food processors and changing behavior and therapy

January 2, 2008

* Hi all. I just wanted to share a little something with you

guys. its really no big deal but I have to puree foods for my

daughter and ive always just used a little chopper for her meals,

basically the kind that supposed to be used to chop onions, etc.

and since it was a weak chopper my daughter was mostly getting

canned meals and those kids cuisine meals. Food Processors always

scared me and they look so complicated. Well I got a Kitchenaide

Food Processor for xmas and its so beautiful, its Cobalt Blue to

match my kitchen, but thats beside my point :-) i can now give my

Haylee whatever we eat and im so happy for her! i threw a whole

Fajita in there Anotand it chopped up wonderfully! so far ive put

a roast in there with potatoes, carrots and brocolli, chicken

burrito, a chickfila kids meal, and i made regular sandwiches that

we eat and chopped it up. I was afraid to chop the sandwich up, i

just knew it would be disgusting but it really wasnt. I add

either chicken stock or beef stock to the meals to soften it up.

Today im going to give her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and

just pour a little milk in it. its a lot of fun experimenting now

and i always felt horrible for giving her crappy foods.

Another thing i would like to share with you is thta my daughter used to

LOVE rocking on her little rocking horse, i mean she would go to town on

it while watching a video and about two years ago she just stopped going

to it. Whenever i would put her on it she would start to shake a little

and want to get off so fast. so for almost two years she avoided it

even though we would leave it out. Well over the weekend she slowly

went to it and started to put one leg over and that was it. so later on

she got on it by herself and she rocks real slow now, its cute, its like

shes trying to get back into it. Its weird how this happened. we

thought maybe she fell off one at school or at home and we didnt see it

or its just the autism, you know interested at one point and then not.

Haylee has also been very affectionate these past two weeks, just

demanding our attention which is awesome. She gets on the couch where

im sitting and crawl onto my lap and get all in my face or if im sitting

at the table she gets in my face. Im thinking alot of this comes with

age and just patience. i dont think therapy really has anything to do

with this. i say this because weve been going to therapy for 6yrs. and

the past two weeks weve been off for the holidays. i think alot of this

you just have to be patient. I love ABA therapy but im not too pleased

with my Speech or OT therapist. Ive put a hold on Haylees ot and speech

because its not doing any good, i can do the mouth exercises at home and

the ot stuff i can do here too. do you think thats okay what ive done?

i can explain more why i put a hold on the therapys if anyones

interested. i kind of feel like a bad mother for not takingher but i

have my reasons, and ive always seem to go with my gut about things and

have done pretty good.

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January 2, 2008

,

I would encourage you to " follow your gut " . I think we could all

feel guilt over the choices we make for our kids if we let

ourselves. Because my son can not tell me what he needs I find

myself making the best choice I can for him without always being sure

if it is what he needs. His behaviors are not always consistent and

so I find myself guessing and sometimes second guessing my

decisions. I know that my decisions are made in love and with his

best interest at heart and I have to be o.k. with that. In the past

I was put unnecessary stress on myself and our family trying to get

him to every possible therapy and get every vitamin and healthy food

in his body (ground flax seeds, fish oil etc.). I am convinces that

none of that had the " life or death " impact that I wanted it to. I

wanted it to make such a difference for him but I do not believe that

it did. Time has helped the most and Colton has become more calm and

affectionate as he has grown older. I think my relaxing and

accepting and even helped him relax. I wanted so much for him to be

able to enjoy what we enjoyed and but now I allow him to have his

space and he seems so much happier. I know everyone's child is

different but I would encourage you to know that you are a good

mother and that your gut will lead you well.

