The Latest....

I thought I would send an update on Mr. G. He's still the cutest blonde ever...

That is it!

No, really, all is going as expected. We got news today that our last evaluation/diagnosis process is getting moved from October to August!~ We've had our therapy team diagnose, the Kaiser specialists and ped diagnose, now we need this specific group of specialists to diagnose to insure that Gavey gets treatment and services within the Douglas County school district. He is eligible for preschool as of Feb 1... Imagine Gavin on his first day of big kid school!? How cute. Anyhow... we were having to wait until October for it, and now got the call today, our therapist pulled some strings and got a evaluation sooner! This will be his final diagnosis appt and technically, 3 out of the 4 people on the team have already approved the diagnosis and the last person is well aware of his issues, so it's been speedy...so finally we can start normal treatment for him.

We found a program here in CO that is life skills classes broken into individual classes and workshops vs. a school situation that lasts minimum 20 hours per week. The schools here that are Autism specific require a commitment of 1 year. With him only having 7 months before he can start school, I don't want to overload him prior to the school experience. Douglas County will put Gavin in a mainstream class with his able peers to start, he'll have his own aide that will help him through the day from the start of school right down to getting in the car with us at the end of the day. I told him he's lucky to have a personal assistant in preschool! If preschool doesn't go well, we'll discuss Special Ed part time, mainstream part times, but that is a way down the road and Kurt and I have only begun... I keep telling everyone, just wait, we'll have him doing wonderfully in no time.

So, with that said, our ideal course of action will to have Gavin in the Breakfast Club class 7.5 hours per week, he'll see our therapists here in the house 3 hours a week, and we put in about 25 hours a a week with individual therapy we provide which totals 35+ hours a week. SO, we're close to ideal! We'll also be hiring a home trainer to come in and spend a day to day and a half with us to do additional therapy with Gavin where and when needed. Things seem to get better daily, but then by the weeks end, he's developed another inappropriate behavior to be worked on.

We are working on social skills with him alot lately. He is not a fan of many people. We've had countless people tell us that most autistic kids can't form relationships very well, if at all. I figured that meant friends, but apparently many kids take that to siblings and other family members... that just makes it hard. There are just times that I need to go get milk, it's not an option, if he isn't throwing up from the stress of the store, he's destroying everything... again, this is where social skills come into play.

He's not eating either, or sitting down to eat. Again, we're reminded that alot of autistic kids walk and eat. He has restricted himself to a banana diet... bananas all day every day all the time. He'll mix in a crunchy carb obsession every once in a blue moon, ie Wheat Thins.... but that is about it. So, we're going to see a feeding specialist soon to help us with his sensory issues that are making his eating so difficult.

His speech is going well... he is saying "bye" now... which made our therapist cry the other day. She said that we work day and night, she hopes that her being here to help him works, but you never know, then he says *bye* on cue, and it's worth all the hard work. He's been saying it for a little while, she just heard it this week however. He's communicating with his signs well and pretty decent eye contact... so we're really thrilled with his progress in that department right now.

So, all in all, he's good. Just as sweet as can be! He completed his first puzzle today! Made us cry. Even Juliana gave him a big hug and clapped for him. Normally he's too frustrated to get it done.... so that was a great achievement for him!

Don't forget: 20% off everything until June 25th! www.marykay.com/ddivino
All profits go to Gavin's Early Education Fund! Thanks for the recent orders in the month of June!