabbing Dawson's glasses on the way out, we quickly left the house and went to my sister and brother-in-law's a few blocks away. I have to admit I wasn't the most 'on top of it' either, because when we were almost there, I realized I hadn't buckled Dawson into his carseat.

With help from our local gas company, and a 24 hour health number, we got the situation under control. Yes, we did have a level of 0.25 of carbon monoxide in our house. Enough to make us feel weak, think somewhat cloudy, have a stomache ache, headache and unsteady. After some oxygen at our local ER, we were sent home.

God blessed us through this all - Dawson fell asleep at my sister's house almost immediately, and at the ER, was unusually well behaved and calm. We even got about 10 whifs of oxygen from the mask into him! When we returned home, he went to sleep like nothing had happened (quite a change from the 2:15am wake up-and stay up time at my parents last night!)

The obvious question is - What do we learn from this? First of all, buy a Carbon Monoxide detector if you have natural gas in your house - or even without. Our incident was caused by vehicle exhaust from our attached garage. Secondly, replace your batteries at time change in spring and fall. Third, look at the things we brought with us when we knew we needed to leave immediately - and didn't know if our house might catch fire or something from a leak. We brought the members of our family, our wallets, keys and glasses. This tells me that all things which we consider 'important' are not really as important as we think they are. The memory sticks, the electronics, the jewels, the clothes are not all that important. Sure, we'll use and enjoy the material blessings God provides us with, but when it all comes down to it, our family is the very most important thing to us!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out last night - but thanks be to God who protected us and kept us safe through it all! -s

The pleasure of raising Dawson

What a joy it is to raise Dawson. I know, some days we think of what a burden it is, but some days are simply more joyful than others! I think a lot of that comes from the fact that we are blessed with respite and school, so can have a break. Then, when he comes home (and our break has been sufficient), we can be truly happy that he is at home.

Sure, we have his picture food menu prepared for when he comes in the door, takes off his winter clothes and immediately opens the fridge to say "Lets cut it". He then pulls the cheese off the top shelf of the fridge, marches over to the table to drop off the cheese, walks to the drawer and pulls out a steak knife. We quickly remove our own outdoor clothing, and run to his rescue. (Funny how the serrated edge on the knife feels really good for someone with Sensory issues! - Hello child!! I'll get the knife!) After we have a cheese snack, we have a fruit, and then some Rice Krispie cake, and then ...maybe it's time for toys. We march over to the living room and re-live episode after episode of Dora, Junior, Winnie the Pooh, Nemo and then Berenstain Bears. After about 1/2 - 3/4 hour, the adult in the situation usually has snuck away to either get something to read or work on, or is still engrossed in reliving these stories (yeah right!). Well, that's what life is like for someone who thinks in pictures - as most children with autism do. But you know what, he LOVES it when we spend time with him doing exactly this. Our one respite worker put it perfectly when she said something to the effect of "You'd think he had a carnival at his house the way he always wants to go there!" How true. And what a privilege to be the one going to the carnival with him. We even get food here...and when Terry cooks, it tastes almost as good as at a carnival!

It all in the perspective

Sylvia and I were lamenting a bit on the weekend- we tend to do that a lot. It’s easy to do that when Dawson’s obsessions are at a peak, and our patience is at a low. We’re in a situation right now, where it seems as though some people that are put in place to help Dawson, are not getting the concept of what it takes to effectively reach out to him. Such an occurrence happened yesterday, when Dawson’s Opa was taking care of him, and a person in church unexpectedly made a very discouraging and insensitive comment about our family. Opa immediately stood up for us and Dawson, and defended us and our situation. We were so proud of such a great man in our corner.
So often we ask other people to put themselves into our shoes, because we would like them to feel what we feel. That’s fair sometimes. But sometimes it’s not anybody’s job to understand how we feel- it’s our job to stand alone on the fact that Jesus knows how we feel. “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3)
I have lately found myself trying to put myself into other’s situations, trying to imagine what it might be like to feel like a “normal family”. What would it be like? Would there be more freedoms? Would there be more happy times?
My answer has changed from even one year ago. We see many joys and freedoms that a lot of parents never will. The laughter that rings in our walls is a sound that many homes have long been removed of. I’m gaining a lot of perspective here, and it seems to be growing by the day.

