Last Wednesday my youngest daughter turned five. What does this have to do with a blog about raising autism? Everything, as Natalie may never have even been born had it not been for Camryn being autistic.
When Camryn was three and the label of autism was stuck firmly in place, it was painfully obvious that her future would not be like Mason's and their relationship would be nowhere near what I had imagined. The idea of growing older and not being able to care for Camryn as an adult scared the s**t out of me and the thought of Mason having to take on the responsibility of her sister when we were gone scared me even more. Although she loves Camryn with all her heart, I know she has dreams and plans of her own and the last thing I want is for her to have to put her life on hold to take care of her sister. And long before she was grown I knew there would be struggles and emotions that none of her friends would understand unless they too lived in a house that autism built.
The decision to have another baby was not made overnight, no pun intended. Brad and I thought about it for quite a while, stressing over the fact that already having a child with autism raised our chances of having another on the spectrum, not a dramatic amount but enough to be concerned about. We also knew that it would be a tremendous amount of work adding an infant to the mix, as Camryn was like a baby herself at that time as well as very aggressive and having a newborn in the house was going to be risky. On the other hand we felt for Mason being the only other kid in the house and dealing on a daily basis with the ugliness and stress of autism. For her to have another sibling to play with, talk to, create memories with and to understand what she goes through would make such a difference in her life and so with that idea we decided to put our money down and place our bet. Nine months later we won big with the birth of Natalie Eva Walker.
Mason was five when Nat was born and Camryn was three. And even at three, Camryn was still very much a baby. With her not really talking that much, still in diapers and sleeping in a crib, she was like an infant herself and I worried how this was going to work out. I will never forget when my mom brought Mace and Cam to the hospital to visit their newborn sister. I was holding Nat, so tiny and petite swaddled nice and warm in the crook of my arm and Brad in the chair next to me, when the hospital room door flung open and in clamored Camryn. She looked as if she had eaten one of Alice's mushrooms and grown a few feet taller overnight. For the past three years she had been my little baby. Though chronlogically a preshooler, she had seemed so tiny and needy and felt so small in my arms. But now with a little less than seven pounds of newborn in my arms Camryn looked like Godzilla trapsing through the room, knocking over the table tray and tangling my I.V. Perception is such a funny thing. And although it was obvious to me that Cam was no longer a baby, to her she was still my baby and this little wrapped up thing I was holding would need to move so she could jump into my lap. It was chaotic and stressful, making sure she didn't hurt the baby and trying to get a family photo without Natalie getting injured. I was of course emotional with all my hormones going haywire and it wasn't long before my mom took the older two girls and left. Although I was so happy to have Nat, I did have what I guess you could call "buyer's remorse". Did we do the right thing? Is this really what our family needed? I just wasn't sure.
The first couple of months were hard, as with any newborn. But when you have a newborn AND Cam-a-rama things can be downright dangerous. I had to be on watch every nano-second that Camryn was never alone with the baby. Even trying to be nice and kiss her could very easily seriously hurt Natalie, as Camryn knows nothing about "soft touches". There was alot of crying, from Natalie, Camryn...me. But seeing Mason interact with Nat was so cool and also seeing that Camryn was kind of forced to become more independent the best she could and that she was actually capable of it. I might still be babying her to this day had I not had another actual baby to tend to.
So here we are five years later and I know without a doubt we made the right decision. I'm not going to lie, it has been difficult with Camryn being the middle child. Natalie has been hurt more times than I can count by her big sister, but now that she is bigger she is able to start defending herself, which helps. Mason and Nat are super close, despite the five year age difference and I am so happy for Mason that she has a playmate at home. Seeing Natalie grow and develop has been bittersweet. Of course I held my breath for months, anxious to see her meet each milestone and constantly checking that she made eye contact. She is exactly where she should be for her age and I am so thrilled, yet it has been sombering to see her pass her older sister developmentally,doing things with ease Camryn has yet to master.
She actually helps with Camryn now, talking to her like she is the older sister and "reading" to her, trying to help her calm down when she is in a tantrum. She has been a God send literally and I cannot imagine what life would be like without her.
And so when she and Mason are grown and their friends are reminiscing with their own siblings about the time they snuck out or stole a lollipop, Mace and Nat can turn to each other and say " Remember all the babygates in the house, the lock on the refrigerator and how we couldn't keep liquid soap out?" And they will both know exactly what the other is talking about! And that was the plan all along!
Happy Birthday Nat!! We love you :)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Just Another Day At The Farm
The last time I was brought to tears while out shopping with Camryn was 2005. An elderly un"gentleman" in Publix let me know how annoying my daughter's screams were, special needs or not. I was still a lightweight at the time and broke down crying as the cashier proceeded to scan my items. Dry spell ended today, but ya gotta have rain sometime right? Any good farmer will tell you that!
It started clouding up about four o'clock this afternoon during an impromptu, should have known wayyyy better, trip to Target. Camryn had been at camp all day and Mason and I spent the day shopping for school clothes and presents for Natalie's birthday next week. Nat is spending a few days with my mother-in-law so it's just the two girls. Brad called to say he'd be late and since I had already achieved super cool mom status for all the cute clothes I bought Mason, I thought why not go for Mom of the month and suggest pizza for dinner? Target has a great fresh pizza so I told Mace after we picked up Cam we would stop off and get one on the way home. Sounds innocent enough right?
We got Cam and she was......Cam. I have gotten smart(er) over the years and had a bag of M&M's and a bottle of water waiting for her in the car. She can be pretty hard to deal with after camp if there is no snack waiting. She ate all but one M&M, a blue one,which she decided to suck on until the shell became soft and then took it out of her mouth, smashed it up in her hand and then proceeded to rub the melted chocolate all over my right arm laying helplessly there on the console. Yep, love those car rides. When we pulled in the parking lot I told Mace we would only be in there for minute as we had been out all day and I wanted to get home. I put Cam in the cart and bravely entered through the automatic doors. I needed laundry detergent and that happens to be located dangerously close to the dog bone aisle and well, you all know what that means. Cam started to stand up in the cart screaming "I wanna give Ry-Ry a treat!!" and I thought "Oh hell, this is going down hill much faster than expected. I handed her a bag of bones and hurried off to the grocery section. Well the pizzas are right next to the Lunchables and it has been my practice for quite some time now to always buy the kids a Lunchable while shopping in Target to keep them quiet. So naturally Camryn saw them and began to shout out "Do you want a lunchable sweetie!!!!!" I grabbed her one, tore off the wrapper and knew I had to move fast. Mace picked out a pizza, I threw some water in the cart and was almost out of the store when I had the brilliant idea of "just checking out" the clearance toy section to see if there was anything Natalie may like. Am I ever going to learn???? Doesn't seem likely. We start winding up and down the aisles and Camryn started to stand in the cart again. She really is way too big to be in the cart but I like her confined when we shop. I tell her to sit but I may as well have been talking to the cart because she is still towering above me lunging for things on the shelves. I got her on her bottom again by handing her a singing Cookie Monster toy. Knowing we needed to leave immediately I wheeled us up to the register and of course the lines were all at least three deep. And there must have been a contest to see who could buy the most "little" things. I swear the lady in front of us had to have had about thirty small items and the lady next to her maybe forty. Camryn was getting very restless and I was trying to prevent a meltdown. But that would be like trying to put a cork in Mt. St. Helens. Camryn was pushing Cookie Monsters hand over and over and over making it sing "Old Macdonald" repeatedly. Mason asked if I was buying it and I said I didn't care how much money it was there was no way that thing was entering our home. Well Cams had a different idea, a very different idea. She wanted that Cookie Monster and not only did she want it, she wanted it right then,as in scanned by the cashier at that very moment which was impossible because the cashier was only on item number fifteen out of thirty belonging to the lady in front of us. But Cams was like "whateva!!" She stood up in the cart again and started fussing " Do you want the lady to pay for it honey?" It was getting sooo ugly. I lifted her out of the cart and she clamored past the lady in front of us and shoved Cookie Monster in the cashiers face. And may I might add, our cashier had a severe personality deficit. I grabbed Camryn by the arm and said the six little words that piss her off more than anything..."You have to wait your turn." Well, Camryn Faith Walker does not wait her turn. Or wait her turn quietly I should say. She started crying and shouting out "Pay for it honey!!! Do you want to pay for it sweetie!!!" The stares started and I held my head high as I have learned to do. But my God, it seemed like the items the woman bought in front of us had multiplied on the conveyor belt. I knew it was going to be a few minutes before it was our turn. Cookie Monster kept singing "Old McDonald" and Camryn kept shouting out that she wanted to pay for it and I pulled every trick I could think of out of my sleeves. I may as well have been wearing a tank top as nothing was working. I felt like the crowd was growing and Camryn's screams seemed to get louder. I would have tried to console her and talk her down but you see, that my friends is like the old pouring gasoline on a fire thing. It only makes it worse, so I just stood there praying our turn would come soon. And it did, but that didn't quiet Camryn. She shoved the Cookie Monster in the cashiers face again shouting "Pay for it honey!!" "I wanna hold him!" Well, remember how I had said I wasn't buying it? Oh I was buying it and you would think that would have solved the problem but Camryn wanted to hold it and apparently it's value is somewhere right up there with the Hope diamond because the damn thing was held into the box with about a million plastic twisty ties wrapped around about twenty times each! And I was still trying to load my items from the cart. By this time I had given up trying to calm Camryn and thought "F*** it!" I just stood there as my daughter thrashed and screamed and cried and shouted and the whole store stared. I paid for my things, grabbed Camryn by the arm and looked everybody in the eye as we walked past. And I probably should have just left it like that, but that would have been way too dignified. Instead, I stopped the cart, announced that "She's autistic for all of you who are staring!" pulled my shades down and cried all the way to the car. Mason didn't know. Cam's didn't know.And Cookie Monster didn't give a rat's a**. He was still singing about Old McDonald. I got everything loaded in the car, composed myself and drove home.
