Quoted from a Facebook Friend...

Being over 6' tall doesn't make you better it just makes you tall. Having an IQ over 120 doesn't make you more superior it just makes you intellectually smart. Autism doesn't make you less worthy it just makes you autistic. The neurosurgeon uses equipment made by a factory worker. We all have a role in this world, no role is more or less important.

I have had a lot of experience with Autism before I had my own child who falls on the Autism spectrum. My cousin has Asperger's. I've worked as a therapy technician with children and adults who had various developmental disabilities- including Autism. I worry how my child will be looked at by others. Even though I know that he's a great kid, and I have other people tell me what a great kid he is, I'm worried about future peers, co-workers, bosses, people in the community who might just see his Autism and not his good characteristics.

The other day at McDonalds, he was running around with a little boy the same age as him. He didn't play the same game that the little boy wanted him to play. The boy kept asking,"Why don't you want to play with me?" I explained to the boy that he was playing with him- just in his own way. But you can't really explain to a 4 year old about Autism. My 7 and 8 year old don't even really know much about Autism- just that they love their little brother even though he acts differently sometimes and annoys them by repeating things over and over again.

I know that we've come a long way in teaching other people about Autism, but there is still a long way to go. It's a lot like racism. A lot less people nowadays treat people differently because of the color of their skin than they did in MLK Jr.'s day, but there are still people today that are stuck in the old way of thinking. Times have certainly changed since the Autism label first came out, but there are still people who don't and won't understand Autism. I pray that knowledge will continue to grow and that people will realize just how much impact our special kids have on this world.

Thanks to my friend, Katheren Gomez, for capturing this great
picture of my guy.

MRI-me oh my

My little Cars fanatic with his two new friends that he earned by
going #2 on the toilet. ;)
It has been a while since I've updated on Jayden. In July, we drove to Spokane to see the Pediatric Neurologist. She did a great job with Jayden, all the more impressive since she is deaf. She confirmed that he is on the spectrum- on the high functioning side. She said that she wanted him to have an MRI and some blood tests to make sure that nothing else was affecting his brain.

Moving forward to this last Monday. We drove up Sunday night to Spokane again. This time we spent the night at a friend's house because our appointment was bright and early at 7 a.m., and I didn't want to have to drive for an hour and a half with a possible cranky kid who could have nothing to eat or drink since he had to be sedated.

We got to the hospital with no issues. Jayden hopped right into a Little Tyke's police car they had out for kids going into surgery. One of the perks of having this done at a children's hospital. We were able to get Jayden onto the scale with little fight- which was a good thing. For some reason, he normally balks at stepping on the scale. He even allowed the nurse to take his temperature and blood pressure- although, he hated it when the cuff got tight(not that I blame him).

He watched t.v. while we reviewed all of his health information. The nurse gave him the medicine to reduce anxiety and give him amnesia(I was secretly hoping for my own dose of the stuff). After he drank the medicine he said, in a deceivingly happy voice,"Yummy!" and then proceeded to make a face like Mr. Yuk. After a while, the stuff started kicking in, and he slumped over in my arms.

Next, they brought in a Child Life specialist to distract him while they did his I.V. and his bloodwork. Even though they put numbing cream in the spot a bit earlier, he did say,"Owie!" He kept trying to look over at what they were doing while the CL specialist held a book up in front of his face and turned on a toy that lit up and spun around. He settled down when she put it on his stomach because he liked the vibration that it made. I'm going to have to get one of those toys for him.

This was taken when the medicine had really kicked in. I thought all would be okay after this. Well, they had me come with him to the MRI room. We had to wait out in the hall for a bit, and he started getting restless and was trying to pull out his i.v. Well, the tears that I had tried to hold in for a while came out again. They got him on the table and started the medicine to knock him out. I watched them hook him up to the monitors and hold his chin up and suction him out so he could breathe okay. It reminded me of when I did child/infant CPR classes, and I started crying more because he looked so lifeless on the table. The anesthesiologist reassured me that he would be okay, and I knew he would. I wanted to say that I was really just emotional because of the reason we were here in the first place, but I just nodded and sniffled.

I went down to the cafeteria and got a coffee slushie and some fruit and a bagel, and headed back up to the waiting room. I saw all the people waiting for their children or waiting with their children for their own surgeries. I wondered if these children had it worse than Jayden. After all, Jayden is healthy. I have to be grateful for that.

They brought me back to the recovery room, and I took this last picture of him before we woke him up. The nurse was really friendly, and she had a cute British accent. We tried to rouse the very tired boy as we talked about our daughters and their experiences getting their tonsils removed, and the fact that the final episode of the Bachelorette was on that night. We finally got Jayden awake enough to eat some crackers and drink some juice. She gave me the discharge instructions, and Jayden and I were wheeled out to the van.

He slept most of the way home- even as we were stuck in traffic on the highway where there was a car accident. We stopped at the rest stop along the way, and he proved that potty training is still going well- even though he was too loopy to be able to walk or stand upright. And yes, Jayden is finally potty trained! Well, during the day at least.

So now, we are waiting to hear back on results. I will probably give them a call tomorrow since they said 3 days for results. I'll update sooner than a couple of months this time. ;)