Ben's Mom

I am now officially a celebrity. I was at Target, doing my usual Targetty shopping, and I noticed that a special ed bus was parked in front of the store, and I assumed that there were probably some kids somewhere in the store. Sometimes they go on field trips to gain real world environment experience. As I was approaching the front of the store with my cart, I went past the kids but didn't see anyone I recognized. Just then, one little boy with Down's Syndrome shouts out "Hey Look - there's Ben's Mom!" That just made me smile. I didn't know who he was but he sure knew who I was! His teacher asked him how he knew I was Ben's mom and he said it was because Ben rides his bus home. He must see me every day when I drop Ben off or pick him up from his bus. I thought that was very cool and I told him so.

Sickness and Wellness

Ben came home from school early yesterday with a fever. I put him on the couch, turned on the tv for him, gave him his favorite fuzzy CARZ blanket and he layed there almost the whole afternoon and even took a nap at one point. It would have been kind of nice, actually, if it hadn't been so pitiful. I'm not used to having a quiet, tv watching kind of Ben. His fever hovered around 100 and 101, but I never gave him Motrin, since I've been told that if it's a low grade fever, it's better to let it burn off by itself. I put him to bed promptly at 8pm and didn't plan on sending him in today. But when he woke up bouncy, happy and feverless, I changed my mind. Off to school he goes, and I hope he stays there. Caroline was sick since Saturday night and today is also her first day back. Finally!

Auditory Discrimination is Ben's Game!

All right, some good news to report. I have to take it where I can get it. Ben was bobcat of the day twice last week. That's the award his elementary school gives to the student of the day. Granted, his is a small class, but apparently he's been behaving really well on the days that he behaves well. Got that? On the other days, his "off" days - well, see the last post. Today he had an ABA session even though school is out, and he's found his new forte. For a while now, his teacher at school has been writing home that he's doing really well at auditory discrimination. I didn't really know what they were refering to, but apparently there's a whole ABA program designed to get a child to listen to a sound and then find the picture that corresponds with the sound. For instance, the sound of a duck quacking will be played, and then the child will pick the picture of a duck out of a set of different pictures. Well, Ben is very good at this! Today his therapist probed him on a whole lot of new pictures and sounds that he had never tried before and he got almost all of them. He apparently knows what sound a frog makes, and even how a toilet sounds when it's flushing. Cool, huh? It's nice to find something that Ben excels at. Every once in a while, I get a glimpse of how smart he is.

Ben Meets the Good Doctor

I drove Ben to Maryland today for his appointment with his new DAN! Developmental Pediatrician. It was a less than stellar visit on his part. To put it bluntly, Ben went after her glasses and scratched her face. I guess it shouldn't entirely surprise me, but it is embarassing to have your child do that to someone. She was good about it, but I felt horrible for the rest of the visit. Especially after I had said last week that he wasn't very aggressive. I guess the operative word is very. Still, I should know better than to blog after a day like today, but I thought everyone would want to know what happened. As for her thoughts on Ben, I won't find that out until next week, when I go back by myself. Today's one of those noisy weird days for him, and his verbal stimming (ie yelling, making gasping sounds) is high. I'm feeling less motivated than usual and a little sad that I can't take the girls to an event at their school because I can't take Ben with us on a day like today. I'm sure they'll get over it, but still, it makes me sad. His ABA therapist is sick today, so no therapy for him either. *sigh*

Got the Auth

Well, I recieved the authorization for the out of network doctor that Ben is going to see, but of course, it has the wrong insurance codes on it. It's always something, isn't it? So I have several phone calls lined up for tomorrow morning. I'm faced with a forecast for snow again on Monday and Tuesday, and I really hope that doesn't mess up my Wed morning appointment with his new doctor in Maryland. Her office person said I can do a phone consult if the kids have a delay, but Tricare doesn't pay for phone consults. At least I don't have to bring Ben to this first appointment. It's just going over his medical history, filling out paperwork, determining what tests might be needed, etc. I'm still bummed out by all the ice all over our driveway but the weather guy tells me it's supposed to warm up today, so maybe I'll be lucky and it'll melt. I joined the rec center across the street from us for the next month, since the weather has been unpredictable. At least I'll have no excuse for not getting some exercise. They have a couple of tread mills, some weights and an olympic sized indoor pool. If all goes well, I'm going to head over there tomorrow after the kids get on their buses. Oy!