Brain Integration Therapy

BIT, brain integration therapy, first came to my attention when Kendra was 18 months old.  At that time we were trying to help her with her sensory processing disorder.  She made so much progress with OT that I thought we had fixed her brain.  Basically her brain wasn't connecting right and that's why she couldn't handle sensory input.  Her OT told me that we would see SPD come up around age 5, or when she began Kindergarten.  I had anticipated to see SPD in the form we had when she was younger.  Much to my surprise we didn't.  I thought we had made it, she's okay, we're good.  Knowing how the brain needs to connect when reading I thought that she might struggle academically and show signs of dyslexia, but again she was so high in her reading.  We're okay, she's okay.  We did notice a huge spike in anxiety which caused her to have diarrhea all the time.  Then she couldn't keep up with her peers when it came to balance and coordination.  As I read with her at home I saw dyslexic traits but dismissed it because those things are common in kids her age, besides her reading was so high.

Her reading continues to remind me of a girl I taught.  It was my first year teaching, she was in sixth grade and begged me to allow her to be in my writing group.  What kid wants to be in special ed?  I mean, really?  She didn't qualify, but eventually, by mid-year, her writing was slipping (which I thought she did on purpose) so she was tested and qualified for services.  Her parents asked me if I could tutor her on reading.  According to my testing she had average reading and the teacher wasn't concerned, but I couldn't say no so I stayed after school twice a week to work with her.  As I worked with her I noticed some funky stuff.  She added sounds that didn't belong and missed sounds that did belong.  She could sound out each letter, but couldn't put it together right.  After awhile I talked to her parents and we decided that she might have dyslexia.  I was not certified to work with dyslexia and so they found a charter school and a teacher that was and put her with that teacher the following year.

My last year of teaching I taught a 2nd grader that did some of the same funky stuff with her reading.  It turned out that she had dyslexia as well.  I read a book called, 'The Gift of Dyslexia' and began doing the exercises outlined.  It was amazing to see how she had absolutely no balance or coordination, and that is what the book focused on.

Now Kendra.  Her reading is high, but she does the exact same things with her reading as those two did.  I don't want to wait until she's in sixth grade to realize that her brain is not crossing over.  She has terrible balance and coordination and is behind her peers in everyway.  I have done some exercises with her, regarding her balance, but she still struggles.  It is hard to watch her in swim lessons and gymnastics as she tries so hard and is proud of herself for small accomplishments, yet still yards behind the younger kids.

She struggles with anxiety and often has meltdowns because she just can't handle things.  I think meds would help ease the anxiety but I don't want to medicate my kid at such a young age.  There is one more thing we're going to try, and then we'll probably do therapy for anxiety.  First we are taking her to someone who is certfied in brain integration therapy - who just happens to be my neighbor!  Before she became certified the closest place to us that did this was Denver.  So we are going to try to reteach her brain through various exercises, I suppose similar to the ones I did with my 2nd grader.

My kids have issues, and they are expensive.  But on the bright side we are so lucky to live in Albuquerque where every single thing we do is here in town.

Megan Turns 3

Happy Birthday Megan. 

 1 Day Old

 1 Year

 2 Years

3

Megan is our squeaker.  She's always squeaking instead of using her words.  She can use her words she just chooses to squeak.  The first 15 months were a challenge as we tried to figure out why Megan was so sick all the time.  Then it was sleeping and being okay with mommy and daddy, and now it's pooping.  We learned that she's allergic to miralax so we're back to square one.  Poor Megan, such a bad gut and we are constantly puzzled.  She's such a joy and we are so glad she's in our family.

Princesses

This is why we go to Disneyland.

 This is Merida from the new movie Brave.  I am very curious as to how her personality is in the movie because she didn't talk to my girls, she kept turning to talk to the bears behind her. I'm so use to princesses doting on my kids it was just odd.

 Tiana, or as Megan says, Tinana.

 Thank you Ariel for being there!  We waited between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to see 3 princesses.  Ariel was a must for Megan so I was so glad she was there!

 Tinkerbell.  Today she didn't have any fairy friends.  Bummer.

 Jasmine, a must for Kendra.

Belle.  See her face?  That is what you expect from a disney princess.  

Aquarium

Our next stop on our trip was Long Beach Aquarium.  It was okay but my favorite aquarium is still Baltimore.  It still beat Albuquerque's aquarium though.

 They have a little play place for kids - some of the items shoot water.  Kendra wanted us all on the boat while she drove us around.

 Kendra crab.

 Megan crab.

 Playing on the shark.

