Family Update

We just wanted to update you all on happenings around here. Chris is finishing up his inspection job and as of now he should be back to his regular job starting after Labor Day. He has completed his requirements to move up to a Tech 2 for his year mark (can you believe he's already been at his job for a year!). We are excited to have him home again.

We are at a bit of a stand still with Dallon's intervention services. I was given many resources to look into when we left his appointment in Portland. However, many of those leads have become dead ends. We were referred to Pendleton for speech and occupational therapy, had everything ready to go, then the day before his first appointment we were told that the occupational therapist had no experience with developmentally delayed children or autism. They referred us to a speech therapist in Hermiston, but there is no occupational therapy. There are both services available at different hospitals in Tri-cities WA, but it would be at least a 50 minute drive each way. I am discouraged, and struggling to sort out the pros and cons of each referral, but hopefully we will be able to make the right decision.

We looked into several other options. There were 2-day programs that cost $2500, long distance trips, in home therapy that we would recieve infrequently and we would have to pay the therapist to travel to us. All of the parent training programs I'm interested in are too far away for us to consider it a worthwhile venture if it didn't prove to be what we hope it is.

Dallon is improving in his speech at a slow but steady pace. His behavior shows that he has some extreme frustration (as I do also!). He has started to act out and be very dramatic when he thinks I don't understand what he wants or when I tell him no. I've tried contacting his teachers locally, but I have gotten an minimal response to my pleas for help. The rumor in the school district is that the building where his services are held will not be done on time in October, and may not be completed until January. If that is the case, then he will not be able to return to a school setting for a total of 7-8 months from when school ended last year--leaving only 4 months left in the school year before they send us away for the summer again. It will be a great relief to have Chris home every evening at a decent hour and on Saturdays again.

So we are stressed and ready to take a break. We are planning to take a vacation to Disneyland with our boys sometime in the next month or so. It will give us a chance to get away from it all and enjoy some family time while clearing our heads enough to help us to be able to make some important decisions about Dallon's care and our family goals.

We'll let you know how things are coming along. We are so lucky to have so many people who care about us. We think of you often, and hope to see you all soon!

Dallon's Appointment in Portland

So we went to an appointment in Portland at OHSU for a second opinion and a medical diagnosis for Dallon. We went on Thursday, Chris took the day off and came with us. We were there from noon to almost 5pm. He saw an audiologist who told us his hearing is great! Then he saw a pediatrician who specializes in developmental delays. He interviewed us for Dallon's development and intervention services history. Dallon then saw a psychologist who did a general development test. They found that he is speaking at the level of a 21-month-old. Then we saw a speech therapist and an occupational therapist who specialize in autism and perfomed evaluations specific to autism. All of the experts who saw him were in agreement that a diagnosis of autism is in line with his symptoms. They gave us a large amount of resources and referrals which we will begin to follow up as soon as we can. We will be more likely to get more therapy covered by insurance now, and we were given a variety of resources to use at home and to help us find appropriate help for him in the future.

Generally he seems to be doing well. He did very well at his appointments. It was a long day, and very emotional and exhausting for us--so Dallon was equally as tired. It was great to get advice from seasoned professionals specific to his problems. We have a long road ahead of us, but we have some great resources available to us. Thank you to all of you who have helped us these last few weeks/months. We truly appreciate your support!

OK, so we live in town, that doesn't mean we can't have our own cattle.

So we bought 3 calves. They are all solid black, and actually kinda cute. They each weight about 180 lbs. We bought them in an arrangement with Chris' friend Ben who has his rodeo card this year, and needs some calves to practice on. He keeps them and feeds them, we put up the money to buy them. In the spring when they're too big, we'll sell them and get a good return on our money because they will have put on a lot of weight.

Chris is having a good time trying to wrestle the little guys. A couple of them were a little more than he could handle! The boys like watching the calves, and we have been out a couple of times to play with the dogs and pet the horses and cows.