When the grass seems greener, it’s often a good idea to step over the fence and look at your own side- from the other side.
It looks pretty good. -t

It's all in the notes

It's so interesting how we as humans struggle with our memories, and how we differ in this regard. One person will remember the name of their waitress at a restaurant last year, while the next will not remember the guy's name who pumps their gas every week (I tend to fall into the later category). Still for others, they may remember little, but when the words are put to a song, they will keep it word for word.
Dawson's a lot like that. Years ago when he was small, for example, an occupational therapist taught us this concept, and we began using it for when it was time for the toys to be cleaned up. We could tell Dawson ten times over, that it was time to clean up, but as soon as we began the "cleanup song", he jumped into action (Opa still gets a kick out of it). Something triggers in his mind when music is introduced. We use the same method now, for things like his Bible verses. We want him to learn scripture, but normal memory would be very hard. Now, each verse is put into a melody, and he nails it.
It's so neat to see a wonderful thing like music touch so many people around the world every day. This concept becomes even more meaningful, when we see it benefit someone like Dawson in an even deeper way.
God bless you, as you enjoy the music.....-t

A great father

I have a wonderful husband. I slept this morning, sub-consciously knowing that he was up with Dawson. In my head, I could hear bits and pieces of "D-d-d-d-dora! D-d-d-d-dora! D-d-d-d-dora the Explorer!" and other theme songs that he was singing with Dawson as they played 'Dora blocks'. I heard "No Rice Krispie Cake. Do you want a carrot?" Little did I know this had been going on since 4am!

I thank God for a husband who is as committed to raising Dawson as I am. Thanks to my mother and father-in-law who have raised a sensitive man!

As I type, I am enjoying the muffin he got for me on their early-morning ride.

Now how can I show him a similar kindness today? .....There is a football game this afternoon!

By the way, if you have ??'s about the picture, Terry was able to travel half-way around the world to another country with his work...and this is part of the chocolatey loot he returned with! -s

Another early one

Good morning. If you would be reading this live, then you would be well ahead of most people in North America. So to all you early risers due to your kids, here's to you... Dawson was up at 4:00. After about 45 min of knowing he wouldn't go back to sleep, I got him dressed, and we went for a drive to our favorite 24 hr coffee shop, and then drove around for a while. I find that often I need to really distract Dawson and take him away from where Sylvia is, if I am watching him, and we don't want to disturb her- like when she's sleeping this morning.

This process can be so frustrating and disheartening at times. He clearly has a preferred parent, and I'm okay with that, because that's normal. But often, he obsesses so dramatically over being separated from her. It makes it hard on her as well, because she was maybe just looking for a mental break or something, and he's in the other room, losing it, and causing Daddy all sorts of stress. Anyhow, that's one reason I thought of going for a drive this morning- for both of us.

So here we are- Veggie Tales at Jr's request, and the laptop to keep Daddy awake. Are we having fun yet? Enjoy the picture. - t

Let's stick with the list, okay?

As with many children of varying degrees of disabilities, Dawson is a visual learner. This is why we base so many of his day to day activities on picture schedules, and "Boardmaker"-type of visuals(http://www.mayer-johnson.com/).
As a result, we find that he himself also uses the pictures at times, to communicate his desires to us. This is, of course to our delight....for the most part. It also gives us many cute and humorous moments;
Every morning, we fill a board on the fridge with the options that he will have for breakfast. On the board, it reads, "For breakfast, I want"- we then attach with Velcro various pictures of foods that he will be able to choose from. The pictures are from a well organized binder that contains all of the potential foods, places, activities and people that we can prepare him for on a daily basis.
I think that God has given him a great sense of humor, because he often will go to the binder, take out a personal favorite, and stick it onto the fridge board- "For breakfast, I want marshmallows- okay" "For breakfast, I want rice crispy cake-okay" I'm sure that it's partly the fact that he cannot process the time of day with the corresponding meal very well. But I'm sure it's also partly humor....
We're thankful that he has a sense of humor- and can smile and laugh. This is something that many parents of autistic kids are not blessed with. Have a great weekend-t

Anticipation

3 am yesterday morning, I was awoken to a usually welcome sound 'Pitter patter', 'pitter patter' and 'clunk'. "Good morning!" Dawson cheerfully greeted us as he crawled over me, and cuddled up under the blanket between the two of us.

When I was oriented enough to realize it wasn't yet morning, I replied "Time to go to Dawson's bed." When speaking to him at night, we say very little to keep him as relaxed as possible. Off we went, cheerfully back to his bed. On my return to our bed, we prayed "God, PLEASE help him to go back to sleep!" God answered. But not how we hoped.

I took the shift from 3 - 5, Terry took over at 5.

Why? You ask? God only knows! Our guess is that it was the first day back at school and he could sense something was going on. We never told him that he would be going to school the next day. With him and his lack of time concept, we need to tell him about upcoming events just before they happen. It kinda sucks not being able to anticipate things with him, but we have learned that this is a much better option than telling him in advance.

The report from the school was that he almost fell asleep during singing time. No wonder! He was great the rest of the day. The respite worker said that he appeared 'high' as he was crazy all afternoon! He went to sleep really well the next night, though! Something to be thankful for!

The great part is that school has started once again and he is loving every minute of it! Thank God for great staff for Dawson at school who work incredibly hard to make his days awesome!

