Sunday, February 10, 2008

There Are Going to be Bad Days...

Well, we had been thrilled with JT's progress. It seemed like he was learning new words - tons of them! - daily.
Then I started noticing... Why wasn't he using them more than a day? Or a few hours? It's like he just 'lost' his words. I was dumbfounded. I mean, if he can say it, he can say it, right??
Wrong. One of my buddies on my autism support board on BabyCenter mentioned that JT sounded like he had what her daughter had. Dyspraxia. So, I went and researched it. It explains the language, and more.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/ChildhoodApraxia.htm

There is verbal dyspraxia, which is definitely what JT has going on. But apraxia can also affect other areas, such as motor. It has the same basic root - lack of ability for motor planning. JT has problems with his perioceptive abilities - which means he doesn't really know where he is in relation to things... For example, JT likes to go under tables, rather than around. He's been under our kitchen table fifty billion times. However, he hits his head 9 times out of 10 coming out the other side. The one time he doesn't he ducks until he's five feet out... So he never knows where he is in relation to other objects... That's just one example. The kid is covered in bruises from these types of incidents.

We've also had a rough week in general. JT's new idea of fun is knocking all decorations off the walls. He's always loved to clear tables, and now it has spread to other arenas. The Hubs and I always joke that he hates order, and it's his way of 'fixing' it his way. He broke a plate hanging on the wall and has discovered many ways to knock several other paintings down. It's exhausting trying to keep up with him when all he does is destroy!

Then today, he figured out how to open the child proofed door to the outside. Mind you, he can't open a 'normal' door, but can open the fixed ones. Then, he went back into our bathroom while The Hubs was doing dishes. In the two minutes he was unsupervised (he's 2 - he should be able to be alone watching Dora for five minutes!!!) he climbed up on the bathroom counter, stuffed toilet paper down the sink drain, turned on the faucet full blast and flooded our bathroom. So, all of our towels (read: ALL OF OUR TOWELS - LIKE 15 OF THEM) were used to clean up the flood, and are currently in the dryer.

Tomorrow will be a new day, and the start of a new week. Hopefully, it will be better... For all of us!

It's just so disheartening that for so long, we thought he was doing SO well - only to find out he's not retaining any of the information! And the apraxia requires MORE therapy for his speech, and he's still only at a 12 month level or less... Ugh.

The good news is, his team assessment is a week from Wednesday (February 20th), so at least I have something else for them to help them out.

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