As soon as we opened the door Camryn took Cookie Monster into her bedroom, tossed him in a bucket, told him good night and left the room. What the ????? Uuuugghhhh I wanted to scream!! I texted Brad that I was certain I would be on the news at some point in the near future.
So Cookie Monster is still in the bucket and Old McDonald is nowhere to be found. But let me tell you something. Old McDonald may have had a farm and on that farm he may have had a pig and a cow with an oink oink here and a moo moo there but let me tell you what Old McDonald didn't have. He did not have an autistic child because if he did the song we all know and love would instead go as follows :
"Old McDonald had a funny farm, Crazy,Loony man. With a scream scream here and a poopy pullup there, here a pinch, there a bite, waking up all hours of the night, Old McDonald had a funny farm, Crazy,Loony man.
Sing that Cookie!!!
It started clouding up about four o'clock this afternoon during an impromptu, should have known wayyyy better, trip to Target. Camryn had been at camp all day and Mason and I spent the day shopping for school clothes and presents for Natalie's birthday next week. Nat is spending a few days with my mother-in-law so it's just the two girls. Brad called to say he'd be late and since I had already achieved super cool mom status for all the cute clothes I bought Mason, I thought why not go for Mom of the month and suggest pizza for dinner? Target has a great fresh pizza so I told Mace after we picked up Cam we would stop off and get one on the way home. Sounds innocent enough right?
We got Cam and she was......Cam. I have gotten smart(er) over the years and had a bag of M&M's and a bottle of water waiting for her in the car. She can be pretty hard to deal with after camp if there is no snack waiting. She ate all but one M&M, a blue one,which she decided to suck on until the shell became soft and then took it out of her mouth, smashed it up in her hand and then proceeded to rub the melted chocolate all over my right arm laying helplessly there on the console. Yep, love those car rides. When we pulled in the parking lot I told Mace we would only be in there for minute as we had been out all day and I wanted to get home. I put Cam in the cart and bravely entered through the automatic doors. I needed laundry detergent and that happens to be located dangerously close to the dog bone aisle and well, you all know what that means. Cam started to stand up in the cart screaming "I wanna give Ry-Ry a treat!!" and I thought "Oh hell, this is going down hill much faster than expected. I handed her a bag of bones and hurried off to the grocery section. Well the pizzas are right next to the Lunchables and it has been my practice for quite some time now to always buy the kids a Lunchable while shopping in Target to keep them quiet. So naturally Camryn saw them and began to shout out "Do you want a lunchable sweetie!!!!!" I grabbed her one, tore off the wrapper and knew I had to move fast. Mace picked out a pizza, I threw some water in the cart and was almost out of the store when I had the brilliant idea of "just checking out" the clearance toy section to see if there was anything Natalie may like. Am I ever going to learn???? Doesn't seem likely. We start winding up and down the aisles and Camryn started to stand in the cart again. She really is way too big to be in the cart but I like her confined when we shop. I tell her to sit but I may as well have been talking to the cart because she is still towering above me lunging for things on the shelves. I got her on her bottom again by handing her a singing Cookie Monster toy. Knowing we needed to leave immediately I wheeled us up to the register and of course the lines were all at least three deep. And there must have been a contest to see who could buy the most "little" things. I swear the lady in front of us had to have had about thirty small items and the lady next to her maybe forty. Camryn was getting very restless and I was trying to prevent a meltdown. But that would be like trying to put a cork in Mt. St. Helens. Camryn was pushing Cookie Monsters hand over and over and over making it sing "Old Macdonald" repeatedly. Mason asked if I was buying it and I said I didn't care how much money it was there was no way that thing was entering our home. Well Cams had a different idea, a very different idea. She wanted that Cookie Monster and not only did she want it, she wanted it right then,as in scanned by the cashier at that very moment which was impossible because the cashier was only on item number fifteen out of thirty belonging to the lady in front of us. But Cams was like "whateva!!" She stood up in the cart again and started fussing " Do you want the lady to pay for it honey?" It was getting sooo ugly. I lifted her out of the cart and she clamored past the lady in front of us and shoved Cookie Monster in the cashiers face. And may I might add, our cashier had a severe personality deficit. I grabbed Camryn by the arm and said the six little words that piss her off more than anything..."You have to wait your turn." Well, Camryn Faith Walker does not wait her turn. Or wait her turn quietly I should say. She started crying and shouting out "Pay for it honey!!! Do you want to pay for it sweetie!!!" The stares started and I held my head high as I have learned to do. But my God, it seemed like the items the woman bought in front of us had multiplied on the conveyor belt. I knew it was going to be a few minutes before it was our turn. Cookie Monster kept singing "Old McDonald" and Camryn kept shouting out that she wanted to pay for it and I pulled every trick I could think of out of my sleeves. I may as well have been wearing a tank top as nothing was working. I felt like the crowd was growing and Camryn's screams seemed to get louder. I would have tried to console her and talk her down but you see, that my friends is like the old pouring gasoline on a fire thing. It only makes it worse, so I just stood there praying our turn would come soon. And it did, but that didn't quiet Camryn. She shoved the Cookie Monster in the cashiers face again shouting "Pay for it honey!!" "I wanna hold him!" Well, remember how I had said I wasn't buying it? Oh I was buying it and you would think that would have solved the problem but Camryn wanted to hold it and apparently it's value is somewhere right up there with the Hope diamond because the damn thing was held into the box with about a million plastic twisty ties wrapped around about twenty times each! And I was still trying to load my items from the cart. By this time I had given up trying to calm Camryn and thought "F*** it!" I just stood there as my daughter thrashed and screamed and cried and shouted and the whole store stared. I paid for my things, grabbed Camryn by the arm and looked everybody in the eye as we walked past. And I probably should have just left it like that, but that would have been way too dignified. Instead, I stopped the cart, announced that "She's autistic for all of you who are staring!" pulled my shades down and cried all the way to the car. Mason didn't know. Cam's didn't know.And Cookie Monster didn't give a rat's a**. He was still singing about Old McDonald. I got everything loaded in the car, composed myself and drove home.
As soon as we opened the door Camryn took Cookie Monster into her bedroom, tossed him in a bucket, told him good night and left the room. What the ????? Uuuugghhhh I wanted to scream!! I texted Brad that I was certain I would be on the news at some point in the near future.
So Cookie Monster is still in the bucket and Old McDonald is nowhere to be found. But let me tell you something. Old McDonald may have had a farm and on that farm he may have had a pig and a cow with an oink oink here and a moo moo there but let me tell you what Old McDonald didn't have. He did not have an autistic child because if he did the song we all know and love would instead go as follows :
"Old McDonald had a funny farm, Crazy,Loony man. With a scream scream here and a poopy pullup there, here a pinch, there a bite, waking up all hours of the night, Old McDonald had a funny farm, Crazy,Loony man.
Sing that Cookie!!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Driving Me Crazy!!
I swear one day I am going to look in my rearview mirror and see a line of patrol cars following me, lights on, bullhorn out the window instructing me to pull over immediately and get out of the car with my hands in the air. Did I rob a bank? No, but if I can't find ABA therapy more affordable somewhere I just may buy a Nixon mask and go for it. Do I have drugs in my car? No, but with the way my rides go it sounds very tempting. No, somebody will have called to report a possible child abduction. What else could be the explanation for the young girl in the front seat next to me screaming and pounding her fists on the window trying to escape? Biting her hands and feet must have been her way of calling attention to our car so someone could call for help, right? I'm telling you, it's going to happen and you know what? I just might go with it! "Umm yeah, I did kidnap her, you are absolutely right! Are you taking me to jail now? Please??!"