How are you spending your time today? Are you making a positive difference in someone's life? A smile might be all it takes. Or helping the elderly lady put the coin into her cart at the grocery store (I had that opportunity the other day, and what a blessing it was to me!!) Or being cheerful at your job? Have an awesome one! -S

Minor Disruptions

It all started with the other kids not sitting in their usual spots for singing before Sunday School. They had been instructed to sit with the substitute teacher's class they would be joining for the morning. Change Number One. Dawson was hard to keep in his seat because of the adjustment. We didn't even make it through the usual singing time - which he generally loves! When we hit the basement for Sunday School, we went to a different class than normal. Change Number Two. Content for a few minutes with an obsessively favorite "Nemo" puzzle, we remained generally out of the peer's eye. Patience grew thin, and boredom took over. Suddenly, he was wandering through the seven happy children, focused on the Bible story while flannelgraph pictures were being posted on the board. Any amount of restraint or redirection would create vocal protest, soon leading to kicking and the threat of pushing, shoving and pulled hair. God graciously gave us a "prayer time" when the other children were thanking God for the three wise men, for us to escape and go home. Near tears, we drove home early from church. Again.

Minor changes. For the average child. Huge, sometimes, insurmountable changes for him. I think I'm stressing out because I can't handle all the little quirks he has, or the sensitivities to almost everything. But, what about him? I can send him off to school or to respite or to grandparents houses. But he can't. He can't send that over-sensitive part of his being to grandma's and keep the calm, collected part at home. He has immense difficulty with changes, and the smallest adjustment to his usual routine schedule can put his day onto a rollercoaster ride we all must ride on (like it or not!) He lives with this all day. Every day. 365 days a year. 24/7. Wow!

It helps me realize why it's OK to let him have his 'zoning' time. Time where he re-plays favorite parts of movies with certain characters (blocks, stuffed animals, Little People, etc), and can 'zone' out. I'd want to too! It makes me appreciate him and the truly incredible job he does do keeping himself together. God is working mightily every minte in his life, helping him regulate his feelings and control his actions, though He certainly uses medication to help along!

There is always tomorrow. And tomorrow holds great promise, as the bus will be here promptly at 8:47, and Dawson will have the time of his life saying "Good Morning" to his educational assistant (EA), and riding off into the sunlight with the prospects of school at the end of the bus route! There is hope! Praise God! -S

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Major Meltdown

One of the predictables when living with a child that has disabilities, is the unpredictability. This morning is no exception....

We're on the last day of the school Christmas break. We decided to get out this morning, and make a few stops like the bank and the supermarket. Dawson was fairly mellow (kind of like the picture shows), so we thought that we could all go together...... Well!

We made it to our first stop, and as Sylvia ran inside, Dawson completely melted. (Many of you may wonder what a meltdown is- it's a state of mind where you lose all control, and any sense of reasoning that someone may try is futile). He screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking the car seat, and throwing off his glasses. You can try whatever you want, but the there's just no way to reason with him. It got so intense, that I turned up his music really loud in the car (I know that sounds like a silly reaction, but when you're in the middle of it, you do strange things to cope with it and to keep your own emotions in check), and of course that didn't help. By the time we were at the bank, he was completely gone.

We decided to go home without stopping at the supermarket. It's funny how so many of our excursions- whether a social event or errand, have been cut short because of these situations.

It's something that we've come to terms with.

Of course, there are many reasons why he may have acted this way. We may have not properly prepared him for the trip- we use a picture schedule for all major transitions in the day. He may have not liked the destinations that we told him about. But most likely, he is becoming very frustrated with the lack of routine that time away from school brings. He enjoys school, and has much more of a tight routine during the school year (in that sense, we're already dreading summer break). By the way, it's an hour later or so, and he's happy now. Funny how this can be such a roller coaster. It's not even noon, and I'm drained. -t

Fever & Autism

Someone gave us some interesting info the other day, connecting fever with increased normalcy in autistic children. For some reason, the study showed that autistic children running a fever will dramatically reduce the autistic symptoms that they normally show. "The change involved things like longer concentration spans, more talking, more eye contact and better overall reactions with adults and other children."http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22080089/
We had put this tidbit into the back of our minds until this morning, when Dawson crawled into bed, as he usually does, and I immediately noticed that his body was quite warm. It felt like a fever. But here's the interesting thing; he was much more alert than normal, especially for 7:00am. He was also saying sentences more clearly, and speaking words with a seemingly better memory (and as you know, autistic children already have an incredible picture memory). Interesting info to say the least. Now if only fevers weren't a bad thing.....

No Fool

The great Christian missionary Jim Elliot wrote, "He is no fool, who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." By creating this blog, we have nothing to lose. We believe that God has given us a unique family situation. By sharing it with you, we may be able to connect with someone else who has a similar family dynamic. This blog will contain mostly information pertaining to our son, Dawson- hence the name :-). Because of privacy issues with his natural parents, we will not post our last name unless you would like to personally exchange info with us. The other reason for doing this, is a chance to journal our feelings, struggles and victories, which in itself is therapy for us. Dawson has been diagnosed with numerous disabilities and disorders. We will detail these in the next entry. Please feel free to leave comments. God bless you, and especially the parents waiting for the school break to be over- hang in there!