A Labor of Love

This post is WAAAAAAAY overdue and I apologize for that, but I’m sure by now you’ve all come to expect that! 

I wanted to make sure everyone knew just how awesome my mom is.  She decided to make Gavin a weighted blanket right before Christmas.  (Kids with autism often have spatial issues and thrive on deep pressure or weight to make them feel grounded.) 

Once in a while (not very often, thankfully) Gav will have a meltdown.  It usually happens when he’s extremely tired or on the verge of getting sick.  One of the few things that calm him down is wrapping him up tight in a blanket and basically laying on him.  He loves it. 

So during the craziness of the holidays, she researched making a weighted blanket which involve plastic pellets weighed and measured based on Gav’s weight.  She measured and poured and stitched and poured and stiched and poured-filling each quilted section with just the right amount of pellets so the weight would be distributed evenly.  Wow. 

As soon as Gavin opened his blanket (and matching pillow) on Christmas morning, he crawled up on the couch and cuddled up…… and then we all tried it out and decided we all wanted one.  The weight (I think his is 7 lbs.) has such a calming effect on the body. 

Gav now sleeps with his blanket on top of him every night and we’ve used it a few times during various meltdown occasions. 

It’s perfect.  Thanks, Mom, for loving Gavin so, so much!

The boys camping out in our beach cabana in the living room

 Not only is she awesome for making a weighted blanket for G, but she also made the brothers blankets too!

Life Recorded

Have you seen THIS before?  How cool is that?  I want to start doing this every year.  I just wish I had discovered it 14 years ago, but I guess it’s never too late to start (maybe for years missed I can photoshop our faces from old pictures). 

Happy Weekend everyone!

Autism Dates To Remember

(I’ve been told that since I deleted my facebook account, I’m supposed to blog more. So here you go!)

For those of you in the autism community, here are a few items of importance to note:

• This Thursday night ( Feb. 3) at 10PM on WHO TV 13, a story will run about a doctor in the area who has found a new method of treatment for children with autism.  I just saw the promo for the story last night and I hope I got the details right.  I’m sure the story can be viewed on their web site after it runs for those of you not in our area. 
• Saturday, May 14th is ChildServe’s Run, Walk, and Fun 4 the Kids.  Details can be found here.  Hopefully it won’t be as cold this year!

• Saturday, June 11th is Iowa’s Annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks at Valley Stadium (this is their 10th year!)  I plan to put together a large team and ACTUALLY raise support like I failed to do last year. 
• And this will probably mean nothing to most of you, but March 3-4 at ChildServe, Sheila Frick, creator of the Astronaut Training Program will be on site, training the staff in her methods.  Gavin has been a part of the astronaut training program for sensory integration over the course of the last year.  One of the therapists at ChildServe is certified and had showed Gav’s therapist some of the methods, which she had been using with Gavin.  I can’t even explain it, but IT IS AMAZING. It’s all about vestibular connections and training his brain with particular movements in conjuction with lights and sounds.  It sounds weird and to be honest it looks really weird, but how Gavin responds while training is unbelieveable.  I’m very excited Sheila Frick is coming because this means his therapist will be certified and will continue his training in depth.  Again, SO AMAZING.  You can find more about the astronaut program here.

Along with being a more consistent blogger this year, I am going to try to keep those of you in the autism community in the loop as well.  There is always so much to be a part of!

Happy Snow Day!