The meeting

Today was the day. It was the meeting I have both been anticipating and dreading at the same time. Andrew will be turning 3 next week so legally the Birth to 3 program and the school district have to test him and decide what to do about services before that birthday. Because of our family history, Andrew was given both the standard developmental testing that would occur when a child ages out of the Birth to 3 program and Autism testing. This past month I have been taking Andrew over to the school for that testing and filling out evaluations and questioners. All told Andrew was given 10 different tests or evaluations

The first part of the testing was the full-scale developmental evaluation. This measures the language skills , gross and fine motor skills, and cognitive development. The test took a little over an hour. Andrew was tested by one of the Early Education Teachers, the Speech Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, and Physical Therapist. He was also observed by another speech therapist who is also the Autism consultant. He was required to do a series of tasks such as pointing to a correct object or stack blocks or answer a question appropriately. I was not present for the PT and OT or speech part but Andrew was cooperative and did pretty well without me.

To save time I was given a bunch of checklists and the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale and Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale to fill out and bring back. It was also decided that Andrew would do much better if the testing was broken down into smaller chunks of time so the Autism testing that would normally take 2-3 hours was broken into one session to do the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) test and another to do the interview/intelligence testing. Andrew was also observed during MOPS when he was in the MOPPETS room. Normally the child would be observed during class time but since Andrew does not go to school or daycare we needed a setting where he was with a group of children.

I have filled out most of the checklists and tests before so this was not unfamiliar. Even so, it still was a challenge since I was being asked specific question about my child and some of them I could answer many different ways. He's 2 so how am I supposed to answer questions on whether or not he makes and keeps friends or if he shares his toys with others. I did have my Birth to 3 speech therapist and occupational therapist help me with some of the questions since they can be more objective than I can. In addition to the paperwork, I was asked a series of similar questions both by the Psychologist and the Autism consultant. The actual testing was very similar to what the developmental testing was. In the case of the ADOS, Andrew was observed doing tasks very close to what he did the week before. To an untrained person it really looked like Andrew was playing games with the tester. The main difference was he was being judged on different criteria. The observers were looking for specific behaviors that he would or would not do. Did he make appropriate eye contact, did he interact with the people appropriately, did he play with the toys appropriately, when given a certain situation, did he react appropriately....you get the idea. He only had two meltdowns so I was pretty pleased.

The third series of testing involved more questions and asking Andrew to do more educational type things. These were the IQ and intellectual ability tests. This part was pretty easy since all I had to do was answer yes or no and when I hit 3 No's we moved on to the next section. At one point I had to leave and take Carolyn to OT so I left Andrew there. He did just fine although according to the psychologist, Andrew discovered that the puzzle pieces had numbers on the back of them so he started to focus on the numbers and not the puzzle pieces themselves.

So after all that testing was completed, the team would then meet and interpret scores and determine if Andrew met criteria for both the Early Childhood Special Education program and Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is where I totally love the Brandon Valley School District. They are smaller than the Sioux Falls District and more progressive when it comes to special services. Because of that my children have had success getting services that if we had been in Sioux Falls would not be available. This is not a knock on the SF school district, they are still a great district but they also have a lot more special needs children competing for a limited number of spaces so the test scores of my kids would probably be too high to qualify for SF but do qualify here. If Andrew did qualify for services then he would enter on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and that would be reviewed yearly until he no longer qualified for Special Education Services.

So fast forward to today. Carolyn has speech and OT from 9:15 to 10:15. The plan as has been all month was to leave after transportation picked Carolyn up and then be back home by 10:20. This morning my phone rang at 9:15, it was Lisa the Early Education Coordinator who was in charge of Andrew's meeting. I told her no, I did not forget the meeting, transportation had not showed up yet. A few phone calls later and I find out Carolyn's driver forgot to pick her up. No, I don't want the Transportation secretary to come and get her, I'll just take her over myself. Needless to say I got there 20 minutes late. I apologised to all who had shown up on time. So with even less time than usual, the meeting began.

The PT and OT were the first to speak since they had kids to see and did not want to run late. That part of the meeting went very well. Andrew is on track with the majority of his gross and fine motor skills. There were a few problems here and there but overall they were pleased. Amy, the OT was thrilled when she discovered Andrew possessed the proper pencil grip and the ability to write correctly on paper (both Matthew and Carolyn struggle with this and with the fine motor skills needed for handwriting). Both OT and PT were pleased with Andrew's abilities and he scored in the normal range so he does not need their services.