I absolutely, positively, with every fiber of my being hate driving Camryn anywhere these days! Used to be taking a drive was one of the only things that would calm her down. I would pile the kids in the old suburban and ride around town for as long as we could stand because it was the only place that Camryn was quiet and peaceful. She would look out the window and bob her head back and forth to the music giving the other girls and I a much needed reprieve from her screaming and tantrums. But for the past several months transporting this child anywhere has turned into pure and utter hell!
When we purchased our very large vehicle five years ago we did it with the thought process that Camryn would not be able to reach her sisters and hurt them. HA!!! Little did we know that unless we were to purchase a bus Camryn would find a way to torture Mason and Natalie while I was behind the wheel. I sit them in the last row and put Cam in the middle row and guess what? She reaches behind her and pinches, hits, whatever she can do to hurt them. I swear I don't know how she does it! Try as I may to rid the car of missiles, they make their way in somehow and go flying through the air aimed straight for little heads and bodies. To make things easier for Mace and Nat I have moved Camryn up front, where she plays out her shenanigans on me while I'm trying to manuever our land yacht through traffic. She pinches me, opens the glovebox and empties it out, screams for gum then hands me a stringy chewed up wad of it two seconds later screaming for a new piece. She tries to unlock her door, she pushes any buttons she can reach on the dash and last Friday threw her backpack at my head as I was making my way down a very wet highway. And they say texting while driving is dangerous!! She bangs her fists on her window and screams at the top of her lungs. After she threw hew backpack at me she slumped down in her seat, pulled her feet to her mouth and pulled her socks off her feet with her teeth! Yes, with her teeth!!!! I just kept repeating out loud to myself "Breathe, just breath, just breathe". It is frickin' ridiculous that I should have to endure this every day of my life just trying to take my kid to camp!
While I'm on the road I see all the other cars passing by. This guy on his cell phone, that woman in a daze sipping her coffee. I have to laugh when I see them do a double take at my car passing by with Camryn banging her head on the back of her seat and biting her ankles. But in all seriousness it can be very depressing. And poor Mason and Natalie! They can't even ride in the car without constantly being reminded that our family is very different from most. The screaming is so loud you can almost feel your eardrum perforating one stitch at a time. Used to be Michael Buble could calm her down but my CD's got scratched and I haven't replaced them yet so I have to rely on a Disney CD and a few stories on CD, but even that is hit and miss. It is miserable, just plain miserable and I have to keep telling myself "Just twenty more minutes and then you have seven hours before you have to do this again."
I see all these cars go by with those little stick figure family decals showing how many kids they have. All the figures are smiling, some are wearing Mickey Mouse ears, and I just want to barf. No offense to anybody who has these, as some of my very good friends do, but when you are driving down the road while your kid is trying to eat the dashboard these things tend to tick you off just a tad! I picture a stick person version of our family...Mom in the fetal position, Dad pulling his hair out, two small figures in triangle dresses with their hands over their ears and the third figure with a huge circle for her mouth screaming, her hair going every which way and a stick figure dog cowering under a table. Seen that sticker anywhere? Didn't think so.
Right now I am getting ready to take Mason and Natalie to the beach and I gotta tell you, I am really looking forward to it. It will take us about twenty minutes to get there if all goes well but if the drawbridge gets stuck and we have to wait for a mother duck and her twenty ducklings to cross and there's a construction detour and a school zone and a ninety year old woman from Canada sitting on phone books in front of us it will all be okay with me because I have driven with Camryn and if that doesn't bring on some road rage nothing will!
I absolutely, positively, with every fiber of my being hate driving Camryn anywhere these days! Used to be taking a drive was one of the only things that would calm her down. I would pile the kids in the old suburban and ride around town for as long as we could stand because it was the only place that Camryn was quiet and peaceful. She would look out the window and bob her head back and forth to the music giving the other girls and I a much needed reprieve from her screaming and tantrums. But for the past several months transporting this child anywhere has turned into pure and utter hell!
When we purchased our very large vehicle five years ago we did it with the thought process that Camryn would not be able to reach her sisters and hurt them. HA!!! Little did we know that unless we were to purchase a bus Camryn would find a way to torture Mason and Natalie while I was behind the wheel. I sit them in the last row and put Cam in the middle row and guess what? She reaches behind her and pinches, hits, whatever she can do to hurt them. I swear I don't know how she does it! Try as I may to rid the car of missiles, they make their way in somehow and go flying through the air aimed straight for little heads and bodies. To make things easier for Mace and Nat I have moved Camryn up front, where she plays out her shenanigans on me while I'm trying to manuever our land yacht through traffic. She pinches me, opens the glovebox and empties it out, screams for gum then hands me a stringy chewed up wad of it two seconds later screaming for a new piece. She tries to unlock her door, she pushes any buttons she can reach on the dash and last Friday threw her backpack at my head as I was making my way down a very wet highway. And they say texting while driving is dangerous!! She bangs her fists on her window and screams at the top of her lungs. After she threw hew backpack at me she slumped down in her seat, pulled her feet to her mouth and pulled her socks off her feet with her teeth! Yes, with her teeth!!!! I just kept repeating out loud to myself "Breathe, just breath, just breathe". It is frickin' ridiculous that I should have to endure this every day of my life just trying to take my kid to camp!
While I'm on the road I see all the other cars passing by. This guy on his cell phone, that woman in a daze sipping her coffee. I have to laugh when I see them do a double take at my car passing by with Camryn banging her head on the back of her seat and biting her ankles. But in all seriousness it can be very depressing. And poor Mason and Natalie! They can't even ride in the car without constantly being reminded that our family is very different from most. The screaming is so loud you can almost feel your eardrum perforating one stitch at a time. Used to be Michael Buble could calm her down but my CD's got scratched and I haven't replaced them yet so I have to rely on a Disney CD and a few stories on CD, but even that is hit and miss. It is miserable, just plain miserable and I have to keep telling myself "Just twenty more minutes and then you have seven hours before you have to do this again."
I see all these cars go by with those little stick figure family decals showing how many kids they have. All the figures are smiling, some are wearing Mickey Mouse ears, and I just want to barf. No offense to anybody who has these, as some of my very good friends do, but when you are driving down the road while your kid is trying to eat the dashboard these things tend to tick you off just a tad! I picture a stick person version of our family...Mom in the fetal position, Dad pulling his hair out, two small figures in triangle dresses with their hands over their ears and the third figure with a huge circle for her mouth screaming, her hair going every which way and a stick figure dog cowering under a table. Seen that sticker anywhere? Didn't think so.
Right now I am getting ready to take Mason and Natalie to the beach and I gotta tell you, I am really looking forward to it. It will take us about twenty minutes to get there if all goes well but if the drawbridge gets stuck and we have to wait for a mother duck and her twenty ducklings to cross and there's a construction detour and a school zone and a ninety year old woman from Canada sitting on phone books in front of us it will all be okay with me because I have driven with Camryn and if that doesn't bring on some road rage nothing will!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Something New
So I went to the wedding and it was so much more than I imagined. Again, shame on me for thinking it would be any less than other weddings I've been to just because the groom walks to a different beat.
The wedding and reception were both held at the same location, a local golf and country club. When we arrived we were directed to wait in the bar area until the wedding party was ready. I could see the chairs set up outside in front of a small gazebo with the golf course and a small pond in the background. I was standing there talking with my mom when I heard a familiar voice. It was Steven. He was dressed in a light blue, short sleeved, Tommy Bahama style shirt and khaki pants. He came over to me and gave me a humongous hug, something he is known for. I told him how handsome he looked and how happy I was for him to which he replied with a smile "Uh-huh, yep". My aunt and her partner were right behind him ready to go out to the courtyard. We were directed to take a seat outside as the wedding would soon be starting. Each guest had been given a fan with the happy couples picture on it as a wedding memento And what a smart momento for an outdoor Florida wedding in June. Brad and I sat in the front row, as I didn't want to miss a thing. The music started and Steven came down the concrete walkway with my aunt and her partner each holding his hand. He looked so handsome and so happy, smiling ear to ear. They stood by him in the gazebo and looked on with him as his bride came from behind the doors and walked down the aisle on her father's arm. Never one to get dressed up or wear makeup, she looked beautiful in her white gown and painted face. I looked back at Steven, wanting to see his face, and he looked like a little kid being brought a pony. He was so happy! When she began to climb the steps to the gazebo Steven started to cry and I thought I was going to lose it right then and there. They took each others hands, read their vows and then kissed. It was beautiful!!
