Aven's Corner

This is a great site with lots of simple games for kids.  Can't wait to try it out with my kiddos who are blissfully napping:)

note about pdd vs aspergers and what is our next step

This is a response to an email I sent a friend who counsels families with pdd, autism, aspergers and various other disorders/syndromes...he was so helpful...I'm mostly posting it here so it doesn't get lost but maybe it will help someone else too.


first I asked him if he could help me understand what it was.


PDD is an autistic disorder. In all categories in mental health there is a NOS diagnosis. Meaning Not Otherwise Specified. It basically means that in the professionals opinion that the diagnosis is in the Pervasive Development Disorder family (like Mood Disorder or Anxiety disorder is a family) but it doesn't fit any of the specific criteria of the other diagnoses. There are 4 main autistic disorders that vary in severity of functioning: Pure Autism, High Functioning Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and PDD NOS. Aspergers Syndrome and PDD are very similar. With A.S. there can never be a speech delay which usually kicks kids out of that diagnosis entirely but still have very similar symptoms. Having said all that, I would wait til a developmental pediatrician saw him before you get too worried. This is not a neurologists area of specialty.
Nevertheless, a PDD diagnosis is not a death sentence just a package of looking at the delays. Social, language, and OCD/repetitive behaviors. These are the main areas the disorder affects.


Here I asked him if a neurologist is the right doc to diagnose this, and if JR's current level of treatment is appropriate.
The neurologist is not generally specialized in developmental delays. The treatment at this time is not different. The only time that matters is when he is enrolled in public school (which I hear is up in the air) after he turns 6 years old his diagnosis can not be "Child with Developmental Delay" for them to provide services. Even if you home school you will want them to be providing the services that you just described so you don't have to pay for it. He can have an IEP at school with a PDD diagnosis and they can pay for it and you can still home school if you want to. Children's Mercy does a great job but that is a long time to wait. Dr. Lyn Hoffman (male) does a very good job and is a bit cheaper as well. His wait list is probably more like 3-4 months.


Sometimes God puts people in your life for very specific reasons...my friend....I'll call him M....also helped me when I was struggling with the oldest son's add. 

Pervasive Developmental Disorder?

This is what the pediatric neurologist at Children's Mercy Says that JR has.  I have no clue.  He said that it is on the scale with autism.  JR doesn't have severe enough symptoms to be autistic, plus he interacts well with us...but he does have enough symptoms to have this.  Now I guess is my quest to figure out what this is.  Doc says the answer is therapy therapy and more therapy.  So we took him to the lab where they drew some blood and he got to pee in a cup(he thought that was cool)...and we scheduled him for an mri.  So we'll see.

Miss Caitlin and her jingle bells

Caitlin and I are on our own on Monday and Thursday mornings.  This is sometimes a hard time for her.."she wants her bubbies".  I have been reading quite a few Montessori blogs and decided to try one of the activities with her.  I got out a cookie sheet, put a small bowl with 12 jingle bells on it, an empty baby food jar and a toddler spoon.  She spent 40 minutes scooping the bells into the baby food jar and then pouring the bells back into the bowl.  Wow...I cleaned up the kitchen in peace and she learned...no fussing involved.

Our home made pedal adapters for J.R.'s trike

$8.00 pair of tennis shoes from Wal-mart

removed the inserts

Jim drilled two holes in the bottom of the shoes and bolted them to the pedals...pics to follow

two bolts...recessed to be flat with the surface of the shoe bed

replace the insert

He put rubber tubing over the protuding bolts that way if we have to put bigger shoes on he can use the same bolt.

Wa La...pedal adapters for $8.00.  They work great.

Marigold Science Lesson

This was Daddy's science lesson about planting Marigold seeds.  It was a fun time for Daddy and the little ones.  Caitlin chose to stand with hands on hips when it was supposed to be her turn to get her hands dirty.  That's my little diva for you!  Now I am just praying that our little marigolds actually grow.  I have such a brown thumb that I never count on growth from my plants.  That's why Daddy was in charge of this lesson.

Horizons curriculm

We got our horizons curriculum in the mail on Friday.  Its full of goodness, and lots to wade through.  I could do two or three days worth of lessons from one days plans.  That's a good thing though.  We did lesson one yesterday and the kids loved it.  I'm amazed at how well J.R. is cutting now!