Speech went next. Overall Andrew did wonderful. He improved in scores since the first evaluation at 18 months. He tested out in the normal range. A lot of time was spent on the speech stuff since it is such a huge part of the overall evaluation. This is the area Andrew has had problems in and is the area all my kids struggle with. As far as speech goes, there are several components that get scored. Andrew is scored on how well he knows words, how well he understands words, and how well he speaks and pronounces words. Trust me, there are lots of sentences and paragraphs dedicated to the language scores in his evaluation. The language part that deals with how Andrew responds to directions and questions is a whole other set of numbers. Andrew still has delays in certain areas of language such as spontaneous speech ( intitating a conversation) and social language (having a back and forth conversation). Andrew also has problems answering certain questions appropriately or following complicated directions. I'm not too surprised. He did qualify for speech services and will get therapy 2 times per week.

The biggest part of the meeting was the discussion of the developmental scores and the results of the Autism testing. This was the confusing part. All the information is tallied and scored and put out in the report and the Psychologist goes through and reads both the scores and what they mean. Because we were so time limited, he tried to skim over and compress things. According to the report, Andrew did not meet criteria for a specific learning disability or developmental delay. That made me very happy. What that meant was according to the test scores, Andrew is functioning in the normal range for a child his age. Things were looking up.

When it came to the Autism scores things got even more confusing. Andrew does not show "typical" behavior. He does have the speech/language difficulties that would be associated with the disorder but does not have the social impairment that would normally be seen. However, he does love numbers and letters...a lot. I will admit to being on the "huh" side of confused when all the test scores were being interpreted so I'm not quite sure how to explain things so I will just wing it. According to the Psychologist, they too had difficulty with how to score and rate Andrew. He has a family history of ASD and in order for something to count at least 2 people had to observe the behavior or action. Because of his young age, some of the data isn't the best indicator. He ended up meeting the criteria for the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. Basically, he functions very close to someone with Aspergers Syndrome but does not meet the criteria for that diagnosis. Aspergers kids don't have the language and speech delays, have social impairment issues and are usually focused on a narrow topic or item. Andrew has speech and language delays, is OK in the social skills department, but is obsessed with letters and numbers. He also appears to have a normal IQ. OK, I'll go with that.

To sum things up, this meeting went almost like I expected it to. I was surprised that Andrew got the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. I expected that he'd get he *Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified diagnosis that Carolyn got but I guess since he has no real delays that does not apply. Am I surprised he's on the spectrum? No, not really. Am I disappointed or upset? Once again I have to say no, I'm not. I knew Andrew had huge odds stacked against him when it came to escaping any type of Autism diagnosis. He's a boy and has 2 older siblings diagnosed. I'm just happy Andrew is not developmentally delayed or more severely affected by the disorder. *PDD-NOS is considered an Autism Spectrum Disorder even though it does not have Autism in it*

Because of the need for speech services and his ASD diagnosis Andrew did qualify for the preschool so he will start on the day after his 3rd birthday which is this Wednesday. He will have the same teacher Carolyn did so I don't have to worry about meeting a new teacher. I know Andrew is going to have so much fun. Preschool here he comes!!

The doughnut

The following is a small part of a conversation that occurred between me and Carolyn this morning before she left for school. * means the name has been changed

Carolyn: "I want to take the donut to school for snack today"

Me: "You can't take the donut for snack, it's not a healthy snack"

Carolyn: "Yeah, it's got nuts on it and they make George* sick"

Me: "You're right they can make someone sick but George isn't in your class but there might be other kids with allergies"

More chatter occurs about other things...

Carolyn: "Why can't I take donut to school with me?"

Me: "I don't know. Why can't you take donut to school with you?"

Carolyn: "Nuts make people sick with allergies. I wanna take goldfish crackers to school for snack."

Me : OK.

I then proceed to make a small snack bag of goldfish crackers and in the process notice the aforementioned doughnut is not in the box or even in the kitchen....

Me: "Carolyn, go get the donut and bring it back to me. You're not supposed to take it downstairs."

Carolyn: "OK mommy...." disappears down the basement stairs.

A few moments later there is a great commotion as the wails of an extremely outraged and upset Andrew filter upstairs.

Carolyn: "Here you go mommy."... as she is handing me a half-eaten donut.

Me: "Let me guess, you gave the donut to Andrew to eat and then went down and took it away form him."

Carolyn: "Yes, mommy."

