Ok, I'm not sure if it's a good thing to feed into obsessions, but that's what we did tonight.  Ever since last year when my girlfriend Jen took Jerry to Monster Jam, he's been an addict.  He watches it twice a day (if we let him) on the Speed channel on Bright House, sets up his own tracks with his collection of trucks, and for someone who can't seem to memorize his ABC's, sure knows a lot of the drivers' names by heart, as well as the names of the trucks they drive!

Anyway, we decided to take Jerry as a family for his birthday this year and everyone of us had an absolute blast.  We arrived five hours before the show at the pit party and the kids met drivers, got autographs, and got up close and personal with the mighty monsters themselves...the trucks.  This was one time, Jerry didn't seem to mind waiting in line so much!  And we were prepared with ear plugs for the loud motors.

The weather was great, the show was fantastic, and best of all, Jerry got to meet his favorite driver, Linsey Weenk.  Linsey drives Blue Thunder and, for a while, Jerry was pretty sure he also played the bass guitar in our praise and worship band at church!  He didn't of course, but the guy who does could be his brother, really!  It was quite funny how Jerry was so sure it was truly him for a while.

Anyway, the pictures have all been sent to Walgreen's for another photo album for Jerry to treasure until next year (when we'll definitely be going again).  Until then, thank you Jesus for the Speed channel and watch out...because in July 2010, K'Nex will be introducing build your own monster truck sets, complete with little Lego style driver people to put in them.  I think we'll have to own a few of those, don't you?!

For anyone interested, you can view all of the pictures at Monster Jam 2010.

First, here is a picture of Jerry in his new glasses.

How cute is he, really?!!

Now, a hopeful solution to the smelling everything dilemma.  My special thanks to my friend Melinda for this idea.  I bought a pill holder and put cottonballs scented with different things inside each of the seven compartments.  Now, whenever Jerry has the urge to sniff, he can grab that, open one, and smell away.  I used vanilla flavoring, coconut, perfume, lotion....anything that had a strong smell and I tried to find some different from each other.  Still quirky, yes....especially in public...but way less quirky that dropping to all fours and smelling a floor in public.

I'll keep you all posted on the success or failure of this experiment.  And this still doesn't solve the licking thing, but let's tackle one at a time, shall we?!

I have to preface my eye exam story with some new info. on Jerry.  He has been on Zoloft for over a year now for obsessive compulsive type behaviors, sniffing things, repeatedly touching things in certain ways, having to watch the same movies over and over again, repeating phrases, etc...  I asked the neurologist the last time we saw her if we could try weaning him from it now and she gave us the go-ahead to cut him down by half a pill for the next three months, one month at a time, until he was off it entirely.

Well, it's been about three weeks now and it's not good so far.  He is sniffing and LICKING EVERYTHING!  Yes, everything.  Last week at Pioneer Clubs, he was sitting up against the wall on the floor with the other kids listening to his teacher tell the Bible story and he turned his head, stuck his tongue out, and went straight for the electrical outlet!  If it weren't for his teacher's quick response, reflexes, and elbow, Jerry would have had a whole new hairstyle...to say the least.  He started sniffing things about a week after we first reduced the Zoloft, but we've done our best not to call him on it or point it out because we don't want him to do it more out of our recognition of the oddity.  It's hard though when you walk into a store and the first thing he does is drop to all fours and smell the floor.  Explain that one to the clerk behind the counter! 

It's really hard for our other kids not to say anything because they are more embarrassed by Jerry's new behavior than we are.  John and I don't get embarrassed by Jeremiah anymore!  We are saying something about the licking though because, let's face it, that's just gross!  he's even sniffing and licking in speech and OT now too and his OT therapist is going to do some research on the behavior as a sensory issue and see if she can't find some behavioral techniques to try with him to curb the new habits. We really don't want him on seratonin medicine for the rest of his life.

Now, onto the eye doctor.  Our kids have never had eye exams before because, up until now, we didn't have vision insurance for them.  So all four went today and, wouldn't it just figure, Jerry is the only one who needs glasses?!  He is nearsighted and his left eye is worse than his right....about 25/40.  We had noticed him squinting funny lately, squeezing his eyes closed, sometimes only his left, and then opening them again, but we thought this was just another new OCD quirk and we ignored it.  Yes, parents of the year we are!

