Levi Check-In: November 2015

It has been 4 months since Levi started going to Easter Seals and receiving full time therapy there. In a typical week, he goes from 9:30-5:00, four days a week, and receives Speech, Physical and Occupational therapies once a week each (he was prescribed twice a week but because of stupid insurance, we can only afford for him to do once a week). PT was something that we added on in September at the recommendation of his teachers and his pediatrician, because he was still falling a lot and wasn't walking very well. As of today, he only falls 2-3 times a day (as apposed to 10+) so we have seen huge improvements since placing him in PT during the week!

From the very fist day that we signed Levi up to attend Easter Seals, we doubted greatly whether it was the right thing to do. To be honest, since Levi's official diagnosis in June, we have felt like we were picked up by a tornado and never placed back down. Although his Autism diagnosis itself was quite overwhelming, I think the hardest thing we have struggled with so far has been making decisions. As I am sure with most medical concerns, there are about a million different types of therapies, intervention plans, and organizations surrounding Autism. There are also about a million differing opinions about what works and what doesn't. And frankly, all of the different therapies seem pretty hostile towards other types of therapy. So here is a little sample of  how my and Mitch's conversations have gone the past few months:

Amy: Let's just try __________ therapy.
Mitch: That's what I was thinking until I read that this organization says that therapy will cause PTSD.
Mitch: Why don't we go with _________ program instead.
Amy: Hmmm. Looks really good, but then this organization says that therapy will never help our child to fit into the world around him and he will end up having no quality of life.
Amy: Also, this study says that we have to get our child in an intense therapy program by age 2 or he most likely never talk.
Mitch: ........................... (bangs head on table repeatedly)

Levi learned how to go down a slide by himself! (Thanks PT!)

Okay, so maybe the headbanging was me. Point being, all of the options have been extremely overwhelming. However, after praying and consulting a lot of people, we decided to just jump in and place Levi at Easter Seals and hope for the best.

For the first 3 months, Levi screamed and clung to me as I dropped him off in the morning. He had to be pried off of me, limb by limb, every. single. morning. For those 3 months, I walked around with a pit in my stomach wondering if he was trying to tell me something. However, since Levi is nonverbal, we just had to hope and pray that the Lord would assure us that Easter Seals was the right place for him and that he was being well cared for. And do you want to know what the Lord said?

Nothing.

For those 3 months, the Lord didn't answer us. In a culture where you can have anything and everything immediately, silence from the Lord on this subject was HARD. However, it was also GOOD. For 3 months I was forced to trust. For 3 months I was forced to individually dig out fears that had embedded themselves so deeply in my heart and give them to the Lord. And for 3 months, we saw no improvement with Levi.

BUT GOD (Don't you just love those life moments?)

But God, finally in His perfect timing, assured us a thousand times over. In the past month, we have seen more improvements in Levi than we have seen in the past year almost. Not only is he no longer crying at drop off, but he is actually happy to be there. His teachers said that he has gone from sitting and playing by himself, to interacting and running around with several of the little boys in his class. He has also started interacting more with his cousins at home. (As per Lucas, Levi sat on him this past weekend... does that count as interacting?)

In addition, Levi has started playing with several toys appropriately. Where he use to take a toy car and just throw it or spin it upside down, he is now rolling it back and forth on the floor and walls. He has also started "following the light" on his play drum set and playing along with the songs it sings (rather than just throwing it on the floor so it will light up). And last, but certainly not least, Levi has learned how to kick a ball!

Up until a month ago, we never read to Levi because it would result in a huge tantrum. He absolutely loathed reading because the words just confused him and he couldn't understand. However, this past month Levi has been bringing us books (okay just the same few books over and over and over again) to read him, signing "more, more, more!" (His favorite books are Sandra Boynton books, particularly "Pajama Time" and the "Belly Button Book") For a mommy who loves to read, this has been SO special for me.

Although all of these improvements are great, the most amazing (and shocking) improvement we have seen lately has been with Levi's signing. We started him in speech therapy in February of this year. It wasn't until the end of May that Levi finally learned one sign, "more". As of the end of October, "more" was still the only sign that Levi would use. Because of this, Mitch and I were pretty ready to quit with the attempts to communicate with Levi via sign language. However, this past week, Levi started signing "please" and has now starting even signing "more please" together! THIS. IS. HUGE. And we are so thankful and excited.

All of these things have happened because the Lord is using Easter Seals to do wonderful things in our son's life. We are relieved, grateful, and in awe of the many ways that the Lord is assuring us in this journey. Thank you so much for those of you who have been and continue to pray for Levi's development! The Lord is answering prayers, but more importantly, He is showing us how to more like Him and less like the world.