Shortly thereafter Andrew comes stomping up the stairs very upset. He goes immediately to Carolyn and proceeds to smack her and yell "NO" at the top of his lungs. I quickly separate the two and divide the doughnut up and hand Andrew his half back. All goes quiet.

Welcome to my world.

This post sponsered by...

As some of you may know, the FTC recently decided to require bloggers to disclose whether or not they were given compensation (either money or free stuff) in exchange for mentioning said product or service in their blog. For some odd reason --at least to me--quite a few bloggers and media persons are upset. Cries of unfair and government intrusion are being written all over cyberspace and in the printed media. I of course am wondering why the big fuss?? It seems only fair that those who write about a product or service would be obligated to let the rest of us know that their love of "Comfy Butt Toilet Paper"springs from the fact they receive several cases of the stuff a year and in return promise to only wipe with it and write endlessly about its heavenly softness.

Now I know that most of us who blog do it as an outlet or to pass information on to family and friends. Many blogs I read are small and have less than 100 followers. Some do have ads on the side but most don't. As a rule I personally do not read the celebrity gossip blogs or political blogs or any blog written by a movie star, actor, musician, or 15 minutes of fame idiot. I would assume that the FTC rules would apply more to those blogs of the latter category than my little rinky-dink blog. A grayer area of course are those so called travel blogs, movie blogs, restaurant blogs and blogs on wedding and pregnancy sites. Personally, if I read a gushing account about how the blogger spent a wonderful fun-filled carefree vacation in Las Vegas I would want to know that said blogger got the trip paid for by the ritzy 5 star hotel with the intention of writing about how much fun she or he had. Same goes for the bride to be that can't say enough about the zit cream that saved her wedding day or the mom to be who just loves her support pillow. I would assume that the movie goer or restaurant eater paid for the meal or movie but if they were given the stuff free with the assumption a good write up would follow then of course I would want to know that before plunking down my hard-earned money.

The last category of bloggers who are probably most outraged are those who I will call
"ad-whores" They are the ones who write an "informative" blog and focus on products and services that they use and find useful. These are the bloggers companies sit up and take notice of. The intent of many of these writers is to see if they can get companies to send them coupons or free stuff as a "thank you" for using their products and services. To be fair, there are those honest folks out there who use items and services and truly love them and willingly write accolades. However, in my humble opinion, I think that I as a reader should know if the blog I'm reading is sponsored by companies X,Y an Z. I"m pretty sure that's why bloggers and companies are so up in arms. It's not that they can't write a positive and glowing opinion about a product, it's the fact they are getting compensation to blog about the product and they can make it seem like they use the product out of the pure love of their heart. That my friends is just plain unfair not matter how you look at it. I really don't mind reading about how wonderful "Flower Power Water" tastes. I wouldn't mind if I got a free sample of the stuff to try. I will even disclose in my blog that I received a free bottle of the water and tried it. However....just because I got it free does not mean I'm going to absolutely love it. If I get a free sample of "Delicious Discriminating Deli Delights" lunch meat and I feed it to the kids and they and I decided that I could make a sandwich using the contents of Trina's litter box that would taste better then by all means I'm gonna write it. But of course that's just me.

In closing I'd like to add that if certain advertisers want to send me free stuff then I won't say no. If you are Coca Cola...please please send stuff. I'll acknowledge you. I'll change my background to red and white and post photos of me happily drinking an ice cold delicious Coke. If you're Taco Johns..same offer except I'll change to yellow and black and post me eating potato oles.

OK, now I'm just being an ad whore. Or is it product slut?

I did it!!!!

Look, we match!!!!


About as traditional a shot as I could get.




After two and a half years of practice and training, one completely grueling and rigorous test, three missed board breaks, two separate re-break attempts, and one heartbreaking failure.......


I FINALLY BROKE THE BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing to it really, all I had to do was believe in myself and shut that little voice up that was telling me not to do this. Special thanks to the loving husband who decided that Styrofoam was the key to learning this break. Yes, it looks pretty funny holding a piece of Styrofoam and breaking it but by doing that I was able to get over my fear of the board hurting me and I was able to concentrate on the proper stance and form needed to do this break. It still took 3 tries but this time I did the break with only the loving husband and the instructor in the room with me after class had finished. I had much less nervousness and I had an inner feeling of confidence. When the board actually did break--I could tell by the sound it made--and the top piece fell on the floor, I dropped the other piece and did what could only be called the "Cindy Squeal" while jumping up and down. The clapping I heard came from the other Black Belts and instructors who were assembled in another room for a meeting. They of course had been watching the whole time but my brain didn't know that so the nerves never got to me. Unfortunately, the members of my Sioux Falls class were not able to attend this class in Brookings so they did not get to see this event.