Back inside at the reception we got ourselves a drink and some appetizers while the wedding party took pictures. The tables were decorated with metal sandpails filled with bright colored Gerbera Daisys and pastel roses. We made our way to our seats just in time for Steven and his bride to enter the room as husband and wife and to have their first dance. Tears were already welling in the rims of my eyes before the music started, but when Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" began to play and Steven put his hands on his wife's waist and started clumsily bouncing back and forth the floodgates opened. I was a mess! You'd think I was at a funeral and the casket had just passed by. It was just such an amazing sight to see this man who I never thought in a million years would get married "dancing" with his new bride to a song that pretty much says it all. It was extremely emotional. So they finish their dance and then Steven's mom comes out to the floor. I had sopped up all my tears with my dinner napkin, but I should have waited because no sooner had I dabbed the last one when Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" came on as Steven hugged his mom and kissed her cheek repeatedly on the dance floor. OMG!!! I couldn't take it!!! Everyone was laughing at me as I broke down in my seat. It was just so touching and such a rare sight. I felt so honored to be there. And if I may say, Brad had some tears of his own, I mean come now, this is our world.
Dancing done, it was time for the toasts. The brides brother gave a humorous speech about how his sister chose the most inoppportune moment to tell him she had found "the one". Seems he was getting ready to score big on his video game when she interrupted him with her big news. He talked about how much he loved Steven and was so happy for them. Then Steven's father gave a speech, which again turned on the waterworks. He told about how when Steven was just four years old he could map his way out to Disneyworld and back. He talked about what a cute little guy he was and how smart he was and how happy he was for the couple. Then my aunts gave their toast. They both stood with Steven and his wife. They talked about how the one thing they loved most about Steven was his innocence and how he had changed their lives so much and how much they loved him. It was beautiful.
After that it was time to party!!! They picked such awesome music....lots of oldies, Tony Bennet, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra. Then after everyone had eaten the DJ broke out the dancing tunes. And I love me some dancing music. Brad and I hit the floor, cutting a rug to "Brick House", "I Will Survive", and "Superfreak". And Steven was right out there, dancing away. The thing with Steven is that like everything else he does, he has his own way of dancing. He likes to take you by both hands and spin around. It can get out of control quite easily and has. My aunt and him went over a ledge once! He also likes to bounce back and forth or form a line with everyones hands on each others waist and kick legs. So that's what we did. It was so much fun!
When it came time to cut the cake, the DJ was teasing Steven about being the first one to feed the cake so he better be nice if he didn't want cake in his face. But Steven didn't "get it". You see, it would never even cross his mind to smear cake on his new brides face. He placed it gently in her mouth and when it was her turn he squinted his eyes as tight as he could and opened up wide....adorable!!
We danced for hours. Sweat was pouring off me. I didn't expect to have such a good time! We stayed for the last song, which happened to be Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". We were all out there on the floor "Mama Mia"ing and looking like a bad Broadway show. It was hilarious!
Before we left I went over to Steven and hugged him as tight as I could. I told him again how much I loved him and how happy I was for him. "You did such a good job tonight and you look so handsome!" I told him. I didn't want to let him go. "You have a fabulous time in Paris and take lots of pictures!!!" Which if you know Steven, then you know there will be LOTS of pictures. "Bon Jour!!" I said as we left.
Driving home we all talked about what fun we had and what a fabulous wedding it was. We were all surprised at the fun we had and isn't that a surprise in itself! You'd think us of all people would know not to judge.
So Steven is in Paris. He called my aunts when they arrived to let them know they were there. I can't wait to hear all about it and see the pictures. I still cannot believe he is on his honeymoon...in PARIS!!! It just goes to show you that you never know. That silly old cricket was right, dreams really do come true. And I am so thankful I was there to see it happen!!
The wedding and reception were both held at the same location, a local golf and country club. When we arrived we were directed to wait in the bar area until the wedding party was ready. I could see the chairs set up outside in front of a small gazebo with the golf course and a small pond in the background. I was standing there talking with my mom when I heard a familiar voice. It was Steven. He was dressed in a light blue, short sleeved, Tommy Bahama style shirt and khaki pants. He came over to me and gave me a humongous hug, something he is known for. I told him how handsome he looked and how happy I was for him to which he replied with a smile "Uh-huh, yep". My aunt and her partner were right behind him ready to go out to the courtyard. We were directed to take a seat outside as the wedding would soon be starting. Each guest had been given a fan with the happy couples picture on it as a wedding memento And what a smart momento for an outdoor Florida wedding in June. Brad and I sat in the front row, as I didn't want to miss a thing. The music started and Steven came down the concrete walkway with my aunt and her partner each holding his hand. He looked so handsome and so happy, smiling ear to ear. They stood by him in the gazebo and looked on with him as his bride came from behind the doors and walked down the aisle on her father's arm. Never one to get dressed up or wear makeup, she looked beautiful in her white gown and painted face. I looked back at Steven, wanting to see his face, and he looked like a little kid being brought a pony. He was so happy! When she began to climb the steps to the gazebo Steven started to cry and I thought I was going to lose it right then and there. They took each others hands, read their vows and then kissed. It was beautiful!!
Back inside at the reception we got ourselves a drink and some appetizers while the wedding party took pictures. The tables were decorated with metal sandpails filled with bright colored Gerbera Daisys and pastel roses. We made our way to our seats just in time for Steven and his bride to enter the room as husband and wife and to have their first dance. Tears were already welling in the rims of my eyes before the music started, but when Stevie Wonder's "For Once In My Life" began to play and Steven put his hands on his wife's waist and started clumsily bouncing back and forth the floodgates opened. I was a mess! You'd think I was at a funeral and the casket had just passed by. It was just such an amazing sight to see this man who I never thought in a million years would get married "dancing" with his new bride to a song that pretty much says it all. It was extremely emotional. So they finish their dance and then Steven's mom comes out to the floor. I had sopped up all my tears with my dinner napkin, but I should have waited because no sooner had I dabbed the last one when Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" came on as Steven hugged his mom and kissed her cheek repeatedly on the dance floor. OMG!!! I couldn't take it!!! Everyone was laughing at me as I broke down in my seat. It was just so touching and such a rare sight. I felt so honored to be there. And if I may say, Brad had some tears of his own, I mean come now, this is our world.
Dancing done, it was time for the toasts. The brides brother gave a humorous speech about how his sister chose the most inoppportune moment to tell him she had found "the one". Seems he was getting ready to score big on his video game when she interrupted him with her big news. He talked about how much he loved Steven and was so happy for them. Then Steven's father gave a speech, which again turned on the waterworks. He told about how when Steven was just four years old he could map his way out to Disneyworld and back. He talked about what a cute little guy he was and how smart he was and how happy he was for the couple. Then my aunts gave their toast. They both stood with Steven and his wife. They talked about how the one thing they loved most about Steven was his innocence and how he had changed their lives so much and how much they loved him. It was beautiful.
After that it was time to party!!! They picked such awesome music....lots of oldies, Tony Bennet, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra. Then after everyone had eaten the DJ broke out the dancing tunes. And I love me some dancing music. Brad and I hit the floor, cutting a rug to "Brick House", "I Will Survive", and "Superfreak". And Steven was right out there, dancing away. The thing with Steven is that like everything else he does, he has his own way of dancing. He likes to take you by both hands and spin around. It can get out of control quite easily and has. My aunt and him went over a ledge once! He also likes to bounce back and forth or form a line with everyones hands on each others waist and kick legs. So that's what we did. It was so much fun!
When it came time to cut the cake, the DJ was teasing Steven about being the first one to feed the cake so he better be nice if he didn't want cake in his face. But Steven didn't "get it". You see, it would never even cross his mind to smear cake on his new brides face. He placed it gently in her mouth and when it was her turn he squinted his eyes as tight as he could and opened up wide....adorable!!
We danced for hours. Sweat was pouring off me. I didn't expect to have such a good time! We stayed for the last song, which happened to be Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". We were all out there on the floor "Mama Mia"ing and looking like a bad Broadway show. It was hilarious!
Before we left I went over to Steven and hugged him as tight as I could. I told him again how much I loved him and how happy I was for him. "You did such a good job tonight and you look so handsome!" I told him. I didn't want to let him go. "You have a fabulous time in Paris and take lots of pictures!!!" Which if you know Steven, then you know there will be LOTS of pictures. "Bon Jour!!" I said as we left.
Driving home we all talked about what fun we had and what a fabulous wedding it was. We were all surprised at the fun we had and isn't that a surprise in itself! You'd think us of all people would know not to judge.
So Steven is in Paris. He called my aunts when they arrived to let them know they were there. I can't wait to hear all about it and see the pictures. I still cannot believe he is on his honeymoon...in PARIS!!! It just goes to show you that you never know. That silly old cricket was right, dreams really do come true. And I am so thankful I was there to see it happen!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
No Objections Here!
