It has been a busy summer. Beckett has been going to day camp every other week with his twin sister. We were suppose to start his ABA school in July, but have had to put it off until we can see about our finances. Our insurance deductibles have gone up again. We are still trying to pay off our loans from previous deductibles from past years. Another issue that we had with starting ABA is that we can't get much help from my parents who could bring him and pick him up, but have other things going on in their lives that keep them from helping us a lot.
On the upside, Beckett seem to be progressing much faster than in the past. He is beginning to repeat words and communicate with everyone. This is huge because his frustration level has gone down a lot. He is following simple directions and beginning to problem solve. An example of his problem solving is when I told him to leave the chain to the light on the ceiling fan alone. He would stand on the coffee table and pull it on and off. When I wrapped the chain up so he couldn't reach it he jumped down and ran to the switch at the wall and turned the light on and off from there. I was shocked that he even put two and two together. But he seems to be figuring it out.
Behavior wise he has started to have more fits when he doesn't get what he wants or is trying to get attention. His new thing is striping his clothes off and then peeing on the floor. We have had a couple of incidences at camp where the teacher turned around to see what the kids were laughing at, and Beckett had his pants down to his ankles. Now it's all fun and games. I am also a little stressed about school starting. This year Beckett and Pyper will be attending different elementary schools. Pyper will be going to her regular school and Beckett will be attending a new school that offers life skills. It is a sister school in the same neighborhood. We were quite upset when we found out that our school district will not bus Beckett from our daycare due to the fact that it is not in its attendance zone. Funny thing is, the school he attended last year that was out of the attendance zone and he was at the same daycare and was bussed with no problem. We will be addressing that with some higher ups in the school district. He has transportation that was agreed upon in his IEP meeting last year and haven't had an IEP to remove it since. So right now we are having to pay the daycare to bring him to school. I am sure I will all work out though, it always does.
In the meantime while the twins were in camp I have been working on several projects. The first project is with another SYNGAP parent and myself, We are working on organizing a non-profit foundation. We are in the beginning stages right now. We have submitted our name reservation, which it is going to be called Bridge The Gap- SYNGAP Education and Research Foundation. Our board members have been chosen and we will be submitting our next application for the establishment of an incorporation. We will be very busy this year working to get it all together.
The second project I have been working on to raise awareness of a House Bill that needs to be mandated in to law. I have been visiting my Congressional Members of Congress to draw attention to this Bill. It is called the HR 1591 The Charles August Long Undiagnosed Diseases Research & Collaboration Network Act of 2013. This law is named after a 5 year old boy who passed away undiagnosed. His name was Cal. Doctors are still searching for his killer. Here is a little background on this bill and why it is so important for it to pass.
Many families have been searching for a diagnosis for several years to no avail. Giving physicians the ability to search a national registry to help diagnose their patients would be tremendously helpful to all of the families on the journey to diagnosis. The waiting for answers and not knowing what a child’s future holds is tormenting for so many. This tool would be a GREAT advancement in the handling of cases of individuals searching for a diagnosis. Unfortunately, this cannot be implemented without YOUR HELP!
The bill, HR 1591, would help individuals and military Service Members and Veterans who have unexplained symptoms and medical problems by establishing an undiagnosed diseases registry. Currently there is not a registry that helps physicians and researchers diagnose and treat those with unexplained conditions. (http://www.urourhope.org/tag/hr-1591/)
It would also:
• provide physicians who are handling undiagnosed cases to search for similar cases and to network with other physicians handling similar cases in order to find a diagnosis
• enable physicians to cross reference undiagnosed diseases with other common diseases and rare diseases to help find a diagnosis, identify similar findings and potential treatments.
• help physicians and researchers describe prevalence of cases of undiagnosed diseases throughout the United States while making necessary data available, such as environmental, generic and occupational factors, that are associated with undiagnosed diseases.
• help physicians and researchers better outline demographic factors of individuals who are undiagnosed.
Please contact your representative and ask them to co-sponsor this bill.
On the upside, Beckett seem to be progressing much faster than in the past. He is beginning to repeat words and communicate with everyone. This is huge because his frustration level has gone down a lot. He is following simple directions and beginning to problem solve. An example of his problem solving is when I told him to leave the chain to the light on the ceiling fan alone. He would stand on the coffee table and pull it on and off. When I wrapped the chain up so he couldn't reach it he jumped down and ran to the switch at the wall and turned the light on and off from there. I was shocked that he even put two and two together. But he seems to be figuring it out.
Behavior wise he has started to have more fits when he doesn't get what he wants or is trying to get attention. His new thing is striping his clothes off and then peeing on the floor. We have had a couple of incidences at camp where the teacher turned around to see what the kids were laughing at, and Beckett had his pants down to his ankles. Now it's all fun and games. I am also a little stressed about school starting. This year Beckett and Pyper will be attending different elementary schools. Pyper will be going to her regular school and Beckett will be attending a new school that offers life skills. It is a sister school in the same neighborhood. We were quite upset when we found out that our school district will not bus Beckett from our daycare due to the fact that it is not in its attendance zone. Funny thing is, the school he attended last year that was out of the attendance zone and he was at the same daycare and was bussed with no problem. We will be addressing that with some higher ups in the school district. He has transportation that was agreed upon in his IEP meeting last year and haven't had an IEP to remove it since. So right now we are having to pay the daycare to bring him to school. I am sure I will all work out though, it always does.
In the meantime while the twins were in camp I have been working on several projects. The first project is with another SYNGAP parent and myself, We are working on organizing a non-profit foundation. We are in the beginning stages right now. We have submitted our name reservation, which it is going to be called Bridge The Gap- SYNGAP Education and Research Foundation. Our board members have been chosen and we will be submitting our next application for the establishment of an incorporation. We will be very busy this year working to get it all together.The second project I have been working on to raise awareness of a House Bill that needs to be mandated in to law. I have been visiting my Congressional Members of Congress to draw attention to this Bill. It is called the HR 1591 The Charles August Long Undiagnosed Diseases Research & Collaboration Network Act of 2013. This law is named after a 5 year old boy who passed away undiagnosed. His name was Cal. Doctors are still searching for his killer. Here is a little background on this bill and why it is so important for it to pass.
Many families have been searching for a diagnosis for several years to no avail. Giving physicians the ability to search a national registry to help diagnose their patients would be tremendously helpful to all of the families on the journey to diagnosis. The waiting for answers and not knowing what a child’s future holds is tormenting for so many. This tool would be a GREAT advancement in the handling of cases of individuals searching for a diagnosis. Unfortunately, this cannot be implemented without YOUR HELP!
The bill, HR 1591, would help individuals and military Service Members and Veterans who have unexplained symptoms and medical problems by establishing an undiagnosed diseases registry. Currently there is not a registry that helps physicians and researchers diagnose and treat those with unexplained conditions. (http://www.urourhope.org/tag/hr-1591/)
It would also:
• provide physicians who are handling undiagnosed cases to search for similar cases and to network with other physicians handling similar cases in order to find a diagnosis
• enable physicians to cross reference undiagnosed diseases with other common diseases and rare diseases to help find a diagnosis, identify similar findings and potential treatments.
• help physicians and researchers describe prevalence of cases of undiagnosed diseases throughout the United States while making necessary data available, such as environmental, generic and occupational factors, that are associated with undiagnosed diseases.
• help physicians and researchers better outline demographic factors of individuals who are undiagnosed.
Please contact your representative and ask them to co-sponsor this bill.
