I haven't written about Peter's lifestyle yet on this blog because Ben and I have chosen to keep our family life semi-private up to this point. However, I am feeling moved to share it on this blog now as the pieces are coming together for us, slowly but surely. Some of you know where I am going with this and some of you have no idea what I'm rambling about...so here goes...
Peter has been diagnosed with a Global Developmental Delay and we are in the process of figuring out if Peter will receive the label of being autistic or on the Autism Spectrum or maybe not for that matter! :)
Peter has been receiving Special Education services through our school district since January of 2006 (he was 8 months old at the time) and he has been attending Pediatric Therapy Services (PTS) since November 2006. His ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) teacher, Katie, comes to Peter's daycare twice a week for an hour each time and she does play therapy with Peter and gives me (and Ben) tips on how to help Peter "catch up" to his peers. PTS, however is more of a medical setting and they push Peter a little harder. He has Speech & Physical Therapy combined on one day of the week for an hour and he has Speech and Occupational Therapy combined on another day of the week for an hour. It makes for quite a bit of running on my part!
We feel happy about catching this early so that we can intervene while he is still very young. The earlier the intervention, the better chance will be that he will lead a normal life. We are unsure, however how things will go so we are just saying our prayers and giving each day our best shot. There is a lot of buzz right now about autism in the media but the truth of the matter is, autism isn't an exact science and each case is very very different (as is a Global Developmental Delay). Sometimes we get the run around from one specialist to another...but Ben and I are Peter's biggest advocates and we are doing for him what we think is best for his development and for our family as a whole.
We are fortunate to have help in our situation. Peter is considered "disabled" (I HATE THAT WORD) so he receives health benefits to cover his very expensive therapy. We will now be receiving Personal Care Attendant (PCA) services each week. We have been allocated 21 hours a week for the next year. We have chosen my best friend, Haley (Peter's Godmother too!), to take on this position. Ben's new job will require him to be away for 12-14 hours a day so Haley will help in the evenings with Peter's dinner, bath time and play therapy. From 4-7pm is Peter's most difficult part of the day. He can throw very violent tantrums and is unable to communicate his needs during them so the extra set of hands is truly a blessing. We have also just been awarded a Family Support Grant. We will be receiving money each month to go towards Peter's therapy toys and household items that make it easier for all of us to deal with his development issues. We'll also be able to pay babysitters (he doesn't always do well in stores or in public in general), purchase educational books for me and Ben, etc wih the money. We feel lucky that these doors have been opened to us because this whole situation has been wearing down on us.
Anyways, I just wanted to fill you in if you weren't up to speed. We don't expect pity, we just wanted to let you know what family life is like for us right now. I know all the pictures on this blog are fun, but I just felt it was time to let you (whoever looks at this thing) know what's behind the pictures and what our family does on a weekly basis. We aren't down and out about this (ok, some days are really really tough but some days are great too!) and we really are a typical family...we just have a little extra help for some of Peter's needs. Peter is a very happy, loving, and rambuctious (sp?) boy so the hard days always seem to get better when he smiles or gives us a hug. He just started giving really good hugs and kisses so that's a wonderful sign in his improved development! I feel blessed in this situation because I have grown tremendously as a person, because I am now more patient than I ever thought I could be in my lifetime. I have also become much more compassionate and care deeply for families that struggle with any medical situations, whether it's similar to ours or not. God has a strange way of doing that to people I guess. I'm glad I have the insight to know that I forever am a changed person because of what we are going through. We also feel very blessed because things could always be worse....right?
Check out these blue eyes!!!
