Riley: The Bravest of Us All

On Monday Riley had a "wellness" doctor appointment. He is four so he was suppose to have a wellness check when he turned four in August. I got off work at 2:30 and picked him up from daycare to be at the appointment at 3:20 pm. I couple of years ago Riley was developing slowly so we had him assessed to see what the issues might be. It was not easy to go to hear from a doctor what a person might be afraid of hearing in regards to their child. Autism cases are on the rise. My opinion is that a child needs to be advocated for regardless of fears and we need to do right by Riley. The doctor at the Children's Hospital decided that he could have a high functioning autism but that his gaps may close as he developed in time. So at the age of 2-3 he had speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Kari and I worked really hard with him. I knew sign language (I'll explain that later) so I began to work with him with speech and signs. Today he speaks pretty well... and talks a lot. He still has some issues but he also has developed well and most of his gaps have closed. Like I said, he still has some problems... He still has some problems with textures in food... but I think that he is getting better there too. It is not uncommon for those that have levels of autism to have issues with texture. Riley may not have autism exactly. He is higher functioning so if he does, he is on the line. So much has changed we don't know what we are dealing with now. He does have some form of learning disability. His mother was just diagnosed this past summer with ADHD. I know I might sound a little bit like I don't have emotion about any of this but we have to do all that I can do for Riley. Believe me in my private moments I have really felt the emotions and fears. I have prayed while taking steps of faith forward. Regardless we must have him assessed again at the Children's Hospital to see where he is in development since Kindergarden is possibly coming up next year and I got that referral from the doctor. I am really happy about that because we will learn what's what. I believe the report will be more positive than we believed 2-3 years ago.

Riley also got 4 shots. 2 in each arm. He didn't cry or whine... he took it like a man (better than some men :-)). I think he liked the crayon bandaids too. So that is why he is the "bravest". I was really proud of him. When I was his age, I would tear up the room if I was going to get a shot. It took my mom, more than 1 nurse, the doctor, and plenty of bribes to get me to take a shot. This picture is of Riley last year after the children's church performance on Christmas Eve. He likes to see his picture published on my blog and he deserves a "Hooray for Riley".

The holiday potluck was very good. There wasn't the same amount of food that there has been in the past, which is probably good. Anyway, I ate but didn't over eat. I had one small sample of a dessert and called it a day... or an event. Hopefully my food choices wheren't too costly in points.

Have a great day everyone...