Giant Steps Charity Dinner and Auction

Max goes to a wonderful preschool.  I have been so amazed at the progress he has made because of Giant Steps Autism Preschool.  He has the most amazing teacher, aides, and support team.  They go above and beyond the call of teacher.  They are friends, advocates, and support my entire family.
Just yesterday Max's teacher offered to come to our house to help with potty training.  It is gestures like that that make Giant Steps amazing.

Giant Steps is holding a Charity Dinner and Auction to raise money for the classrooms.  It cost over $250,000 dollars to start a new preschool.  There are currently over 130 children on the waiting list for the five classrooms in Utah County.  Each classroom can enroll 10-12 students.  There needs to be more classrooms in Utah available for children on the Autism Spectrum.  Support for the entire family is key, and so is early intervention before a child enters Kindergarten. 

The Charity Dinner and Auction is MARCH 28, 2015.

Recently the Provo Mayor did a blog post on Giant Steps Autism Preschool.

Giant Steps was also on the news promoting the school and the Charity Auction. You can watch the video on the Mayors Blog post or on the Giant Steps Website. 

We need your help.  

If you know of a business, family, or would like to personally make a donation or be a sponsor please either contact me at Tiffstrong707@gmail.com, or follow the link to directly donate on the Giant Steps Website.  Please share this blog post with others if you feel inclined.  

Follow Giant Steps on facebook.  Join the event page to get updates and also view items that have already been donated for the auction.

And most of all THANK YOU for your love and support.  Max is so lucky to have so many people in his life that love, care, and pray for him on a daily basis.  We are so grateful as a family and feel your love daily.   

 We have entered Max's world 

and it is such a wonderful world to be in!

Bath Time

Bath time has become the worst time of the day for Max.  He used to love it, and now he screams in terror.  But he can't be the stinky kid, so I had to figure out something that would excite him, or bribe him into the bath. 

We let him bring any toy he wants into the bath or shower.  Once he gets in and the shower is on, he usually is fine, but it is the moments before that are the biggest struggle. 

I had this grand idea and it has helped so much with bath time.
Freezer-Toys:
First I freeze small toys in a freezer safe container and add food coloring.  Then when we start bath time I have Max come and grab his frozen toys.  

  

 

The toys are then revealed and the food coloring changes the water color.  The darker colors like blue, red, and purple seem to work best.  

 Bath time isn't always perfect, but this has helped. 
Anything that makes life a little less stressful and a little more fun is worth it. 

Potty Training - just the beginning.

Potty Training is something I have been dreading.  It is something that has given me anxiety.  But with the confidence from Max's teacher last week we started the process.  And it is a process. We started January 29th and here is our 9 day story.  

Max doesn't really feel when he has to go to the bathroom, so we have to help him.  The first day was baptism by fire.  He went to school in diapers, and as soon as he arrived his Thomas the Train Underwear were on.  He had no successes that first day.  None.  He cried when he had to be placed on the potty and came home from school very upset. 
I had 5 pairs of pants to wash and lots of dirty underwear. 

At school Max is asked every 5 minutes if he has to use the toilet.  Then every 30 minutes they put him on the potty.  I can tell you the first few days were very rough.  Max hated being at school.  It was hard.  He would cry a lot.  But then, last week I got a text from his teacher that simple said "WE HAVE A SUCCESS!"  He went.  The happy dance was done by everyone in his classroom and he was happy at school.  And then he didn't go again for a few days.  He was getting really stressed out.  Over the weekend he cried and was having so many tantrums.  So on Sunday I said "Diapers!  Just put one on!"  And that is what we did.  And Max slept, and all was right again with the world. 

But then we started again on Tuesday this past week.  He does much better at school.  He has improved over the week.  He started with 4-5 accidents a day, and today he came home with only one pair of dirty pants.  At home it is harder.  He hasn't gone for us yet.  But we still try to follow the same routine at home.  At night he wears pull-ups with underwear over them.  And if we go out we do the same.  He LOVES his underwear, so we put them right over the diaper. 

Rewards:  Because Max doesn't eat candy, chocolate, cake, cupcakes, or cookies this hard been harder.  He will lick dum-dums, and at school Gerald is his reward.  If he has a success he gets five minutes of Gerald time.  He is allowed to play with trains while he sits on the potty, and we are overly excited when he has a success.   At home we let him sit on the potty with the ipad.  He doesn't really understand stickers or a chart, and because of his sensory issues we don't feel like it is fair for him to have to clean up his own mess.  Maybe when he is older? We have had so many good suggestions given to us, and we appreciate them.  We are not trying to rush him, or give him more anxiety, we want him to be successful. 

But until then, Max sure looks adorable in his little boy undies!

And yes, that is the potty in our living room.  We will try anything.  Anything. 

9 Days in...February 6th...
Say some potty prayers for Max.