ABA Conference

Some of you know that for almost two years now we have been trying to go to an ABA conference. It was highly reccomended when Cody was first diagnosed with autism in January of 2007, but with Zach being gone, it was just impossible to get to one! A few months back I heard that there was going to be a special conference scheduled for military families in the Ktown area so I was really excited and immediately started finding out how to get two seats! Zach has not been too convinced on the whole thing, but there was really no way of getting out of it this time! I arranged for my babysitter Hannah (who went and got married and left me!) to come back for the weekend, with her new hubby of course, so all the big obstacles were out of the way.

ABA is applied behavior analysis. Cody does have some behavioral issues that the school has tried working through and we even went to a psychologist all summer to help them, but nothing has worked. So my hope is that when home visits start in January we can get a good program going in our home that fits our lifestyle and need to help not only Cody, but everyone. The psychologist saw some things in Ryan that he felt would benefit being addressed as well. Not to say Ryan has autism or is anywhere near, just some very strong similarities to Cody and behavior issues we are having. So anyway I am so excited for our home program to start!

I am sad I missed the kids in the primary program. I heard Cody did a great job saying his part so I am very happy Zach was there to see it. I have had to learn over the past 6 weeks or so what it is like to miss out on things with the kids and let me tell you, it has been very hard! You wouldn't think missing a soccer game after Tyler playing all these years was hard, but as soon as I could I got the full game report when I missed one! Now I missed Cody's first speaking part in front of people! I now know what Zach feels when he spends months away and misses little things that I have always taken for granted!

A big thank you to Hannah and Steven for driving back and staying with the boys! Our only other option was to split them up among friends which is very hard on Cody. The boys had so much fun that they want to know when Zach and I are going away for a weekend so Hannah and Steven can come back! I suppose that's one way to convince a newly married couple to avoid having kids for a few years! Cody's teachers don't have this blog address, but I want to say thank you to them as well. Sitting in this conference for two days, seeing and hearing others experiences, made me so happy to have the team of people on my side so to speak. So many parents are struggling to get teachers to work with them and thier child. We have been so fortunate to have not only great teachers, but people that honestly care and love Cody for who he is and sees so much more in him. Ms. Letnes has been a great support for me and takes time to listen to my silly questions or pleads for help. She goes so far above and beyong for "her kids" and you know by watching her that she sees them as her own. I guess I had better end this. I think I am on somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster since Cody's birthday is about here and the road with him as been so hard at times, but so rewarding as well. On tuesday when I do his official post you'll hear more, although I have told myself I will be brief! We'll see!