Life As We Know It with Autism and Apraxia: Taking A Look Back 2014....Landon Joseph

And now its Landon's turn!

Our little man has been VERY busy! School, Hockey, Therapies, and of course Hawks Games! I am not even sure where to begin. I am thinking lets start with all the FUN he has had!

Ben build Landon is very own ice rink in the back yard and I have to say it is awesome! Landon has finally been able to skate on it a few times and he sure does love too!! I also took his 5 year old birthday pictures on the rink and I was pleased at how nice those came out! Landon is still taking hockey lessons at the local ice arena and really is enjoying the new class setting. We are looking to get into the Blackhawks Special Needs Ice Program next year. I have heard great things about it from a fellow autism parent. A few things Landon really enjoyed this year was the Hawks Christmas Party and Christmas! He was excited to meet a few of his favorite Blackhawks: Brent Seabrook and Marian Hossa! He also talked about Santa this year and was excited to meet him!

Over the last four months we have really noticed how any sort of allergy/asthma medication effects Landon behaviorally. Unfortunately his asthma needs to be treated daily with something and we needed a solution. A few had posted and commented to try Essential Oils on our little guy. Of course I was skeptic, who wouldn't be! Though I did lots of research and talked to some friends about what essential oils would be best for Landon. In the end we have completely switched over to using daily essential oils to help control minimize some of Landon's allergy and asthma symptoms. There have been a couple of times we needed to intervene with fast acting asthma medication (nebulizer) but most often we use a Breathe Blend oil three times a day on our little guy. We have also started to use a few other essential oils to help with his GI issues and sleeping difficulties. On a side note our little man does smell lovely these last few months!

In November we had an appointment with the feeding team at Lurie's CDH to discuss what we can do about Landon's eating issues. Long story short the team felt that Landon has a sever feeding disorder that requires possible inpatient treatment. Unfortunately this treatment is only offered in Evansville, IN or Texas. Of course this is hard to process but we really feel this our only option. We will go out to IN in March to have Landon evaluated there and then they will tell us how long he needs to be there. The plan as of now is for he and I to live there for the length of the stay. Quinn will stay back with Ben with the help of Nana! They will hopefully come down on weekends to visit us.

In December Landon turned 5, FINALLY gave up the night-time pacifier and we were able to urine train him! December was a tough month for our little guy but he came out strong!! We are so proud of how far he has come in potty training. We still are working on the bowel training but we have a great ABA therapist who helps with suggestions and ideas. Someday he will be completely potty trained!