To be fair, the self-hold knife is still an icky, nasty, horrible break, but it does look pretty cool when done correctly. I'm done with this break for now but in a few years when I test for second degree I can't say for sure that this won't be a break I need to do again. I really hope not because...

I HATE DOING THAT BREAK.

Mmmmm.....banana bread

I came across this recipe for banana bread a few weeks ago and tried it. It is super easy and the bread turns out wonderful. I don't add nuts but I'm sure you can add walnuts or almonds. I did try adding whole flax seed and it didn't turn out too bad.


Easy Banana Bread

2 medium bananas, mashed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all together. Put in greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Makes 1 loaf.

Congratulations sweetie, I'm so (sob) happy for you.

Well this past Friday was our chance to re-test and earn our black belt. As I mentioned in my previous post about our testing we are allowed to re-try those board breaks we missed during the test and if we make the break we get the belt.

Our former instructor was going to be teaching a class in Brookings and wanted us to do our board breaks that night. This is a class that all adult and Jr. black belts are invited to attend. A select few colored belts are also invited. Because myself and hubby are still red belts but tested for the black we were eligible to attend. I had actually gone up to Brookings two weeks earlier for class and the loving husband volunteered to watch the kids since we got too short of a notice to find child care. Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law we were both able to attend this time.

Also attending class that night was our current instructor and her husband, along with another black belt from our class. Unlike the last class where I was the only Sioux Falls student (and oldest participant) there were 5 of us and hubby was now the oldest participant. It was nice to have familiar faces.

The class was 2 hours and we practiced techniques that I knew and learned some new ones. Although not as intense as testing, we still had a workout. It was fun and there was much laughter. At the end of class we were allowed our re-tries.

Hubby had one break to do..the twin kick. That is the one where you have to break 2 boards without letting your feet touch the ground between kicks. Hubby's first try broke the right board but not the left and his second try broke the left but not the right. I could see the frustration on his face and I was worried that he might not get it on his last try. With a lot of effort and determination he broke on the third attempt. Oh, I was so happy for him. I jumped up and hugged him.

My turn was next and I had to do that same break. Unlike the loving husband who hates this break and struggles to do it, I don't mind it. The only reason I couldn't get this one during testing was my legs were too tired and my uniform was sticking to me which made it difficult to get the strength and speed to do the break. I also was too brain dead to remember how I did the break during my red belt test. Anyway, I lined the boards up, took position, and nailed it on my first try. One down, two to go. My next break was the evil sadistic self-hold knife. I hold the board with one hand and strike it with my other hand. My first attempt did not go very well and my nerves started to get the best of me. My former instructor was oh so supportive and was giving me encouragement but I kept telling her I could not do the break. I was telling her that because my my body was shaking so bad I could not hold the board. Even the loving husband could see my hands shaking and he was several feet away. Thankfully Miss Jen decided to let me do the other break and come back to this one. My third break was the palm strike through the board. This was the break I missed at testing but then when I was told what I did wrong I corrected it and broke the board but did not yell so it did not count. After a few minutes of instruction on how best to do this break I made my first attempt. It would have worked great except for the fact my belt somehow got in the way and the end of it was on the board so when I smacked it my hand hit soft cotton instead of hard wood...oops. My second try was much more successful. Two down one left.

Officially we get 3 tries to break the board. Since out Master Instructor was not present the rules could be bent a little. I was having a very difficult time getting the mechanics of this break down. I made several attempts with no luck and then in an attempt to bolster my confidence, Miss Jen gave me a smaller practice board to try to break. She was hoping that if I broke the little board I would break the big board. Several tries at that was still not very productive. She then decided to show me how to do the break by doing it herself. She tried but could not get her board to go either...so much for the "I'll show you how" technique. Finally she said that I got one more try. If I didn't get it then I had to wait until the next time she was in town to teach class. I grabbed my board, took position, shut my eyes, and smacked the thing with all I had in me. The sound echoed all though out the room.


