Finding Mikey - Parenting our kiddo with Autism

There is a lot of new coming in 2018! Updates amor the road trips, how to deal in the car, in the snow, at theme parks, and in the car... did we mention the car? Also, 2 cool announcements at the end of the show!

On today’s episode, I have a very special interview with Dr Ed Carlton. He is our doctor. Heather goes to him for chiropractic care. Mikey goes to him for neurofeedback training and I just started and have had two sessions with him of my own for neurofeedback training. He treats children and adults to improve their performance and relieve symptoms from brain based disorders. He's a certified neurofeedback provider and he's a member of the International Society of Neurofeedback and Research. He graduated from the Texas Chiropractor College and is also a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He's the author of the book “The Answer: the Book for Anyone with A.D.D., A.D.H.D., Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Epilepsy, P.T.S.D. or Traumatic Brain Injury” and you can get that for free by going to www.findingmikey.com/theanswer. Today we learn about neurofeedback training, that a brain map measures the electricity generated by the brain and the treatment that follows after the mapping, as well as, what can be expected after further treatments.

Today we are going to dive into the topic of using sensory tools for treatment. We only really became aware of the concept of a sensory gym after getting involved with Mikey’s Occupational Therapy sessions. There are more than just your five senses; there are other senses called proprioceptive and vestibular sense as well. In his sessions we learned what those sense are and how they can help regulate Mikey by getting those senses back in balance. When Mikey started doing Occupational Therapy, he was three and half years old. He was not diagnosed with autism at this point, only early onset ADHD and sensory processing disorder. He also had low muscle tone in his core and in his wrists. In occupational therapy they had him do agility courses to work on his core muscles in a fun way, and way that a kid would enjoy! Stay tuned as we go into more detail about creating your own sensory room and the purpose of each piece of equipment for your child. All this and more inside today’s episode.

Today’s show is the Anniversary Show and the podcast has been a great way for us to share our journey. We’ve been asking for all of you in the audience to provide some feedback and we’ve gotten it in so many different ways. One area we hadn't paid attention to in quite a long while has been on our actual reviews page. So we’re giving some shoutouts today.

It’s the anniversary of Mikey’s diagnosis. There is a lot to go through and you’ve been with us for the most part, the highs and the lows, but we figured it would be a good opportunity for us to just wrap it all up. We are talking about what this year has been like, what we have done, what the observations have been and surprisingly, Heather has pages of notes. We are celebrating the wins today, so join in with us as we go through it all with you!

On today’s episode we welcome Collins Foster. She is a friend of a co-worker of mine and has almost 20 years of experience in the higher education system in Georgia. She has worked with both the technical college system and the university system of Georgia. Although her background is in marketing and alumni relations, in the past few years she has realized her true passion. Which is advocating for and with a group of non-speaking students with autism in the Atlanta Metro area who really want to graduate from college with a degree. Collins is currently working for her Masters in Social Work and when she gets her license, will be transitioning into the disability services arena within higher education. She lives outside Atlanta, has a husband named Chris and 8 year old daughter named Emerson. Today we hear Collins journey, learn more about the non-verbal communication methods that are revolutionizing higher ed for autism students and the growing opportunities for students with autism who want to be accepted into college.

We spent fourth of July in Washington DC and we definitely learnt some lessons and I’ll share them with you. Firstly, get there on the 3rd of July, they do a concert dress rehearsal and it’s must less people than the main show. Second, skip the parade, there’s no personal space at all but definitely plan to be out by the Washington Memorial to watch the fireworks at night. If you’re ever in DC let us know and we’ll give you some more tips.

We are diving into the topic of doing fundamental lab testing for your child with autism. After making our big family move and enrolling Mikey in a new public school, we also took on another new adventure. We took Mikey to see a Medical Academy Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) Doctor.

Sometimes they are fine, most times she "Can't even" deal with him :) Here is a special episode with Mike and Grace, and she has a list of tips to share with other kids who have siblings with autism. It all started with a conversation that Grace had with a lady at the car wash, who asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. Grace answered by saying that she wanted to help people with special needs, specifically autism. So she decided to come on the podcast to share some of the top tips that she has personally related with, having a sibling with autism. These 10 tips are all centered around patience, and shows that if you can be patient and understand how to make your sibling comfortable, then interactions and daily life will be a lot smoother.

Today’s podcast is all about the first few weeks of school. Since our move to Virginia we have had quite a few changes taking place. We have been able to enjoy the first day of school three times this year, with Mikey in particular. As he left Terra Vista Elementary School and we transitioned him over to Empower School, which was full on, full fledged, deep ABA therapy 7 hours a day. He’d get two therapists and very dedicated coverage. We loved it and he was benefitting very well. The timing was right for Mikey to transition over to a traditional school.

It's not the easiest thing to do, even with neurotypical kids but taking across-country trip CAN be done! The Pesh Family moved from Texas to Virginia and we'll share our experience. Mikey, being on the Autism Spectrum and having Sensory Processing Disorder was a super trooper!