Anyway, Dr. Kate Claffie of EyeDocs earned her money today!  How much fun it is to give an eye exam to a wiggly, sliding down in the chair, whiny Asperger's kids, who can't recognize his letters yet and answers every question with, "I don't know."  Dr. Kate was a saint and took her time.  She used pictures for Jerry's exam, but in Jerry's defense, they couldn't have been much more abstract.  It took me a few glances to figure some of them out.

These are similar to the pictures, but the phone was a little more mishapen.  It looked more like a tower of some strange kind.  And let's face it, what kid today knows a phone that looks like this one?!  How aniquated!  He couldn't identify any of the pictures at first, but then we showed him them aside from the eye exam and told him what each was so he could at least identify them. 

Then the exam.  Repeatedly, he could not identify the smaller pictures with his left eye and he kept trying to cheat and slide the spoon from over his right eye so he could see the pictures and answer the doctor.  He hated not knowing what the pictures were and, with his left eye, at various stages told her he couldn't see any pictures at all.  Dr. Kate repeated the procedures with him several times to be sure it was an accurate assessment of what Jerry could really see and not just a meltdown. 

In the end, glasses were recommended and ordered....scracth resistant lenses and flexible frames no doubt.  We should have them in about a week and a half.  Should be interesting to see how this affects his learning if at all.

Well, genetic testing was today.  Five hours of driving to St. Pete, going over our families' histories of illnesses (as far as we knew or could remember), a physical exam for Jeremiah and rundown of his complete medical history, including every doctor or specialist he'd ever seen and why.  Thank goodness I'm so anally organized and have a 3-ring binder with dividers full of "stuff about Jerry". 

This was followed by a trip to the lab to test Jerry's urine and blood...six vials full of it!  He was not a happy camper.  Thankfully, daddy came to this visit and held Jerry on his lap during it.  And thankfully, the lab technician was very skilled, sweet, patient, and as pain-free as she could be, using a tiny butterfly needle for the procedure.

They are testing Jerry's thyroid function, his metabolism, and his chromosomes and DNA for any abnormalities that could be linked to his learning disability.  As much as I don't want anything to be "wrong" persay, it would be nice to have some answers too.  The results should be in in about 3-4 weeks.

We did have one comical aspect to our day today.  The receptionist in the geneticist's office looked, according to Jerry, remarkably like a monster truck lady driver known only as Madusa.  And she really did!  We had to forbid him to ask her if that's who she really was.  Don't think that would've gone over too well.  "Hey lady, you look just like Madusa.  Are you her?"

I love Christmas.  I really do.  But with a child on the spectrum, I do not love all of the busyness, rush, and changes in routine.  They cause unavoidable meltdowns.  Despite the few we had this year, Jerry faired rather well and had a wonderful Christmas.  We didn't force him to participate in any parties, choir programs, or other holiday festivities that he did not want to.  Just let him celebrate on his terms.

As Christians, we have never emphasized Santa, but Jerry was obsessed with him this year.  And we indulged him a little by letting him sit on his lap whenever possible, put ornaments on an advent tree counting down the days until Christmas, and even putting the big guy's name on a few of the gifts he received this year.  He was so cute and told Santa the same thing whenever he had an opportunity to put in his requests...."monster trucks".  And yes, Santa delivered.  So did Jerry's brothers and sister who all bought him a few with their own chore money.  I think they were more excited than he was to see him open their gifts this morning.

Jerry's Advent Tree - He lived to put an ornament on every morning for the countdown.

A Few of Jerry's Christmas Projects

Jerry with Santa at Jonathan's Bowling Christmas Party

The highlight for me was that Jerry was taken to several stores by a friend of ours and given money to shop for us with.  Seeing what he picked for John and I was truly sweet.  For John there was a Lone Ranger DVD (one of Jerry's favorites) because he wanted daddy to watch it with him, and a moose that sings Christmas carols when his hoof is pressed. 

For me...this beautiful sterling silver necklace that has a cross and pendant that says "faith" on it.  Faith...the only way I've been able to walk through this journey with Jeremiah...by faith.  Thank you little man.  It means so much.  "Do you love it mommy?  I knew you would love it."  Yes, Jerry...I love it!

I'd been told a long time ago that things like weighted quilts or vests would be good investments for Jeremiah with his sensory issues.  It was one of those things though that we just couldn't afford and well, if you know me, you know that I am not the kind of mom who sews all of her kids' clothes and weaves our home's rugs while spinning yarn from sheep's wool.  Yeah, not me.  My girlfriend Lucette on the other hand....well, that's a different story.