It's summertime and that means pool parties, beach outings and last but not least weddings. There's nothing more traditional than a June bride riding off into the sunset with her prince charming. And so, not wanting to miss out on any summer time activities, Brad and I are going to a wedding tomorrow evening. We have known the man for about three years now, met him through my aunt and her partner. They met him at a local pub one night while listening to a band. He was alone and so they started talking to him and struck up a friendship. He started coming to all of their gatherings which is how we met him and he took a strong liking to us right away, especially Camryn. About a year and a half ago he met the woman he will be marrying tomorrow and when we first heard about them going out for their first date we all thought it would never work out. Obviously we were wrong since marriage is a pretty solid sign it is working out! They just seemed so different in many ways. She had been married before, he had not. She lived in her own place, he lived with his parents. She was short with brown hair, and he is a tall guy who has gone prematurely grey. And oh yeah, he's Autistic and she is not.
When my aunt and her partner first met Steven they knew right away that something was different about him. Having Camryn in the family has made them hyperaware of autistic behaviors and so immediately they assumed he was on the spectrum. But the super cool thing about my aunt's is they are the most accepting people you could ever meet. I think that comes from the fact that they have come across their fair share of prejudice in life which has made them all the more compassionate towards horses of different colors. Plus, they are just really nice people! So when they saw Steven at this bar by himself listening to the band they called him over and started talking to him. By the end of the conversation they had exchanged numbers and soon enough he was calling them every day, so thankful to have friends in his life. He didn't disclose his Autism right away, but to the trained eye and in his case even the untrained eye it was obvious. When they told him about Camryn I think it opened the door for conversation about his own place on the spectrum. Now the thing about that crazy spectrum is it's so darn broad. And no two of it's inhabitants are the same. While Camryn struggles to communicate in a "normal" fashion Steven can express all his wants, needs, feelings and desires. Where Camryn can still not draw even a straight line or sum up 2 plus 2, Steven can maneuver his way around a computer like nobodys business, has read just about every book ever written and has his own website for a comic book he has written himself. He drives, had a very good job designing roadways until he was let go last year due to the economy and goes out to movies and concerts by himself all the time. For all practical purposes he is a regular guy, but autism is anything but practical you know and Aspergers has a way of taking regular guys and girls and setting them apart from their peers. And that was Stevens "problem". His social skills left much to be desired. While "Aspies" are extremely high functioning individuals who can live on their own and live very productive lives as well as contribute much to society, it is often times very difficult for them to form friendships within the "typical" population due to their social miscomings. They are known for being literal to a fault. Oh yeah, never tell someone with Aspergers to "break a leg" unless you want to be signing their cast.I remember one time someboddy told Steven "get outta here" in repsonse to something he said and he got up to leave, not getting the sarcasm. He speaks very monotone with not much variation in his expression, there are a lot of "Uh huh's" in his answers and don't take him to a birhday party unless it's ok for him to blow out the candles, 'cause he so will blow out those candles. When he laughs it is with reckless abandon, deep and hearty and with no realization that it may be just a little too loud for the rest of the people in the movie. Because it was so hard for him to make friends he started a collection of dolls that he refers to as his family. There are three of them I think, actually they are the main characters in his comic and in a book he wrote. The mother doll had breast cancer and then I think there is an angel doll too,,,,can't remember. But at the time we met him he was driving them around in the backseat of his car, oblivious to the fact that for a thirty something old man, or any man for that fact, that is considered just plain wierd. But not to Steven and it is an innocence that is so amazing and pure.
I remember the first time I met him face to face. I had heard all about him and how excited he was to meet Camryn. It was Halloween and my aunt was having her annual costume party. I was dressed as a bar whench and Brad in leiderhosen (sp?). As I made my way through the crowd I spotted a tall stocky guy in a tie dye tee shirt with big silver angel wings pinned to his back and a fuzzy halo over his head. Now mind you, this was a party put on by my aunt and her partner and if you have ever partied with gay men then you know they can come up with some pretty fabulous costumes so I just assumed he was one of their friends. But then I noticed how this "angel" was standing on the outside of all the conversations. Nobody was talking to him and he just kept moving from group to group hovering on their chatter. But shame on me I still didn't pick up on the fact that this was the autistic guy I had heard about. It wasn't until much later in the night that i was introduced to him and then it all made sense. He told me all about his dolls, and even had me take a picture of him and one of them, which to many would be really out there. But I'm Camryn Walkers mom and I smell stuffed animals on a daily basis and give my kid mulch to play with so for me it was just another day at the farm. He was so raw, so uncensored, so refreshing. But of course I see the beauty in it because that is my world. To those not familiar with autism or to those who fear different, Steven can make you very uncomfortable as he stands only inches from your face and stares at you without the thought that he is way too into your space box. And for those who don't know how to relate to him, the best option is to not, as in not talk to him at all. And that is so sad for Steven and all the others out there like him.
When my aunt first told me Steven had met someone on a dating site and was going to meet her in person I thought "Oh well this will be short lived". He hadn't disclosed online that he had Aspergers, which is a pretty significant piece of information and very hard to conclude through typing. But to all of our great surprise, the date went well and so did the next and the next and the next until Steven and this girl were at all the parties together, they joined us on outings and zoo trips and became part of the group. She was an introverted person by nature, liked to be alone, loved to read and was a homebody which was a perfect match for Steven. She wasn't a romantic and had no dreams of being whisked off on a white horse which was a good thing because Steven probably would have purchased a white horse and tried to hoist her on it's saddle in all his literal splendor. They bought a house together last year with the money he has saved from his entire working career where they have each created their own personal space and that works for them. It's working out and everytime I think about it I am amazed. I would have bet my firstborn daughter that pigs would take flight before Steven found a spouse, yet here I am going to his wedding tomorrow in a world of earth bound swine. Shame on me, I know.
I'm sure I will cry, no sob uncontrollably, at the wedding as this is a tad more close to home than most. My aunt and her partner are his "best women" and will stand up next to him at the altar. I really believe that without them taking the time to engage him in conversation that he would not be where he is today. They brought him into their world and since he has known them he has grown so much and learned to socialize so much better. Don't get me wrong, he will still blow out your candles in a heartbeat, but he he won't get up and go if you say "Get out of town!"
They are honeymooning in Paris...Paris! Who would have thought this "angel" at the party would be jetting off to the city of lights with his new bride? Not me, not any of us and it is a case where I am so happy I was wrong. So tomorrow I am going to laugh like no one is listening, dance like no one is watching and eat cake like no one is looking. I am going to be like Steven, and what is wrong with that?
When my aunt and her partner first met Steven they knew right away that something was different about him. Having Camryn in the family has made them hyperaware of autistic behaviors and so immediately they assumed he was on the spectrum. But the super cool thing about my aunt's is they are the most accepting people you could ever meet. I think that comes from the fact that they have come across their fair share of prejudice in life which has made them all the more compassionate towards horses of different colors. Plus, they are just really nice people! So when they saw Steven at this bar by himself listening to the band they called him over and started talking to him. By the end of the conversation they had exchanged numbers and soon enough he was calling them every day, so thankful to have friends in his life. He didn't disclose his Autism right away, but to the trained eye and in his case even the untrained eye it was obvious. When they told him about Camryn I think it opened the door for conversation about his own place on the spectrum. Now the thing about that crazy spectrum is it's so darn broad. And no two of it's inhabitants are the same. While Camryn struggles to communicate in a "normal" fashion Steven can express all his wants, needs, feelings and desires. Where Camryn can still not draw even a straight line or sum up 2 plus 2, Steven can maneuver his way around a computer like nobodys business, has read just about every book ever written and has his own website for a comic book he has written himself. He drives, had a very good job designing roadways until he was let go last year due to the economy and goes out to movies and concerts by himself all the time. For all practical purposes he is a regular guy, but autism is anything but practical you know and Aspergers has a way of taking regular guys and girls and setting them apart from their peers. And that was Stevens "problem". His social skills left much to be desired. While "Aspies" are extremely high functioning individuals who can live on their own and live very productive lives as well as contribute much to society, it is often times very difficult for them to form friendships within the "typical" population due to their social miscomings. They are known for being literal to a fault. Oh yeah, never tell someone with Aspergers to "break a leg" unless you want to be signing their cast.I remember one time someboddy told Steven "get outta here" in repsonse to something he said and he got up to leave, not getting the sarcasm. He speaks very monotone with not much variation in his expression, there are a lot of "Uh huh's" in his answers and don't take him to a birhday party unless it's ok for him to blow out the candles, 'cause he so will blow out those candles. When he laughs it is with reckless abandon, deep and hearty and with no realization that it may be just a little too loud for the rest of the people in the movie. Because it was so hard for him to make friends he started a collection of dolls that he refers to as his family. There are three of them I think, actually they are the main characters in his comic and in a book he wrote. The mother doll had breast cancer and then I think there is an angel doll too,,,,can't remember. But at the time we met him he was driving them around in the backseat of his car, oblivious to the fact that for a thirty something old man, or any man for that fact, that is considered just plain wierd. But not to Steven and it is an innocence that is so amazing and pure.
