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. 

KUTV-2 News Story on Giant Steps

Here is the link for the news story that was done tonight on KUTV-2:
I will have more information soon about the Auction.
I am so proud to be a part of Giant Steps Preschool. I am so proud of our family.
Max is growing and learning, what more can I ask for? 

http://www.kutv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/For-those-who-can-get-enrolled-program-making-giant-steps-for-families-facing-autism-71995.shtml#.VMmv8naEotw

"Max has found a voice at Giant Steps, you can see it in his eyes."  -Poppi.

Being a friend

Kids just understand each other.  They just do. 
Cousins understand each other more than anyone and they make fantastic friends. 
I was not close with my cousins growing up so I missed out on having friends that were also cousins.  Max is lucky, he has cousins that are close in age to him and also live close.  He has built in friends.  A build in support system. 

Will and I were talking just last week about friends.  Making friends is a fear I have and I am sure I will always have for Max.  Making sure Max had a good support system at school, and in life in general is really important to me.  Max doesn't really socialize at school with other children.  He stays to himself and in his own world.  His best friends are his trains, Gerald the Giraffe, and his favorite TV characters. 

But then this past weekend we were at the BYU Bean Museum with his cousins.  We were reminded, (again) that Max does have friends.  He has friends that love him, support him, and understand him.  And we are so lucky that they are his cousins. 

Cousin C is who I would call his best friend.  They even hold hands when they are together.  She chases him, and teases him, and loves him.  I tear up when they hug each other.  She does so much for Max, she is teaching him how to socialize.  Cousin C also has helped me realize Max does and always will have friends.  They will love him for all his quirks. 

Fire Station #3 - Giant Steps Fieldtrip

"Firetruck!" and  "Am-lance!" was all Max wanted to see once his class entered the Fire Station #3 in Orem.  He couldn't even sit still to watch the 10 minute fire safety video.  He was bouncing everywhere and smiling the whole time.

We have been talking about the Fire Station Field Trip all week.
On Monday Max got really sick.  He has a high fever of 104 and turned out he had strep throat.  Max has hardly been sick.  He only went to the doctors once for illness in 2014 and has only been really sick maybe three times in 3.5 years.  Of course he would get sick on the week of the most beloved Giant Steps field trip.

By Thursday he was healthy enough to go back to school, and by Friday you wouldn't even have known how sick he was. 

I was so happy his field trip was on a Friday afternoon.  This meant I could also go because I only work in the mornings on Fridays.

Firetrucks mean a lot to Max.  He connects with them, just like trains.  This was such a fun day and I am so grateful for the Fire-station for allowing his class to come and visit. 

No shoes, no shirt, no problem?!

Max hates wearing pants, or clothes at all for that matter right now.  He likes to be free, and just in a diaper.  He even sleeps just in a diaper.  And it has been cold in Utah!

He is three and a half, and we have been told that it is a toddler thing.  Or is it?
No clothes, no problem, right?

The problem is that he doesn't feel cold. (Or hot for that matter)  Just like his taste buds are super sensitive and he tastes flavors very intensely.  His sense of cold and hot are also heightened.  We talked to his teacher about this and she believes that Max doesn't have a sense of cold.  So why should he have to wear clothes if he isn't cold?  His hands will turn bright red in the snow, but he doesn't care or complain.  His brother on the other hand, cries at the first sign of cold snow.
  
SENSORY PROBLEMS AND AUTISM
Sensory experiences that parents don't even notice may be extremely frightening or unpleasant for a child - the feel of a certain fabric, sounds of certain frequency, particular colors or seemingly bland foods. The child's reactions can easily be interpreted as wilful misbehavior. Along with this will frequently be difficulties in movement, coordination and sensing where one's body is in a given space, leading to clumsiness and difficulty with tasks such as dressing. (From http://www.autism-help.org)

Max does recognize hot things.  And when he sees the oven on, or the stove, or a fire on the TV he says "Firetruck" and "hot"!  Firetrucks are always involved when it is hot.  Just like when someone gets hurt he says "Ambulance"!

So what do we do?  We allow him to help pick out his clothes.  We don't fight him.  Pick your battles, especially inside the house.  But clothes are a must when he goes outside, or to school.  He wears very soft cotton, nothing with tags or anything that itches.  His shoes are the same for everything.  He wears the same shoes to school as he does for church.  He understands they are his shoes and doesn't argue.  He doesn't like socks at all.  As soon as we come in the house he says "Shoes, socks, off" and lifts up his foot.   We try to dress him right in the morning, we have a better chance of him keeping clothes on during the day this way.  But this is hit or miss too.

So if you see a naked toddler running around Provo he most likely isn't cold.  He is just perfect.