So for the last eight weeks now, Lucette and I have gotten together on Tuesday afternoons after Jerry's speech and OT and have been working on a quilt for Jerry.  We started by asking Jerry what he liked.  Big mistake!  Jerry likes everything!  The result?  A quilt of many themes!  There's Star Wars, Toy Story, Cars, Monsters, Inc., Nemo, Batman, Spiderman, Curious George, monster trucks, bugs, Clifford, construction trucks, Veggie Tales...you name it.  It took a while to piece the different squares together and we weren't real sure how all of the different materials would look together, but in the end, they made the perfect quilt for Jerry.

Top of the Quilt

Bottom of the Quilt

Whole Quilt

Each week, Jerry would see our progress, flap excitedly watching us cut, sew, starch, iron, bind, pin, whew!  nd then we would part until the next week, promising him we were getting closer to the take home date.  And he was so very patient, considering!

Well, today he got his quilt...FINALLY!  And he LOVES it.  The center panel is monster trucks and Mrs. Lucette used stitching that looks like tires treads to stitch around the panel so it looks like a track on the back of the quilt.  The back panel and binding are soft fleece for cuddling and, after all of the material, thread, and fleece, the quilt is perfect in weight.

Here's the patch Lucette put on the back of the quilt for that extra special personal touch.

And here is Jerry and his favorite quilting angel ever.

Thank you Mrs. Lucette, and not just for the quilt.  Thanks for the many Tuesdays of fun, fellowship, and downtime with a great friend.  Hmmm?  What to make next?

Ok, I've known about social stories for quite some time now.  I even made one for Jerry once using a great website tool that filled in all the blanks for me and even created a cartoon version of Jerry based on his skin tone, color of hair, and eye color, but I have to admit, I have not used these great little teaching tools to the extent to which they can and should be used, especially with a socially inept seven-year-old.

I think tonight I learned that it's time to bite the bullet and get those creative juices flowing.  Shouldn't be hard, right.  I'm a writer after all!  Man is there a mental block on these stories for me though!

This evening, while outside playing, Jeremiah pushed a couple of bikes over that were parked in our yard and belonged to kids who were playing kickball with Jerry's siblings out front.  I'm sure he was just trying to get their attention because he is always the spectator and never the player when it comes to kickball.  He always runs the wrong way, skips bases, cries when he gets out...you know, a real game wrecker.

Anyway, two of the kids took the incident with a grain of salt and shrugged the knocked- over bikes off...never even left the game.  One boy, however, charged Jerry full on and shoved him...HARD!  He slid and went down face first in the road, suffering a scraped ankle, a scraped elbow, skinned hands, and very hurt feelings.

I feel for him, but I can see the other kid's side  too, though John did talk to the perpetrator about it never being ok to touch someone else and how, in this case, "tattling" would have been the best solution.

I think I actually felt sorrier for my other children, especially Jonathan, my oldest.  He came into the house sobbing and angry immediately after the incident.  He went to the kitchen where I was preparing dinner, laid his head in his arms on the counter and just sobbed about how unfair it was that the other kids bullied Jeremiah the way they do.  A bit of an exaggeration, as it was just one boy...today anyway, but I felt so bad for Jonathan.  He has tried to explain Jerry's Asperger's and behavior to the neighborhood kids, and some sympathize (hence, the two that ignored Jerry knocking their bikes over).  But some of the kids make fun or retaliate just the same.  Guess I need social stories for them too, huh? 

It's a character building exercise for Jonathan too, but I, as mom, should be the one to explain Jerry to the neighbors, not Jonathan.  I'm not sure how to go about that either.  Do I print up flyers for everyone?  That just feels wierd, like I'm informing them of some convicted felon living in their midst.  I guess I hoped that Jerry would somehow just magically fit in and seem no different to everyone than the other neighborhood kids.  Delusional, I know.

So HELP!  I am calling all friends out their, personal ones who know my family and Jerry and virtual supporters who have journeyed with our family through this blog.  If you have any social stories you can share, ideas on how to present them, templates, whatever...I need you!  I do have access to the site that helps me make the customized social stories that I mentioned above, but there is a fee and we just don't have the funds right now.  Any ideas on how to educate the neighbors would be greatly appreciated as well.  Thanks all.  My e-mail is johntara10@gmail.com or you can just comment to this entry.

True Story:

Mom:  "Jerry, please don't swing that stick at Louis."  (NOTE:  Loius is our cat.)