I remember the first time I met him face to face. I had heard all about him and how excited he was to meet Camryn. It was Halloween and my aunt was having her annual costume party. I was dressed as a bar whench and Brad in leiderhosen (sp?). As I made my way through the crowd I spotted a tall stocky guy in a tie dye tee shirt with big silver angel wings pinned to his back and a fuzzy halo over his head. Now mind you, this was a party put on by my aunt and her partner and if you have ever partied with gay men then you know they can come up with some pretty fabulous costumes so I just assumed he was one of their friends. But then I noticed how this "angel" was standing on the outside of all the conversations. Nobody was talking to him and he just kept moving from group to group hovering on their chatter. But shame on me I still didn't pick up on the fact that this was the autistic guy I had heard about. It wasn't until much later in the night that i was introduced to him and then it all made sense. He told me all about his dolls, and even had me take a picture of him and one of them, which to many would be really out there. But I'm Camryn Walkers mom and I smell stuffed animals on a daily basis and give my kid mulch to play with so for me it was just another day at the farm. He was so raw, so uncensored, so refreshing. But of course I see the beauty in it because that is my world. To those not familiar with autism or to those who fear different, Steven can make you very uncomfortable as he stands only inches from your face and stares at you without the thought that he is way too into your space box. And for those who don't know how to relate to him, the best option is to not, as in not talk to him at all. And that is so sad for Steven and all the others out there like him.
When my aunt first told me Steven had met someone on a dating site and was going to meet her in person I thought "Oh well this will be short lived". He hadn't disclosed online that he had Aspergers, which is a pretty significant piece of information and very hard to conclude through typing. But to all of our great surprise, the date went well and so did the next and the next and the next until Steven and this girl were at all the parties together, they joined us on outings and zoo trips and became part of the group. She was an introverted person by nature, liked to be alone, loved to read and was a homebody which was a perfect match for Steven. She wasn't a romantic and had no dreams of being whisked off on a white horse which was a good thing because Steven probably would have purchased a white horse and tried to hoist her on it's saddle in all his literal splendor. They bought a house together last year with the money he has saved from his entire working career where they have each created their own personal space and that works for them. It's working out and everytime I think about it I am amazed. I would have bet my firstborn daughter that pigs would take flight before Steven found a spouse, yet here I am going to his wedding tomorrow in a world of earth bound swine. Shame on me, I know.
I'm sure I will cry, no sob uncontrollably, at the wedding as this is a tad more close to home than most. My aunt and her partner are his "best women" and will stand up next to him at the altar. I really believe that without them taking the time to engage him in conversation that he would not be where he is today. They brought him into their world and since he has known them he has grown so much and learned to socialize so much better. Don't get me wrong, he will still blow out your candles in a heartbeat, but he he won't get up and go if you say "Get out of town!"
They are honeymooning in Paris...Paris! Who would have thought this "angel" at the party would be jetting off to the city of lights with his new bride? Not me, not any of us and it is a case where I am so happy I was wrong. So tomorrow I am going to laugh like no one is listening, dance like no one is watching and eat cake like no one is looking. I am going to be like Steven, and what is wrong with that?
Monday, June 20, 2011
No Gift Receipt Needed
JOYYYY TO THE WORLD, CAMP COAST HAS COME!!
Deck the halls, Hallelujah and Jingle alllll the way baby!! I know it's a little early for Christmas, even for Christmas in July, but I feel like a little kid on December 25th grinning ear to ear in delight over my favorite gift. Because anybody who knows us or knows the desperation of trying to entertain an autistic child over summer knows that Camp COAST is by far the best gift we could ever receive, even better then a Red Rider BB Gun. Oh yeah, it's just that good!
Now I say gift, and that's not quite accurate, as gifts are traditionally given to someone, as in, free. And camp is not free. However, if you divide the cost by the hours of childcare, it comes out to just less then five dollars an hour for seven hours a day of specialized care and activities for autistic chilren and that qualifies as a gift in my book all day long!
Last year when I initially heard about Camp COAST I knew nothing about it other than I could send Camryn virtually all summer and that's all I needed to hear before my interest peaked higher than Everest. I was desperate for help during the summer. We didn't have respite care at that time and although we had a fabulous babysitter, that can get expensive, I mean who in their right mind is going to watch my kid for $4.85 an hour? When I met a woman who's daughter attended Camp the year before and loved it, I practically fell to her feet begging for the info. I figured it would be like a school setting with teachers and an assistant or two and there would be art and music, you know, the usual. And that was good enough for me, as I knew if I didn't get Camryn in a day program then surely I was going to end up in one and I really stink at building log cabins out of popsicle sticks. After talking to this mom more, I realized this camp was far more than I had imagined. Horseback riding, swimming twice a week, bowling, sailing...sailing, Camryn Faith Walker, feared by even the blackest beard, on a boat!! Amazing! And each camper is assigned their own personal teenage assistant, better known as CIT's (couselors in training). How cool is that? I signed her up, dropped her off and well, you all know the rest! So here we are again. Summer time....watermelons, lemonade, suntan lines and Camp COAST. The countdown has been on long before school let out as I am always, shall we say, concerned, about our summer activities. Having Camryn in camp not only gives her incredible experiences she would never be able to have had she stayed home with me, I mean, can you see me with Camryn on a catamaran? No, me either! But it gives her sisters and me the opportunity to spend summer the way it should be. Not banned from the summer mainstays like the beach or movies. And it gives me seven hours a day to do whatever I need to do that I wouldn't be able to do without Camryn attached to my hip, because once she gets home that's what happens, we achieve siamese status. Remember, even though chronologically she's eight, developmentally she is a toddler and going through the terrible two's for the third year in a row! Just being able to use the bathroom without locking her in her room and hearing her scream is such a luxury. Oh I could just let her roam free while I pottied, but only if I wish to clean up big piles of handsoap dumped on the floor, or find her out in the front yard, naked as Lady Godiva, trying to turn the hose on. But not today, for today I will use the little girls room for what it is, a rest room. Can you say simple pleasure? Haha!
So it's 10:30 am and Cam has been at Camp for two and a half hours. Her CIT this week is a boy named Daniel. When I dropped Cam off he took her by the hand and she led him over to the puppets. I watched his face as she spouted off all her catch phrases and wrenched out a few tweaks. She shoved a puppet in his face and told him to smell and I thought to myself "Even though I just met him, I feel very confident in assuming Daniel has never had a summer like this!" Cam was milling around the room like she had never been gone and I could tell this was going to be a great summer! I kissed her goodbye, told the teachers to have a wonderful day and walked, no, more like bounced out the door. My shoulders immediately loosened, my jaw unclenched and my lungs enjoyed a full serving of air. Beautiful!
I should be excercising, doing laundry, washing dishes, paying bills, and all the other things waiting to be crossed off the to-do list. But instead I am sitting on the couch while Natalie paints at the table with no worries of it being sabotaged and Riley lays at my feet, her fur in tact and jowels not manhandled for hours. I will get to work tomorrow, but today I am going to sit back and enjoy this wonderful present and I mean that in every sense of the word!
Deck the halls, Hallelujah and Jingle alllll the way baby!! I know it's a little early for Christmas, even for Christmas in July, but I feel like a little kid on December 25th grinning ear to ear in delight over my favorite gift. Because anybody who knows us or knows the desperation of trying to entertain an autistic child over summer knows that Camp COAST is by far the best gift we could ever receive, even better then a Red Rider BB Gun. Oh yeah, it's just that good!
Now I say gift, and that's not quite accurate, as gifts are traditionally given to someone, as in, free. And camp is not free. However, if you divide the cost by the hours of childcare, it comes out to just less then five dollars an hour for seven hours a day of specialized care and activities for autistic chilren and that qualifies as a gift in my book all day long!
