Here I am!

I am still here! I want to start by saying I am deeply touched by the fact that people I don't even know would follow my blog and be truly concerned enough to email or comment when I haven't been here. I also truly appreciate those who have prayed for us and in particular Tyler's health. I have been so frustrated by the whole ordeal that I have needed a little time to pray about it all and work it through in my mind. I am sorry if I have worried anyone in the process. I am happy to say that although Tyler is not feeling 100% he is doing a little better. We are still working through trying to get our doctor back and should hopefully know by the end of the week so we can continue testing to find out what is causing his stomach and headaches. I was encouraged today by a phone call I received from the Naval hospital requesting more information about our situation. I was told that usually these requests are pretty much denied right away as they try to fill up patient loads for their doctors first and I am sure in the process save money. Apparently though something in our paperwork sparked something with one of the people there that have to make a determination in our request. The lady that I talked to asked me a bunch of questions about why we wanted a civilian doctor and what doctors our boys had seen in the past. They also want to see a copy of their original autism diagnosis so Tim will be faxing those over to them tomorrow. I was told that we are being given more of a chance than most get but that we may still be denied. I am encouraged though. If not we will switch back to Tricare standard which is what we had before but we will also be incurring a lot of extra cost on our part. I am sure there are those who are wondering why it is so important to us that they not be seen at the Naval hospital and I am not sure if I have explained that in the past. I don't want to in any way bash the Navy though as I have truly met some wonderful people that have served in the Navy. For our children however it has not been a workable solution. The waiting room at the Naval hospital is loud and crowded which is difficult for both of them and for Christian in my opinion way more than he can tolerate. Also when they have been seen there before they have had multiple doctors making it difficult for them to get acquainted with our boys and their needs. Lastly we have had a very difficult time getting any referrals for additional therapies or treatment. I hope that makes sense. We believe it is the best option for them.
I also want to update everyone on Christian and his wall eating. My parents have generously offered to pay for the rest of the vinyl beadboard for his room and Tim went to Lowes and purchased that yesterday. We will work on putting that up this weekend. Christian has had to be out in our living/dining area all day and does not appreciate having to be supervised all day so I am sure he will be ecstatic to be able to be alone some in his room again. I have also been doing a lot of observing and thinking about what may have suddenly tipped off his mad rash of Pica. He has always eaten inedible objects but has been really into it the last couple of months. I am concerned that maybe I am causing him anxiety by pushing too hard with him. I have decided to lay off the workboxes with him for awhile and see if that helps some. I love and truly believe in the workbox system but with Christian it has a bit of a negative past. He had a teacher in public school that had been trained by Division Teacch and was using that system with him at school. She however never adapted the system for him or his needs so it created a lot of confusion as to what she expected from him. He unfortunately learned to finish the tasks he was presented with without learning or retaining anything. Also when he was finished their was no praise and he was pretty much removed from the rest of the group during the t the school day. I believe this really left him with the feeling that he was being punished for something and since pretty much the only thing they had done with him was the task boxes he associated the two. I truly hoped that enough time had passed that he would not still feel that way when I did boxes with him but I am finding it still frustrates him even when they are task he would like if presented during play. So I think we will continue to work within the confines of Floortime which he feels safe in. Tyler flourishes with the structure of workboxes but each autistic child just like every nuerotypical child has different needs. I guess that is one of the reasons we homeschool anyway. I get very frustrated when I see a single approach presented as the sole answer to educating or treating those with autism. My two are so different and especially in the way they learn.
So that is my update for now. I have more to tell but I need to go get some school stuff done. I promise to try to get back on here tonight or tomorrow morning and update you on our last week, my birthday, and our fall so far.