It's hard to believe that it's already February in the year 2010. Time really does fly. Winter continues with a vengeance here in Iowa. Bella & Luke have had only 1 full week of school since Christmas due to snow/ice storm, and the coming week is not looking hopeful with another storm already in progress. But we have enjoyed most of the days together playing games, reading, and watching fun movies. And I've found that Seth loves doing his schoolwork for big sis Bella. So I've taken full advantage of that as he generally fights working through things with Mom. Bella thoroughly enjoys being the teacher so it's a win, win!!
Seth is starting to spend a couple hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Christian school. We are hoping this will help him to adjust to a classroom setting and make the transition to school in Ames smoother. A friend from church who has experience as a special ed para is going in as his aid, which is a total blessing. We are still waiting for the house to sell and are grateful to hear from our realtor that the market is picking up a bit.
Unfortunately Seth's head banging has increased in frequency and intensity greatly in the past few weeks and we are feeling very frustrated in not being able to help him cope in better ways. It's heart wrenching to watch him potentially cause further damage to a brain that already is not functioning well and it's becoming more and more difficult to restrain him as he is getting bigger and is freakishly strong. After a bad incident at church this morning Mike and I were both very discouraged and honestly scared about how long we will be able to keep him in our home if this continues as he continues to get bigger and stronger. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Seth, especially about this issue. We are considering seeing a new doctor in Chicago with hopes that she could help us with this issues and some others, but waiting on God to provide the needed finances.
This is one of the ugly realities of autism, which prompt Mike and I both declare in moments of frustration that we hate autism. We love our boy dearly, so much that it's often painful. But we hate this disease that has a hold on him and keeps him from fully engaging with us and the world around us. We continue to pray for God's healing hand on our boy and are trying to not lose heart in petitioning the Lord. But there are periods when we both become very weary and feel very hopeless. These are the times in the past when God has used His people to carry us and pray us through the valleys. We so appreciate how God has demonstrated His love to us in this way.
