Easter

We have had a very big weekend. Friday we were at Brooke and Troys, Saturday was the beach and baseball, Sunday was Adams family easter and Monday was my family easter. I dont think that Will ate anything but chocolate much to my misery and everyone elses pleasure:)

So, today, with all the toxins in his system he was a nutter at Speech Therapy. He couldnt concentrate, going from one activity to another and really not participating in the activities at all. But he is still progressing quite well. We are working on the signs for 'in', 'open', 'close' and 'help'. It all seems to be falling into place!

Thursday we have our appointment with the Feeding Clinic to see what they can do about his lack of eating 'solid' foods. Will really only eats soft foods, he is quite adept to looking at offered foods, sizing them up, and saying no to them. If they require chewing, then thats a no no. I will be back to see what they say later.

Poo!

Oh dear, we can add Poo to our words!!!!!

I can be sitting on the toilet and Will will come in and say very loudly POO! Or point to his nappy and say POO or blow off and say POO!!!!

Also, Will has finally got the concept of Ta. He readily used it when he gave things to Adam and I but he didnt say it when he wanted or got something. Now he does. It is so good and most times he does it without prompting. So he understands conventions of language.

The downside is, is that he stands at the pantry door and says ta, ta, ta and it gets progressively louder until something happens. Which is generally me redirecting him, not giving him food LOL.

The sign he had to work on was the sign for go as in Ready Set Go, but he still hasnt grasped it. We are also working on the sign for in and he seems to be getting this one easier.

So we are still making progress at a rate which is fantastic. Using a phonetic program from school Ants in the Apple, Will is making sounds. I sing Ants in the Apple A A A, and he responds A A A. We are looking at the letter A, P, S as he seems to have an understanding of the sounds. A bit of n, h, g thrown in for good measure.

I went to the GP to get a idea about what the paed was looking for in the genetic testing - FSH and it is autonomal dominant - basically Adam or I have to have it for Will to have it. And it appears we dont, so if Will has it, it will be a genetic mutation that can occur. So we remain positive that it is an isolated speech delay, mixed in with his low muscle tone and lack of eating.

And we got the approval for Will to have support at care. It means five hours a day for 10 weeks and hopefully his biting will have decreased as his understandings of the world have increased and his self esteem and confidence relating to communication moreso. Lets see!

Day care

A nice byproduct - or so we think - of Wills lack of speech is his biting. We have had many instances of biting and a terrible experience at our previous child care centre. This new however is just brilliant. They were aware of his biting prior to enrolment and have engaged the services of special education support. My gosh, she was excellent. The hardest part at the moment for the staff and for Will is, his bites can be varies. They can be observed as frustration, as interactions, and as affection (like kissing).

So we are working on re-direction if we think he is going in for the kill, making him less reliant on touch (hard for a tactile boy) but making him wave hello, goodbye etc without touching the other kids, visual cues, special Will books etc.

At this stage, they are working on the development of the plan, it has to go through both the care centre and Adam and I. It it all negotiable with all of us, we are consulted all the way through the process.

So, progress is being made. It is making me feel very confident that Will is being supported in a positive light and that we can make steps to being bite free as well as increasing his speech development.

People who havent seen him lately, or dont see him as regularly are amazed at his progress, we dont see it as much as we are with him all the time. So again, things must be heading in the right direction!!

Blood Test

Will had to go for his blood test today. Our paed recommended we go to the local hospital as they bulk billed and if we had of gone privately it would have cost money. Fair enough. So I took Will this morning to our local hospital - which is a large Sydney hospital, where the Pathology section was full of people. Urggh! I hate waiting and even more so with a two year old who hates waiting! Luckily we ran into A's sister in law and niece, who were there for Belindas pregnancy check ups. So Aunty San played with Will and kept him amused.

Our number was called and in we go. There the bombshell was dropped. The tests were not bulk billed and would cost $460! Oops! Hoping the credit card had enough of a limit. Must be close now!!! I ran into a friends mother that I have known since primary school and they were able to chase it up for me and luckily I dont have to pay for it. Not that we wouldnt have not paid for it, but it would have been nice to be prepared!

The lovely ladies did a great job with him, he was crying and trying to move the whole time. I had his legs and other arm under control and one lady had his arm. She was holding the top and the bottom while the other lady was taking the blood. Bloody little git was moving his elbow the whole time. She even commented on how strong he was - low muscle tone my backside!!

The waiting game is on now. It is a six week wait for the results to get back to our Paed from Concord Hospital. Hopefully it comes back negative all over! Then we can really get on with things!

Thats all for today!