IT
WAS
STILL
UNBROKEN

Miss Jen did check for cracks but there were none. The only thing broken was my heart. I wanted so much to make this break. I wanted so much to stand there amongst my husband, friends, and peers as an equal, a Black Belt. I wanted so much to finish what I had started, to finally achieve what I had worked so hard these past two years for. I wanted that same rush of adrenaline and excitement that Jim had felt earlier. I wanted to be done with that break.

Instead, I watched as my loving husband stood and got his belt. I tried to smile. tried to be happy for him. I clapped and hugged him and told him I loved him and that I was so proud of him. I meant every word I said. Inside I was dying, all I wanted to do was be alone and let the tears fall. The pain was so much more than the obvious physical pain of repeatedly hitting a solid wooden object. It was the internal emotional type. The kind that teams feel when their opponent scores the winning point(s) in the final second or a candidate feels after losing a very close election. I felt like the worlds biggest loser.

Afterwards, the other members of my class came over to console me and to remind me that they too had problems with this same break. My current instructor in a wonderful attempt to cheer me up informed me that none of the other ladies present made their breaks and got their belt on the first re-try so if I had gotten my belt "then we'd have had to kill you" ( cheerfully said of course) My former instructor told me that next time I do the break I get my 3 tries and if I don't make the break then she tries and if she fails I get as many re-tries that evening as it takes for her to break her board.

It's taken a few days but I'm OK with myself. I did skip my Weight Watchers meeting though. I decided that I could not handle any more disappointment this weekend. I don't know if I lost or gained any weight but I really did not want to sit through a meeting if I either did not lose anything or gained and have to clap for those members who met weight loss goals. As for my hand...well it's pretty sore. The whole side of my right hand from pinkie to wrist is swollen and blueish. I don't think I broke anything but I bruised quite a few things. I'm hoping that in a few weeks I can re-try my break. And this time

I WANNA BREAK THAT %^#!*$@ BOARD!!!!!!!

7 Wonderful Kitchen gadgets

My friend Jackie did a blog post about the 7 kitchen gadgets/items she could not live without. She then challenged fellow bloggers to name their 7 items and either leave them in the comment section or do a post about them. I chose the post so here goes:

1. My Kitchen Aid stand mixer--I got it as a wedding gift and have used it, used it, and used it even more. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need a new one soon. I've lost count of the hundreds of cookies, cakes, meringues, and frostings I've made during the years. I've never tried making bread but maybe someday I'll use the bread hook attachment.

2. My silicon baking mats-- These things are AWESOME!!! I have one 9 inch and two 11 inch and they are a baker's dream. I use the smaller one when I make biscuits, rolls, french fries, or chicken sticks. No messy greasy clean-up and the food always comes right off. The two larger sizes are perfect for cookies. I never have to worry about spraying the pans or burnt cookies. When I'm done baking I let the pans cool off and put them away and a quick wash of the mats and that's it.

3. My commercial grade baking sheets-- I got these as a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. These are the type of pans that kitchens in restaurants and hospitals use for baking. They are heavy and sturdy so they'll never warp or rust.

4. My Pampered Chef rolling pin combo-- I finally broke down and recently purchased this. It is a small double ended rolling pin. The purpose is to roll dough out in pie pans, baking dishes, or onto pizza pans. It's easily held in one hand and non-stick so there is no stopping and "readjusting" or spending 20 minutes trying to press sticky dough out evenly. I don't know why I waited so long.

5. My Melamie mixing bowls-- These are so much lighter than my other sets of glass bowls. I can't microwave them but I don't need to. I can grab one for those quick mix-it-ups like pizza or pie crusts or brownies ( can't use the mixer) or dry ingredients for cookies and cakes. It is a lot easier to dump the dry part in when the bowl doesn't weigh so much. They are also a cute shade of red so I can put food in them and use them as serving dishes too.

6. My meat fork thermometer-- I actually bought this as a gift for the loving husband but I think I use it much more than he does. After all how else am I supposed to know if the chicken breasts or pork chops are done? It has settings for beef, burgers, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, veal, lamb, and potatoes.

7. My "cake" carrier-- This is supposed to be used to transport a 11x13 size cake or at least pan of that size. I bought it this past summer to carry a cake out to Minnesota for a baby shower. I was able to put two unfrosted layers along with the ingredients for the frosting and my icing spatulas in this. It also works great as a cookie holder. I can fit at least 4 dozen in with no problem. I don't have to worry about the cookies getting smashed up during transport. Later this year it will be used for puppy chow.

Well that's my list. Let me know if you like it or not. What's on your fave list??