 This was cool.  It was a touch pool with little sharks and giant stingrays.  Kendra desperately wanted to touch a shark but refused to put her hand in the water.  She began to cry.  You want to pet a shark?  They aren't coming out - your hand has got to go in the water.  She didn't pet a shark.  Just cried.

 Penguins.  Wish we could have fed them.

 Their favorite penguins.

 Megan being silly and mischievous and running away from us while we stood in line waiting to feed the lorikeets.

 Kendra really wanted a lorikeet to stand on her arm.  She was very proud of this moment.

 Megan feeding nectar to the lorikeet.  Just FYI - the Ft.Worth TX zoo lorikeet place was so much more fun than this. 

Nemo! Nemo!  We found Nemo!  Once again Disney has dominated.

We got to the aquarium as soon as it opened.  By the time we left, around lunch, it was crazy packed and the line outside to buy tickets was super long.  So glad we got there early!

Kendra's Birthday

Kendra turned six yesterday! 

A day old

 1 year at swim lessons

 

2 years

3 years

4 years old

5

6 !! 

Favorite Color: sparkly pink

Favorite Treat: Cotton Candy

Favorite Food: Macaroni and Cheese

Favorite Book: If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

Favorite School Memory: Playing with Kate

What You Want To Be: Veterinarian

Favorite Animal: Cheetah/Paragon Falcon

Favorite Movie: Despicable Me



Kendra has a very vivacious personality.  She's sweet and fun and expresses how she feels.  Life would be dull without her.

 Kendra invited her friend over to play.  We went to Dions for pizza and then home for...

Cheetah cake!  Kendra loves cheetahs and I love the baby cheetah she made on the right.

The Beach

We just got back from our week long vacation to California.  We first went to Long Beach and stayed the night on the beach.  The girls loved the ocean and sand.  The reason why I chose the location was for two reasons: 1. I wanted to see the statue of the lone sailor and 2. the aquarium.  My Grandpa had put a poem and picture of the lone sailor in his book of memories so I wanted to take a picture with it.  There are only 12 locations that have a lone sailor statue and Long Beach is the closest to us. 

THE LONE SAILORBy Edward W. Manning

HE WAS JUST A LONELY SAILOR
STARING OUT TO SEA,
WAITING FOR ANOTHER SHIP
WONDERING WHERE HE'D BE.

THE VASTNESS OF THE OCEAN'S SPAN
WAS PREYING ON HIS MIND.
HE STOOD IN THOUGHTFUL SILENCE
KNOWING WHAT HE'D FIND.

HE'D FIND CONTENTMENT FAR AT SEA
WITH THE DAWNING OF EACH DAY
AND THE ROLLING MOTION OF HIS SHIP
WHILE IT WAS UNDERWAY.

HE'D FIND EACH WORLDLY PORT O' CALL
A DIFFERENT PLACE TO SEE
BUT KNOWING WELL HIS PEACE OF MIND
WAS FOUND FAR OUT TO SEA.

FOR A MAN WHOSE MISTRESS IS THE SEA
CAN HAVE NO SHORE-BOUND LOVE.
HIS LOVE IS DANCING ON THE WAVES
CARESSED BY SKIES ABOVE.

ONE DAY HE'LL HAVE TO LEAVE HIS LOVE
FOR AGE DOES TAKE ITS TOLL
BUT HIS HEART WILL ALWAYS BE AT SEA
WHEN THE BOS'N CALLS THE ROLL.

  Megan playing in the sand. 

 I love Kendra's face while she ran on the beach.  Wish we lived closer to the ocean.

A Wife and Mother

I just began reading a book titled, " Heaven Is Here."  All growing up the author couldn't wait to be a wife and mother.  That is all she ever wanted.  When those two things happened she felt fulfilled and accomplished.

Wow.  I wonder if some women are just born with that desire, if it is a family structure that instills that wish, or just where it comes from.  What a wonderful thing to feel - complete.  I never planned on getting married let alone having children.  In fact I told Mark when  we got more serious that I didn't want to have kids or stay at home.  His response was, "okay."  It was my career that changed my mind about staying home, but I don't feel fulfilled.  I still look forward to going to UNM (Mark did say we could move to Provo so I could go to BYU again) to receive a Masters degree.  There is so much knowledge out there just waiting for me to tap into and so much research that can be done.  The education world is exciting to me.