Lori, mom to Colton, DS, ASD 12 years old

January 2, 2008

Hi, , My name is Cyndi and I have been a member of this

group for about 2 yrs. I have felt just like you on the subject of

burn out.I used to have therapist coming in and out of my home

constantly.Then it got to the point the therapist would call on days

that were not appointment days for therapy and want to come just

because they were in the neighborhood and it was more convenient for

them.I resented that just because I stayed home with my that

these therapist thought they could just call and stop in.After all I

still had other therapist on different days and my regular things

that I needed to do even if it was just taking a break.I have been

taking my son to a great center her that treats kids with autism well

at least until this year.Some of the original people have either left

on moved on to do other things.One of the new therapist quit that was

doing OT and the speech therapist keeps looking for ways to not do

therapy on my son.Example: The speech therapist wanted a hearing test

after all no need working on speech if he cannot hear properly.'s

speech test came back great no hearing problems.I could see the

disappointment in her face.Next she has suggested get a behavioral

abservation of . is good for her 99% of the time and works at

whatever she ask.She cancelled an appointment waiting on insurance

approval, then we saw us the next week, and then the next week she

cancelled again waiting on insurance approval.We have been going here

for 2 years and have never had insurance problems. I think she was

not getting the pre-approvals done. talks in pictures but there

is not a picture for everything.If stomach hurts, or head hurts

he cannot convey this hurt.I want so much for him to understand these

things that I die a little inside whenever I can tell something is

really wrong and I cannot figure out what it is.You are right no one

knows what we go through unless their child is this severe.But I

understand and I can tell you are a great mom and the great thing

about this list is the others understand and empathize you pain

too.Do not feel like a failure to your child because you need a

break.No one can go this life 24/7 non-stop.Just know that this child

was lucky to get you for a mom and not someone else.Someone else

might have completely given up and put the child up for adoption.You

can sleep well by knowing you are doing everything that you can

possibly do and that is enough. Sincerely Cyndi B

>

> * Hi all. I just wanted to share a little something with you

> guys. its really no big deal but I have to puree foods for my

> daughter and ive always just used a little chopper for her

meals,

> basically the kind that supposed to be used to chop onions,

etc.

> and since it was a weak chopper my daughter was mostly getting

> canned meals and those kids cuisine meals. Food Processors

always

> scared me and they look so complicated. Well I got a

Kitchenaide

> Food Processor for xmas and its so beautiful, its Cobalt Blue

to

> match my kitchen, but thats beside my point :-) i can now give

my

> Haylee whatever we eat and im so happy for her! i threw a

whole

> Fajita in there Anotand it chopped up wonderfully! so far ive

put

> a roast in there with potatoes, carrots and brocolli, chicken

> burrito, a chickfila kids meal, and i made regular sandwiches

that

> we eat and chopped it up. I was afraid to chop the sandwich

up, i

> just knew it would be disgusting but it really wasnt. I add

> either chicken stock or beef stock to the meals to soften it

up.

> Today im going to give her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

and

> just pour a little milk in it. its a lot of fun experimenting

now

> and i always felt horrible for giving her crappy foods.

>

> Another thing i would like to share with you is thta my daughter

used to

> LOVE rocking on her little rocking horse, i mean she would go to

town on

> it while watching a video and about two years ago she just stopped

going

> to it. Whenever i would put her on it she would start to shake a

little

> and want to get off so fast. so for almost two years she avoided

it

> even though we would leave it out. Well over the weekend she

slowly

> went to it and started to put one leg over and that was it. so

later on

> she got on it by herself and she rocks real slow now, its cute, its

like

> shes trying to get back into it. Its weird how this happened. we

> thought maybe she fell off one at school or at home and we didnt

see it

> or its just the autism, you know interested at one point and then

not.

>

> Haylee has also been very affectionate these past two weeks, just

> demanding our attention which is awesome. She gets on the couch

where

> im sitting and crawl onto my lap and get all in my face or if im

sitting

> at the table she gets in my face. Im thinking alot of this comes

with

> age and just patience. i dont think therapy really has anything to

do

> with this. i say this because weve been going to therapy for 6yrs.

and

> the past two weeks weve been off for the holidays. i think alot of

this

> you just have to be patient. I love ABA therapy but im not too

pleased

> with my Speech or OT therapist. Ive put a hold on Haylees ot and

speech

> because its not doing any good, i can do the mouth exercises at

home and

> the ot stuff i can do here too. do you think thats okay what ive

done?

> i can explain more why i put a hold on the therapys if anyones

> interested. i kind of feel like a bad mother for not takingher but

i

> have my reasons, and ive always seem to go with my gut about things

and

> have done pretty good.

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

----

>

> No virus found in this incoming message.

> Checked by AVG Free Edition.

> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1206 - Release Date:

1/1/2008 12:09 PM

>

January 2, 2008

-

So glad you found a way to puree food for Haylee! Sounds like a real time

saver for you. I pureed food for a long time in a Oster blender, thought it was

less than spectacular in it's ability to puree. Needed lots of stopping and

clearing the sides, etc. THEN I purchased a Vita-Mix, the machine they use at

Jamba Juice to make their delicious drinks, and it is so quick and wonderfully

strong! Unfortunately, my son still did not take a liking to much that was

given by mouth (he has been tube fed since birth). But the rest of us love our

VIta-MIx still, and use it often.

So nice to hear how affectionate Haylee has been over the holidays. What a

blessing and a gift!

I also want to say that you need to go with your " mom's instinct " about

therapists. Some therapists through the years have been great for us, others

so-so, and some I should have quit having sooner. It was only my lack of

confidence that kept me from stopping sooner, and now that I have more

confidence under my belt, I am quicker to be more assertive. Therapists,

doctors, nurses, teachers, are all relationships that can help or harm our

children. But our children cannot always speak for themselves, and they need us

to intervene. If you sat down and thought about it (or maybe you already have)

you could probably make a really good case as to why a particular therapist is

" wrong " for your child based on real-life facts. Don't feel bad, do what you

feel is right, and seek someone else to meet these needs your child has.

Hugs,

Donnell

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