Last year when I initially heard about Camp COAST I knew nothing about it other than I could send Camryn virtually all summer and that's all I needed to hear before my interest peaked higher than Everest. I was desperate for help during the summer. We didn't have respite care at that time and although we had a fabulous babysitter, that can get expensive, I mean who in their right mind is going to watch my kid for $4.85 an hour? When I met a woman who's daughter attended Camp the year before and loved it, I practically fell to her feet begging for the info. I figured it would be like a school setting with teachers and an assistant or two and there would be art and music, you know, the usual. And that was good enough for me, as I knew if I didn't get Camryn in a day program then surely I was going to end up in one and I really stink at building log cabins out of popsicle sticks. After talking to this mom more, I realized this camp was far more than I had imagined. Horseback riding, swimming twice a week, bowling, sailing...sailing, Camryn Faith Walker, feared by even the blackest beard, on a boat!! Amazing! And each camper is assigned their own personal teenage assistant, better known as CIT's (couselors in training). How cool is that? I signed her up, dropped her off and well, you all know the rest! So here we are again. Summer time....watermelons, lemonade, suntan lines and Camp COAST. The countdown has been on long before school let out as I am always, shall we say, concerned, about our summer activities. Having Camryn in camp not only gives her incredible experiences she would never be able to have had she stayed home with me, I mean, can you see me with Camryn on a catamaran? No, me either! But it gives her sisters and me the opportunity to spend summer the way it should be. Not banned from the summer mainstays like the beach or movies. And it gives me seven hours a day to do whatever I need to do that I wouldn't be able to do without Camryn attached to my hip, because once she gets home that's what happens, we achieve siamese status. Remember, even though chronologically she's eight, developmentally she is a toddler and going through the terrible two's for the third year in a row! Just being able to use the bathroom without locking her in her room and hearing her scream is such a luxury. Oh I could just let her roam free while I pottied, but only if I wish to clean up big piles of handsoap dumped on the floor, or find her out in the front yard, naked as Lady Godiva, trying to turn the hose on. But not today, for today I will use the little girls room for what it is, a rest room. Can you say simple pleasure? Haha!
So it's 10:30 am and Cam has been at Camp for two and a half hours. Her CIT this week is a boy named Daniel. When I dropped Cam off he took her by the hand and she led him over to the puppets. I watched his face as she spouted off all her catch phrases and wrenched out a few tweaks. She shoved a puppet in his face and told him to smell and I thought to myself "Even though I just met him, I feel very confident in assuming Daniel has never had a summer like this!" Cam was milling around the room like she had never been gone and I could tell this was going to be a great summer! I kissed her goodbye, told the teachers to have a wonderful day and walked, no, more like bounced out the door. My shoulders immediately loosened, my jaw unclenched and my lungs enjoyed a full serving of air. Beautiful!
I should be excercising, doing laundry, washing dishes, paying bills, and all the other things waiting to be crossed off the to-do list. But instead I am sitting on the couch while Natalie paints at the table with no worries of it being sabotaged and Riley lays at my feet, her fur in tact and jowels not manhandled for hours. I will get to work tomorrow, but today I am going to sit back and enjoy this wonderful present and I mean that in every sense of the word!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Starry, Starry Night
I feel like all of my posts have been so negative and gloomy lately and that's probably because they have. I am not a negative person by any means but the whole purpose of this blog is to keep an accurate journal of what it is really like raising autism. And if I am to be completely accurate then there is certainly going to be an abundance of heartbreak and frustration, as it comes with the territory. Telling our story in such a raw manner is not to gain pity from my audience, but rather spread awareness to those who have no idea as well as give a shout out to those sharing my shoes to say "At your wit's end? Feel like giving up? Wondering why it was you? Dreaming of something different? Blessed to have had the experience? Grateful for the opportunity to grow? Amazed at your inner strength? And tired as hell? I know exactly how you feel!" So that being said I am so very happy to report that today I have nothing but positive things to say about the past two days, well almost nothing but positive and I cannot tell you how happy I am about that.
Saturday Brad had to work....all day. It doesn't happen often, but when it does I wake up with a knot in my stomach somewhere around Thursday wondering how in the hell I am going to fill the first day of the weekend. With Cam waking up before 7:00a.m. the day can seem to go on forever and I often feel as though we are in some weird time warp where the hours pass for everyone but us. But this Saturday was such a pleasant surprise! Not at first though. Camryn woke at her usual ungodly hour and proceeded to loosen her babygate from the door jam, carry it down the hall and throw in on my bed, which I happened to stilll be in. "Do you have a wet pull up sweetie?" she said as she took off her pajama bottoms and five pound pullup and shoved them in my face. To anybody else, it would be weird, but around here it's the typical morning routine. I took her by the hand as she repeated "Let's put some panties on your booty baby" and you guessed, put some panties on her booty. I then followed her out to the kitchen where she opened the refrigerator for the first of at least a thousand times that day and grabbed a food item that she would take one bite of then feed to the dog. I poured myself a huge cup of coffee and turned on "Fresh Beat Band" Camryn's one and only television show preference. By this time it was about 6:20 in the morning, Mason and Natalie were still sleeping and I was wondering how on earth I was going to keep this girl busy for thirteen more hours! We watched "Fresh Beat" three more times and by that time all the girls were up and ready for the day. Mason and Nat were content to play their Nintendo DS's until I told them different but Cams, well you know. What to do, what to do??? Everyone I knew was busy so whatever I decided to do was going to be solo and that almost never turns out well when all three girls are involved. Our choices were very limited seeing as almost anywhere I chose to go was going to have other children there, which as you know by now can turn ugly fast. The only thing I could think of that would fill the day and wouldn't be a big deal if we had to leave early was the zoo. We have annual passes so if we got there and things got bad we could leave and come back another day to finish up what we missed last trip. But did I really want to take on the zoo with Camryn by myself? Was I really that desperate or more likely that crazy? Yes, yes I was and so I called Mason over and said " I am thinking of taking you guys to the zoo today." She looked at me as if I had just told her aliens had landed in the back yard and said with a total look of fear "To the zoo? All three of us? By yourself? You're scaring me!" I laughed so hard and said " I know, I'm scaring myself too, but let's go for it!" I got Cam ready and was about fifteen minutes from walking out the door when my mom called and to my surprise the plans I thought she had were for the next day so after a little begging and whimpering she agreed to join us. Praise the Lord!
The zoo is about a thirty minute drive which should be no big deal, but it is when Cams is in the car. She was in the middle row, with Mason and Nat behind her, but still within her ridiculous armspan. She was reaching around trying to hurt them and throwing things at them. I must have threatened to turn around twenty times, but decided to leave my nose in place, not spite my face and continue on. Once we arrived I put Cam in the stroller, said a little prayer, and entered with serious doubts we'd last an hour. We started with the orangutauns which may I just say are so stinking cute!! Cam's was cooing "Heyyyyy, hey little guy, I wanna give him a smooch, I wana hug him." We oohed and ahhed over their antics for a while and then moved on to some other animal exhibits. At each one Cams wanted to smooch, hug and give licky face to them. So far, so good and then the carousel came into view. I prepared myself for a scene but to my very pleasant surprise Cam did not freak out like before. Don't get me wrong, the girl was excited, biting her hand, tweaking up a storm, but she did not have a melt down while waiting which is unheard of. My mom took Nat and I took Cam and Mace. Of course Cam picked the horse highest up on it's pole and I nearly threw my back out awkwardly maneuvering all seventy six pounds of her up onto it's back. I buckled her and made a human shield of myself between her and a little girl behind her. We started spinning and she was shrieking with joy, shouting "Gentlemen, start your engines!" and just a hand bitin' away. Those moments make me so happy because she gets such joy out of something so simple. The ride ended and again I anticipated a meltdown but nothing more than a few whimpers for more before she shouted "All done!!!"signing it repeatedly and telling the horse "Night night!". Wow. Next was the kiddie coaster, Mason's favorite. I stayed on the ground with Nat, who is not a fan and my mom took Mace and Cam in line. Cam was freaking out, tweaking and shouting in excitement. My mom stood guard so no kids got pinched and to our surprise Cam waited as patiently as could be expected. There wasn't enough room for my mom to ride so Cam rode next to Mason. She has done this before but I always get nervous that she is going to break loose and fly off the coaster. Irrational I know but this is Cams we're talking about here. We watched the coaster climb up the track and Cam was tweaking away. When it began it's descent she looked very unsure and was clutching Mason's arm. They whipped around the corner and she was gnawing her hand in excitement waving at anybody she passed by. My mom and I cracked up....she can be such a happy little girl.
Again, getting off the ride there was not the tantrum I had conjured up in my head and I was feeling almost like a mom on a "normal" outing, or as close enough to "normal" as we could get. It felt good.
The day was hot, like 97 degrees hot so we stopped to get a shaved ice. They were huge so Cam and I split one. It was so cold and so refreshing and although Cams didn't get the concept of using the spoon to eat it I shoveled it in her mouth. At one point a spoonful of ice fell onto the stroller and grazed her leg. She began to fuss and I thought "Well, this has been fun, but now Cam has a wet spot on her shorts so we're going to have to leave", but surprisingly after drying her off with a napkin she was fine! A mircale on Zoo Lane!
