Hayden's embarkation to the rest of his life

So... Michelle showed me how to bypass syncing to the computer then posting blogs . Instead I can post pictures directly from my iPhone to my blog. Before, I could only use my iphone to upload data and not pictures. Now I can do both. So I am officially blogging again. Woot woot!

Hayden is at his new school - WestView! Its a perfect fit and it is the first school that he actually doesn't just tolerate or flat out hate. He smiles, and appears to genuinely enjoy his time there. He does not speak much, which is one of the reasons why he is there, but we can tell that he likes it. After many choices, we feel that we have "finally arrived!". It's the only school in Houston that's specifically designated for Asperger's and high functioning autism children. Our purpose is to eventually transition Hayden out of Westview and into a regular public or private school sometime in his future though near or far.
A little tidbit and some characteristics about autism:
-first of all, there is a huge range from severe to mild. Fortunately, for him, his case is mild (they call it high functioning autism where the autism spectrum is vast).
-intelligence and IQ are not affected at all
- he has the potential to catch up and even excel in his education (even a small percentage are actually gifted in certain areas but this isn't always the case).
-delayed speech and vocabulary
-cognition is fine (process of acquiring knowlegde and understanding), but delayed until speech is caught up to speed
-introverts and socially tend to prefer to play by themselves or only people most familiar with
- delayed fine motor and sometimes gross motor skills
- tendency to prefer to align things in neat lines
- flapping of hands- hand to head banging-specificities in food textures, etc etc- so there you have it- the gist of autism.

Sure, sure, he just a shy kid that is learning at his own pace? I thought the same at first too. Many parents with one chid worry too much and are kind of a hypochondriac for their one child. I call it the "mono kiddo syndrome". But this was not us - we actually said... "he will be fine..." "every kids learns at different levels at different times..." but we were patient and he still did not progress and he consistently was not hitting his speaking landmarks- so we sought help with information and the steps started two years ago. Its more than just a simple delay and there is no denying it. It is what it is. We have no problems that he is autistic. All any parent wants is to have the best for their child, and that is all we want as well.

What is most important for us that we want for him? Would we like him to improve his speech and tap into his gifted talents and be a genius and get an amazing career? As importunate this is to us (and for every parent) for their child to be successful for themselves, it's not nearly as important to us as the next thing is. We would rather he be an average or even a "B" and "C" student but instead have good socially skills and happiness with good friends and a quality relationship with his better half and eventual wife. We have met several parents who have had there autistic child excel in college in fields like engineering or science, or math with fabulous careers. But they are socially awkward and have few friends (if any) and no companion ever! There is also the other half, where autistic kids eventually fit perfectly into society, but are behind "education-wise". Of course, we prefer him to be balanced, but if given one choice, we would choose the later. On the contrary, Some kids from Westview have entered regular school and excelled in the school work and social skills and has regular healthy lives with both. That is our goal of course. On the same not, some kids have been at Westview for 8 years now. One never knows. All we can do is try and hope for the best.

We are so blessed to have Hayden in our lives and are so pleased to have this amazing school in Houston. What is different from this school from others is that it fits his needs and it knows how to do it. It helps draw out his vocabulary. It has a gymnasium to improve his motor skills. The teachers understand how the kids are and are patient and are constantly having the kids do what they need to. Simple things such as carrying your own book bag. Standing and waiting in line. Pulling up your pants and washing your own hands by yourself - There are available one on one speech therapy sessions and occupational therapy sessions available.

I will be posting all of Hayden's updated and achievements as he progresses. Basically the way I see his level is like this: he is a year or two years behind in his speech and only slightly behind in his cognition (mainly due to the fact that he does not say anything so we cannot understand all he knows. but.... the beauty of where he is at is that he is improving so fast and although he is behind, it is a sharp fast climb. He has a decent chance of catching up to speed in the next few years. I also feel that lack of confidence is so important to prevent and I want to help him early in his life before this occurs. Already, it is so obvious to see his pride and joy as he adds vocabulary. He glows when he tells us something he always knew but never could say before. Now that he is speaking just a little more, we are just now seeing how much he really already knows. It's just tearjerking that he is saying words that we are about to teach but he learned it a long time ago (but just now telling us it). Its kinda like a switch went on and he is ready. As previously mentioned, he is still behind, but it appears that he is ready to start making the connection. To see how proud he is to let us know what he already knows is why we are working hard to prevent him from losing confidence. We really see it as a cup half full. It's kinda like we were able to have an extra year of his youth to enjoy with him as time is just flying by so fast. We are very confident he will catch up and encouraged that one day he will excel even further in both his speech and social skills. Although Westview teaches the extra stuff, they make a point to have everything else similiar to regular school classes so that when he transitions out, it will be a smooth move.

This blog is kind of a preface to many of the blogs to come. It gives a little summary of Hayden and autism, but the ones to follow will be different. It will track his progress in a journal/blog like format for him to have in the future when he sees all that he will have surely accomplish.

We are just so happy for him right now, and though the road is still very long for him, it looks like at least the road is paved and not as rough as it was before.