Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
"What is perseverance? We have to work with our trials so that perseverance results. And perseverance is that we learn to lift our burdens and carry them with us through life. We are taught how to work with trials, to lift them up by faith and carry them onward. It is not easy, but it is necessary." Rev. Clarence Stam
So time for an update on our growing boy Isaac. I was looking back on or family blog and read the post in December 2012 about Isaac and our concerns.
First let me say it is amazing to see how far we have come in the last year with Isaac. We as parents have worked hard trying to get the help that he needed in place. I have networked with so many experts in the last year and we have built quite a team around Isaac in supporting him.
Currently he is attending preschool 2 mornings a week. This all gets funded by the government which we can be very thankful for. He has a full time aid with him during his time at preschool and she focuses on goals set by a speech pathologist who visits with him every two weeks. We have quarterly IPP goal meetings with his teacher, his aid, the speech pathologist and myself to talk about his goals and how he is doing. He also has 1.5 hour home visits weekly with Mrs. Webber who is fantastic.
He is progressing and has become a lot more social and more confident. His words are mostly clear but he still doesn't use a lot of words together when talking. We have been focusing on 3-4 word combinations lately. He still isn't on the same level as a lot of his peers but is moving forward whereas a year ago he was hardly making progress at all. He still qualifies for 2 more years funded by the government to get help in preschool next year, and then in kindergarten. This means he will have his own teacher's aid and a speech pathologist that visits regularly.
Moving to Edmonton a year ago would most likely not have been an option for us with everything we were trying to figure out with Isaac, but now I'm confidant that we will be transferred over in the system, and be able to network with professionals in Edmonton to get him the help he needs. It's a bit difficult determining where he will go to preschool in Edmonton since we aren't sure where we will be living yet but we will leave it in the Lords capable hands and figure things out as we go. I'm hoping since the government pays the school who takes him on that it will work to our advantage getting a spot for him.
Last winter and Spring we were so busy with testing and running around to appointments it was really refreshing to take a break from it all in the summer. We used the tools we had been taught daily in our interactions with Isaac and just talked lots with him and really tried to engage him and feed off the things that excited him. Going to NS and PEI was wonderful. He just got to be a kid and run and play on the beaches. He loved it.
When he first started preschool there was resistance from him the first 3-4 weeks when I would have to leave. But for a 3 year old that is quite typical. He is also very attached to his mama, as I am to him too, so he didn't want to be without me. Eventually he overcame his fears of staying and settled in and now loves going.
He interacts with his siblings lots but doesn't initiate with his peers too often. He is really quite content to do his own thing.
I think I have done a lot of growing in the last year and I've tried to let go of the comparing him to other kids. I realize Isaac is Isaac and we love him for exactly who he is. The fact that he is progressing and learning makes me really happy and as long as we are supporting him in that, then there isn't really much more we can do. He is a fun, lovable, silly boy who is very affectionate and has eyes that will make you do anything he wants you to do.
There were many times that I cried for him, prayed for him and just didn't know what to do to help him, but I can honestly say that I have handed it over to the Lord and I'm so thankful that I'm not trying to figure it out on my own anymore.
Recently I read an amazing book.
It is about an autistic boy whose mom takes charge of his progress, and does not allow him to have limitations based on what experts may or may not think he is capable of. When I first started reading it I really related with the mother in her frustration of testing and screening and hearing feedback on how your child was below the average in so many areas. It is so important that we celebrate our children's successes and not always focus on things they may not be doing well in. This lady had a real gift for seeing what individual children were passionate about. She would just take off with it to help autistic kids learn in an environment where they were surrounded by things they loved, and people who were excited about the things they loved. Every child is different and unique in their own ways.
It made me ask Ken what are each of our kids passionate about. It's really easy to say they love hockey or they all love soccer but what specifically do each of them love. We are still trying to figure it out. I hope to recognize these things and encourage them to be individuals and to enjoy different things. If one of them isn't as great at something then the other let them figure out what they are good at. They surprise us all the time. We sometimes think we have them labelled as the really smart one, or the thinker, or the sporty one but it's neat when they throw our perceptions off.
Back to the Bible text at the beginning, we all have our trials, big or small, every one's are different. This was definitely a trial for me and when you stay focused on God and trust in him we seem to be able to learn and grow from trials. I can honestly say now, that I am so thankful that I have gotten to grow and learn more thanks to our kids speech delays and challenges. Instead of trying to figure out why they have these challenges I'm trying to focus on learning and helping them. It's great to be a stay at home mom who has the time to focus on this.
This concludes my update on sweet little (big) Isaac.