We continued on through the zoo,making our way to Africa. Not the real one, but just as freaking hot! For three dollars you can buy a piece of lettuce and feed the giraffes. Yes, I said three dollars for a piece of lettuce. "It's the experience" I was told when I questioned if the lettuce was made of oxycontin. Well I tore our "experience" into three pieces. Mason fed the giraffe first, then Nat, who was a tad apprehensive and who wouldn't be of a foot long black tongue? Giraffes, the Gene Simmons of the animal kingdom. Then it was Cams turn. I wasn't sure she would give up the lettuce, as she sometimes likes to keep the food to herself. But to my surprise she dangled the lettuce in front of the giraffes speckled snout and said "Sit!" Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! My mom and I laughed out loud! The zoo attendant didn't even so much as grimace convincing me even further that to work at the zoo you must have absolutely no personality whatsoever. Guess they figure it would take away from the animals.The giraffe gobbled up it's treat and we moved on to the Okapi's. Okapi's are those creatures that look like the result of a donkey and a zebra's one night stand. Cam really took a liking to them and kept saying "Heyyyyyy Copy, heyyyyy copy! He needs a hug!" And so went the rest of the day. Cam was calling out to all the animals,offering up hugs and "licky face" to any of them that would have it. When we first entered the zoo earlier in the day, Mason asked if we could stay till it closed at five to which my mom spouted out "No!" before she finished her question. But to our surprise we made it to 4:30! Amazing! The drive home was pretty much like the ride there, with Cam tormenting her sisters but after her stellar behavior at the zoo I gave her a free pass in the car and let Mason and Nat fend for themselves. It was payback for all their back talk.
So there you have it, a positive post finally! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. They may be few and far between like shooting stars in the dark of night, but that's what makes them so exciting.
I wrote this entry last week and forgot to post it, so I have to mention that since that zoo trip went so well, I decided to try it again this past Tuesday. This time I was by myself and this time, well let's just say it was quite a dark night. No worries though. I'm not afraid of the dark anymore.I'm pretty sure at this point in my life I could kick the boogeymans ass!
Saturday Brad had to work....all day. It doesn't happen often, but when it does I wake up with a knot in my stomach somewhere around Thursday wondering how in the hell I am going to fill the first day of the weekend. With Cam waking up before 7:00a.m. the day can seem to go on forever and I often feel as though we are in some weird time warp where the hours pass for everyone but us. But this Saturday was such a pleasant surprise! Not at first though. Camryn woke at her usual ungodly hour and proceeded to loosen her babygate from the door jam, carry it down the hall and throw in on my bed, which I happened to stilll be in. "Do you have a wet pull up sweetie?" she said as she took off her pajama bottoms and five pound pullup and shoved them in my face. To anybody else, it would be weird, but around here it's the typical morning routine. I took her by the hand as she repeated "Let's put some panties on your booty baby" and you guessed, put some panties on her booty. I then followed her out to the kitchen where she opened the refrigerator for the first of at least a thousand times that day and grabbed a food item that she would take one bite of then feed to the dog. I poured myself a huge cup of coffee and turned on "Fresh Beat Band" Camryn's one and only television show preference. By this time it was about 6:20 in the morning, Mason and Natalie were still sleeping and I was wondering how on earth I was going to keep this girl busy for thirteen more hours! We watched "Fresh Beat" three more times and by that time all the girls were up and ready for the day. Mason and Nat were content to play their Nintendo DS's until I told them different but Cams, well you know. What to do, what to do??? Everyone I knew was busy so whatever I decided to do was going to be solo and that almost never turns out well when all three girls are involved. Our choices were very limited seeing as almost anywhere I chose to go was going to have other children there, which as you know by now can turn ugly fast. The only thing I could think of that would fill the day and wouldn't be a big deal if we had to leave early was the zoo. We have annual passes so if we got there and things got bad we could leave and come back another day to finish up what we missed last trip. But did I really want to take on the zoo with Camryn by myself? Was I really that desperate or more likely that crazy? Yes, yes I was and so I called Mason over and said " I am thinking of taking you guys to the zoo today." She looked at me as if I had just told her aliens had landed in the back yard and said with a total look of fear "To the zoo? All three of us? By yourself? You're scaring me!" I laughed so hard and said " I know, I'm scaring myself too, but let's go for it!" I got Cam ready and was about fifteen minutes from walking out the door when my mom called and to my surprise the plans I thought she had were for the next day so after a little begging and whimpering she agreed to join us. Praise the Lord!
The zoo is about a thirty minute drive which should be no big deal, but it is when Cams is in the car. She was in the middle row, with Mason and Nat behind her, but still within her ridiculous armspan. She was reaching around trying to hurt them and throwing things at them. I must have threatened to turn around twenty times, but decided to leave my nose in place, not spite my face and continue on. Once we arrived I put Cam in the stroller, said a little prayer, and entered with serious doubts we'd last an hour. We started with the orangutauns which may I just say are so stinking cute!! Cam's was cooing "Heyyyyy, hey little guy, I wanna give him a smooch, I wana hug him." We oohed and ahhed over their antics for a while and then moved on to some other animal exhibits. At each one Cams wanted to smooch, hug and give licky face to them. So far, so good and then the carousel came into view. I prepared myself for a scene but to my very pleasant surprise Cam did not freak out like before. Don't get me wrong, the girl was excited, biting her hand, tweaking up a storm, but she did not have a melt down while waiting which is unheard of. My mom took Nat and I took Cam and Mace. Of course Cam picked the horse highest up on it's pole and I nearly threw my back out awkwardly maneuvering all seventy six pounds of her up onto it's back. I buckled her and made a human shield of myself between her and a little girl behind her. We started spinning and she was shrieking with joy, shouting "Gentlemen, start your engines!" and just a hand bitin' away. Those moments make me so happy because she gets such joy out of something so simple. The ride ended and again I anticipated a meltdown but nothing more than a few whimpers for more before she shouted "All done!!!"signing it repeatedly and telling the horse "Night night!". Wow. Next was the kiddie coaster, Mason's favorite. I stayed on the ground with Nat, who is not a fan and my mom took Mace and Cam in line. Cam was freaking out, tweaking and shouting in excitement. My mom stood guard so no kids got pinched and to our surprise Cam waited as patiently as could be expected. There wasn't enough room for my mom to ride so Cam rode next to Mason. She has done this before but I always get nervous that she is going to break loose and fly off the coaster. Irrational I know but this is Cams we're talking about here. We watched the coaster climb up the track and Cam was tweaking away. When it began it's descent she looked very unsure and was clutching Mason's arm. They whipped around the corner and she was gnawing her hand in excitement waving at anybody she passed by. My mom and I cracked up....she can be such a happy little girl.
Again, getting off the ride there was not the tantrum I had conjured up in my head and I was feeling almost like a mom on a "normal" outing, or as close enough to "normal" as we could get. It felt good.
The day was hot, like 97 degrees hot so we stopped to get a shaved ice. They were huge so Cam and I split one. It was so cold and so refreshing and although Cams didn't get the concept of using the spoon to eat it I shoveled it in her mouth. At one point a spoonful of ice fell onto the stroller and grazed her leg. She began to fuss and I thought "Well, this has been fun, but now Cam has a wet spot on her shorts so we're going to have to leave", but surprisingly after drying her off with a napkin she was fine! A mircale on Zoo Lane!
We continued on through the zoo,making our way to Africa. Not the real one, but just as freaking hot! For three dollars you can buy a piece of lettuce and feed the giraffes. Yes, I said three dollars for a piece of lettuce. "It's the experience" I was told when I questioned if the lettuce was made of oxycontin. Well I tore our "experience" into three pieces. Mason fed the giraffe first, then Nat, who was a tad apprehensive and who wouldn't be of a foot long black tongue? Giraffes, the Gene Simmons of the animal kingdom. Then it was Cams turn. I wasn't sure she would give up the lettuce, as she sometimes likes to keep the food to herself. But to my surprise she dangled the lettuce in front of the giraffes speckled snout and said "Sit!" Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! My mom and I laughed out loud! The zoo attendant didn't even so much as grimace convincing me even further that to work at the zoo you must have absolutely no personality whatsoever. Guess they figure it would take away from the animals.The giraffe gobbled up it's treat and we moved on to the Okapi's. Okapi's are those creatures that look like the result of a donkey and a zebra's one night stand. Cam really took a liking to them and kept saying "Heyyyyyy Copy, heyyyyy copy! He needs a hug!" And so went the rest of the day. Cam was calling out to all the animals,offering up hugs and "licky face" to any of them that would have it. When we first entered the zoo earlier in the day, Mason asked if we could stay till it closed at five to which my mom spouted out "No!" before she finished her question. But to our surprise we made it to 4:30! Amazing! The drive home was pretty much like the ride there, with Cam tormenting her sisters but after her stellar behavior at the zoo I gave her a free pass in the car and let Mason and Nat fend for themselves. It was payback for all their back talk.
So there you have it, a positive post finally! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. They may be few and far between like shooting stars in the dark of night, but that's what makes them so exciting.
I wrote this entry last week and forgot to post it, so I have to mention that since that zoo trip went so well, I decided to try it again this past Tuesday. This time I was by myself and this time, well let's just say it was quite a dark night. No worries though. I'm not afraid of the dark anymore.I'm pretty sure at this point in my life I could kick the boogeymans ass!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
