4 Paws for Dallon!: April 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Long overdue update!

I know its been forever since I've posted to this blog--lets just say life has a way of keeping me busy. We have had Bianca for over a year now, and she has become a part of our family. It seems like we've always had her now. She responds to Dallon's emotions without commands, and she even responds to Jace now, too. She is a calming influence in our home, keeping me calm most of the time also. She goes every where with me!

We welcomed baby Conner to our home in May. My pregnancy was more difficult this time, but I made it, and Conner was born healthy and beautiful. We moved from Hermiston to the Baker Valley in September, and Dallon is attending a small school in North Powder. It is a perfect fit for him/us. The class sizes are very small, and since they changed from a public school to a charter school they have plenty of resources to service all of Dallon's needs. I was actually offered a one-on-one aid at the beginning of the year, and they hired extra staff to accomodate, too! What a change. Dallon's class has 18 kids in it, and there are always at least 2-3 adults in the room. At this time I am taking Bianca to school on Wednesdays. He is doing really well in school, and the kids think he's cool because his dog comes to visit.

Dallon has grown amazingly in the last year. He is talking so much more, and using pretty good sentence structure. I'm guessing his speech is like that of a typical 3-4 year old. He is doing well academically, although reading is going to be a struggle for a while (phonics are really difficult for him to understand). He speaks spontaneously now, too. It is amazing to hear him spout out something to me without a prompt.

We have not had to use Bianca's tracking skills in a real life situation yet, and I'm hoping we never will. It is very comforting to know what she can do for us if we ever need her though! Her behavior disruption skills have been a great resource, and she is a wonderful friend for my boys to "talk" to. And because she can go anywhere with us, she is a consistent presence that keeps us anchored.

HOW WE CAME TO BE HERE

In June 2007 we were given the news from the local school system that they had determined that Dallon was "severely" autistic. It was a hard thing to accept or understand. Dallon is not at all what I would have imagined a "severely" autistic child would be. We were also told that he did not qualify for summer services--so I immediately began seeking out alternative resources. By August we had a medical diagnosis from Oregon Health Science University in Portland, OR at their Childhood Development Rehabilitation Center (CDRC).

Dallon has a variety of symptoms, as well as some great skills. He does not consistently respond to his name or engage when someone tries to initiate and interaction with him. He gets overstimulated with sounds and when it is accompanied by bright lights...but this is not a consistent reaction which causes us a lot of difficulty in deciding what he can and cannot handle. He loves to explore and climb and has already had a broken arm as a result of a fall (both forearm bones). He loves to explore new places, and especially places where he can climb or get wet. He did not say more than perhaps 10 words (most of which had very little practical use) until well after his third birthday. By the time he was diagnosed/labeled in June 2007 he was 3 1/2 and had been evaluated several times. Other than his speech, his symptoms seemed 'not so bad' until you look at the wide variety and the number of ways his life is affected by autism. His cognitive and reasoning lagged behind his peers, although he was speaking in short phrases and sentences (at 4 years and 3 months), he still could not tell me where he was hurt when cried. When he is emotional in any way he seems to lose all ability to communicate and reason. He has a very strange eating pattern. He can go for days only eating a few crackers and having a cup of milk at each meal/snack. If I leave food out for him, he will leave it untouched all day--he doesn't seem to consistently recognize when he is hungry.

Dallon will attend Early Intervention preschool services for the 2008-09 school year. He will start on September 8th. He will continue to see his speech therapist for at least the next year. I have reasearched a number of programs offered through various northwest universities, but none of them were affordable or really offered the kinds of interventions I was looking for. His school is trying to start a program for Dallon within the classroom called STAR--it is an Applied Behavior Analysis program that I am very excited about. The ESD attempted to start the program last year, but only got as far as the evaluations to begin. Hopefully they'll be able to do it this year.
I have been considering getting a dog for Dallon for a long time. He loves dogs! And he seems to connect with them. Dogs that typically don't like children seem to like him. A dog would give him so much companionship on a level that doesn't require all of the hard work of a human social relationship.

I ran across an article about Austism service dogs, and began researching them. I found 4 Paws, and immediately felt very good about their program. Their history is amazing and heart warming. They accept everyone! If you have a disability, they can get you a dog. They wouldn't turn us away because Dallon is so young, or because he isn't as "severe" as another child. And what the dog would do to help me will be a huge relief. I won't have to try to fit him in the basket at the grocery store so he won't get lost or wander out the exit. I won't have to worry about how to find him if he was ever separated from us in a public place. He would have someone who could distract him when he is too emotional to function, or calm him when he is overstimulated by his environment. and he would have a friend who will love him unconditionally, no matter how "weird" his social behaviors are.

Please help us if you can, and if you could continue to give to 4 Paws even after we have reached our goal, there are so many other families that benefit from their program. I plan to continue to give for the rest of my life to this program.
THANK YOU!

4 Paws for Dallon!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Long overdue update!

Dallon's Autism Assistance Dog Bianca

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HOW WE CAME TO BE HERE