Aha Moment

Can I just say I hate my calling?  I don't think a certain parent reads my blog so I'm going to write about it here.  I actually don't even think we're friends on facebook.  There is a kid in my primary that is just difficult.  This child (I'm being gender neutral) acts like a spoiled only kid to the extreme.  It absolutely ruins primary for me!  It is hard to talk about Jesus when a little one still struggles being reverent.  There is no disability, ADHD, or anything, just a little kid demanding to have all and constant attention.

Today I had an aha moment.  We were playing pictionary and a student said something and everyone laughed.  Immediately this kid made a comment trying to be funny, but no one laughed.  Do you see?  I knew he was attention seeking, but he has to have the attention.  The behavior came because someone else took it away.  Oh, now I can do an antecedent, behavior, consequence on this little one when my co-teacher teaches and figure out how often it happens and the times between incidences.  This will tell me how to change the behavior.  Awesomeness.

I never did work with attention seeking behavior; my kids at school were all avoidant.  But I'm excited (and not telling the parents!) to see what I can do.  Love data.

What I've Been Up To

Here is what I have been up to lately:

 Teacher appreciation reusable snack sacks.  I put a homemade ( I know, right?) brownie mix in them. 

 I wanted an old cottage window to put up on my wall.  Alas, I cannot find one.  The one I did find was $75 and that was way too much.  So I decided to take apart a mirror that went to the dresser I redid.  I have now learned how to glaze, and have also learned that priming is not necessary!

 Mark's birthday brazilian style.  We had beans and rice and I made the table look like the flag.

 The little bird that the girls wanted to keep and take care of.  No - we took it to a friend who takes care of animals.

 Mark found a praying mantis egg sack thing.  He kept it in the garage and then one morning ...it hatched!  The girls had a great time holding them and setting them free.

 Lots of baby praying mantisis!

 The girls and I made puppy chow - and then they spilled it on the floor!  Who needs a dog when children will eat off the floor?

Almost clean....

Blog Background

Check out my blog background. It made me smile so I just had to put it on...even if it was for a short time. My friend kept telling me I needed to read 'The Hunger Games.' I kept saying no until one day I found myself on the couch with a horrible flu. I was so bored but too sick to do anything. I then asked for the book and read all three within a few days. I couldn't wait to see the movie.

The last book was hard for me to read because it was too real. Although one side conquers they don't win. The losses are always so great. For those who serve in war they never get over the images of what they saw and the nightmares that come too often. I love that my dad and grandpa served their country. I know my dad reads my blog or is at least told of what I wrote, so forgive me father for writing about the effects of war on you. I know that even after 40 years you are still haunted by the war you served in. I remember when I was hot headed and 19 wanting to become a therapist I asked you to tell me what happened so long ago. Your eyes teared up and all you said was, "I've seen things that made grown men crap their pants." It was then that I realized the devastating effects of war. In my grandpa's life history he wrote, "you never get over the smell of blood and burnt flesh." He was referring to the battle he was in at Guadalcanal.

Hunger games - here's to you!

Easter Pic

The girls found our face makeup from Halloween. They wanted to be bunnies on Easter so Mark did his best.

Your Name Is Safe

When I was a teacher I had a motto for my classroom - 'Your name is safe in my room.'

I had kids from a spectrum of great loving homes to foster care. I wanted all my kids to feel like my room was a safe place for them. One where they would not be made fun of or teased. Only kind words would be said. No matter what happened at home, in the general ed classroom, or in life, there was one place they could go and feel happy and safe. That is what I tried to achieve in my classroom.

My last year of teaching I had a new student who was a fifth grader. His mom was frantic at the beginning of school to have a meeting with me. She was very concerned for her son. As a teacher you have parents who don't care, are completely over the top, and those in between. I preferred parents who were involved with their kids at home but weren't too demanding on me as a teacher. She seemed demanding, but I listened and implemented what she desired. I didn't quite understand at that time why she was so concerned. After about a month she calmed down. Later she confessed that her son had such intense anxiety about school that he made himself ill just thinking about having to go. He had a difficult time making friends and was often made fun of. The year I taught him was his best year ever, (to that point). It was the first year he actually wanted to go to school. It wasn't just me, he had an amazing fifth grade general ed teacher who was (and probably still is) a miracle worker with kids who have disabilities. Anyways, his name was safe in my room and it made a difference. (This has nothing to do with my topic of writing but this student was so funny - he had a crush on me and everyday the first thing he'd tell his mom about school was how I did my hair that day! After she told me that I was always conscious of how I did it!)

I have a new motto for my ward. 'Your name is safe in my ward.' No judgements, no hate, just accepting, uplifting, edifying because this is your safe place to come.