Jerry:  "But if I hit him maybe he will break open and candy will come out."

Two Words - "Run Louis!"

It's been a while and so I'm going to pack a few updates into one here. 

Let's start with regression.  It stinks.  Dr. Rodgers, Jerry's neurologist, asked for a progress report from Miss Michelle, his speech therapist to see if genetic testing might be warranted.  She suggested maybe there's more to Jerry than Asperger's.  Anyway, though Jerry has made some progress, there is definite concern over some noted regression as well.  So now we are waiting to see if Dr. Rodgers will order the genetic testing.

Now on to Wal Mart meltdowns.  They too, stink the big one!  I only needed about ten things today.  That was all.  Small, short trip.  Do you know how long it takes to shop for only ten things when you have a seven-year-old melting down in every aisle, kicking his shoe off, walking in circles in front of shoppers trying to push their carts by him while doing their best not to stare...at him or his obviously "bad-parenting 101" mother? 

ARRGGHH!  It was not fun!  Then we get out to the parking lot to finally head for home and, while I'm struggling to get a 35 lb. bucket of cat litter in the van, Jerry drops the picture he drew and has been carrying all through the store with him and the wind picks it up and starts to blow it off.  "Ok God, really not funny now."  To the ER attending..."Well, I was trying to catch a piece of paper while juggling 35 lbs. of cat litter."  I did manage to stop the paper...and get the litter in the van...not gracefully I might add!

And why the meltdown you might ask?  These days....why not is a better question.  Actually this one was triggered by a Subway in the store, which reminded Jeremiah that he "might" be hungry.

That brings us to less OT...not because Jerry is doing so well that he's ready for less, but because he only makes it through 1/2 the session anyway before he shuts down and decides he is just plain finished and will no longer cooperate.  Therefore, we are down to 30 mins. twice a week instead of the recommended 60.  Enough said.

Lastly, our new townhome is fabulous.  Our neighbors are fabulous.  Our neighbor's kids are fabulous.  Then there's Jerry.  Bless his heart, try as he may, he just cannot seem to fit in with the kids here...or anywhere for that matter.  While his brothers and sisters have made many, many friends, Jerry just hasn't.  He rode his bike over to me tonight, face long, and asked, "Mom, why does everyone pick on me?"  His view of course, as I am well aware of his ability to "pick" as well.  Still stinks, once again.

On one bright side, school is going well.  He confidently knows 3 of his letters.  Who's idea was it to make the English alphabet 26 letters long anyway?

We went to Downtown Disney for our son Ben's 9th birthday yesterday.  We had made reservations for the new T-Rex restaurant.  It's similar to the Rainforest Cafe with the exception that the animals are all large, prehistoric, and extinct.  But they are all animated in their movements and life-like, including in their ferocious roars and growls they make.

Now Jerry loves dinosaurs, but I knew we were in trouble when our waitress, while introducing herself, warned us that every twenty minutes there would be "meteor showers" and we would be required to get under our table for safety measures.  The other kids giggled while Jerry stared at her wide-eyed and alarmed like a deer caught in the headlights.

He was already not fond of the noise upon entering the restaurant (including clapping and singing waiters/waitresses celebrating patron's birthdays), but when the lights dimmed low, thunder started clashing, and the dinosaurs raised their vocal levels by at least ten octaves, we had issues.  Jerry immediately started to yell for the dinosaurs to stop or be turned off.  I covered his ears while he sat very stiff and anxious.  Thank goodness we were sitting in the plant eaters section and not next to the twenty foot tall T-Rex!

We vowed then and there to only be there for a maximum of two more meteor showers and so we had forty minutes to get our food, eat, and pay to get out of there.  With the passing of each minute, the poor guy grew more and more anxious.  As soon as the lights would dim, he would lean over into my lap, his head under the table, and cover his eyes while I covered the ear that was not already being closed by my lap.  Once, he was in such a hurry to get under the table and into my lap, he whacked a knife on the table and sent it sailing up over his head and onto the floor...thankfully, not hitting anyone at the table behind us on the way down! 

We did manage to get a picture on the way out.  Can you see how happy Jerry looks?!

The family picture outside shows some relief.

The consolation prize for his making it through dinner was a Build-A-Dino (similar to Build-A-Bear) that he named Hammer Head.  Upon leaving the restaurant, Jerry proclaimed, "Mommy, I like shopping in the dinosaur store, but I don't ever want to eat there again!"  No, really?!!!