I Am So Tired

The alarm goes off, and a new day begins. I know I have to get up to settle the boys, but I am just so tired. Tired from the million things that I have to do from dawn to dusk, and then redo it all over again. There are aches and pains that once meant something, now they seem to be a daily occurrence, that I don't have time to entertain.

There is a reason why they used to say, it takes a village to bring up a child. Trying to be that village, will only wear you out. Life can be very unpredictably challenging at times, I do get so angry but then I realize that it's just no use. Even being angry drains my energy.

And so my morning begins with, breastfeeding, the little one. Then eating, as that makes you hungry. Followed by getting up the boys for school. Ensuring that Ivan follows the schedule that is prepared for him. Oh, and then there are another thousand other things. Anyone who says that being a homemaker, is having a good life, obviously haven't tried it. 

I know writing, amongst a few other things, helps me relax and take a breather, thus, this entry. So now I must return to forever-work-land, where I am needed.

Good morning all, wish the day is a good one for all.

Do You Want To Make A Difference?

Every now and then, I have my sister and nephew over for tea. This time we had a rather interesting conversation. I was concerned that I was not reaching out to the number of people I had planned to, and discussed it with her. She had a few valid points that I would look into. In conclusion, I told her something that I wish to share with you all too.

Say you are a young, first-time mum and you have certain concerns about your child's development. Sure you can Google it and fine lots of information and resources on the internet. But would you not rather, have a local site that you can check. One that is not trying to sell you something, or make you sign a package for? Would you not rather, like to read up on what other mothers have gone through, to see where you stand, and decide should your child need help? Say, your child doesn't have any major concerns but hasn't talked yet at the age you feel he should be? Would you not want to know, how the procedure would go? How much these tests would costs? That's what we are providing here at Ripplezblue. We are creating awareness and trying to help families that need them.

Information and experiences shared on our blog, can remain anonymous, should you choose to be. We are all helping each other along this journey. Some of us new comers, while others have been on the journey long enough, to help us look out for nooks and cracks along the way. As we come together to cheer each other along, lend a helping hand and to comfort each tear, we are building a better environment for our children. Our children need us to make the difference. Be their advocate, speak for them. I am very passionate about it, as I am a mother on a mission. What about you?

Plans For The Future

It's time to edit, cut and paste. We started Ripplezblue to reach out and to help raise awareness for special needs within the public.

Things have been going great so far. We have reached out to many mothers and teachers, (must try to reach a couple of dad's at least). Many wonderful people have shared their stories with us too. Some shared openly, others choose to remain anonymous, regardless, the fact remains their experience shared, is to help others.
 

We have started out a promotion, where the best story written in will be given a gift, you can check that out, under the Events.

Also, we have adopted a project at St. Andrew's Autism School, and are eager to see it fulfill its potential.

In order to reach out to more people, we will be adding regular blog articles, weekly. We ask that if you like what you read, please help us share on facebook to reach out to more people.

We have lots of things planned out for the future, to mention one would be a parent's support group.

In line with new things, we have sought out a new place to move by year's end. The Gomez's will be moving to a bigger place to accommodate more meetings, and gathering for parents to meet for tea and draw strength from one other. In the mean time, my study is a big mess with all the boxes and bubble wrap due to all the packing. But I wish it would look as neat as this. With a house full of boys and a new baby, I can only dream that my study would be this neat.

Am off to do more research...

Childhood Apraxia And It's Myths

There are many myths and old wife's tales when it comes to bringing up children. I am  pretty sure that you must have heard your fair share of tales too. It just gets a little harder when you are challenged with a child having special needs.

Here are some of their wisdom, that they may wish to share with you:

• Einstein was a late-taker.
• Some very bright children won't talk because they are bored with "baby talk".
• He'll talk when he has it all perfected in his mind.
• He just doesn't have anything to say.
• You (or big sister) do all of the talking for him.
• He has all of his needs met and doesn't "need" to communicate.
• He'll talk when something really interests him, or he really wants something.

So do you think that your chis is a"Late-Taker?"

According to Becca Jarzynski, a pediatric speech-language pathologist and blogger of Child Talk (www.talkingkids.org), "If a child reaches 24 months and isn't yet using 50 words and/or isn't yet putting two words together into short phrases (e.g., "more juice," "bye mama"), we typically recommend that (parents) talk to their pediatrician about an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist."

• What does the child understand?
• Can he follow a wide variety of directions?
• Find objects when Mom and Dad ask him to do so?
• Point to pictures in a book?
• Show off some body parts when they are named?
• Follow silly directions like "put a cup on your head?"

• How he is communicating with gestures and facial expressions? 
• Is he nodding and shaking his head no?
• Pointing at things that he wants or that interest him?
• Waving "hi" and "goodbye?"
• Clapping with delight? 

• How he is using the words he does have? 
• Is he using them appropriately?
• Does he have inflection in the right places?
• Can he articulate well?

• What kinds of sounds is he using?
• Does he uses his voice to get attention?
• Does he vocalize often throughout the day?
• Did he babble often as a baby?
• Does he use his voice in a way that sounds like he having a conversation, even if there are no real words involved in that conversation? (At 24 months, for example, a child should be using a variety of sounds such as p, b, m, n, t, d, h, and w- and using them in a variety of words.)

• How is he playing?
• Does he use pretend play in some very simple ways?
• For example, does he give a bottle to a baby, or feed a stuffed bear with a spoon? 
• Is he able to play simple rolling or fetching ball games with others, and starting to imitate housework?

• How does he imitate actions? 
• Will he clap when an adult does?
• Does he imitate stacking blocks?
• Will he imitate you if you do something silly and unexpected, like place a block on top of your head? 

•  How is he hearing?
• Any concerns with hearing should be evaluated to rule out a hearing loss. 
• Some kids can hear some sounds but not others.

What's a Parent to do?

If you are faced by ignorant loved-ones, or insensitive people, here are a few ways to go around it graciously, so you spare misunderstandings:

• He's takes a while to warm up
• Not all our kids develop the same, right?
• I am grateful, that he is quiet and manageable, at this age.
• He's quiet, just like his dad, men of a few words.
• Gosh, really, you think I should be concerned? What do you recommend?

I am sure you can find your own way of brushing them aside. Try not to offend them if you possibility can, you will need a good support system as your child grows and you may need to depend on them. Their ignorance is what's making them misunderstand. If you have the patience, try to fill them in, on what's going on in your child's life. Having more loved ones, is only going to be beneficial to your child.

credits for picture

Book: Speaking of Apraxia by Leslie A. Lindsay, R.N., B.S.N.

Childhood Apraxia Also Known As...

So far I share shared a bit on childhood Apraxia. Here's a list of other names, it is known by.

• Developmental Dyspraxia
• Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia
• Developmental Aphasia
• Developmental Apraxia of Speech
• Dyspraxic Dysarthria
• Verbal Apraxia
• Oral Verbal Apraxia
• Development Verbal Apraxia
• Childhood Aphasia
• Executive Aphasia
• Congenital Articulatory Aphasia
• Dilapidated Speech
• Articulatory Apraxia
• Articulatory Dyspraxia
• Phonetic Disintegration
• Afferent Motor Aphasia
• Efferent Motor Aphasia
• Little Broca's Aphasia
• Ataxic Aphasia
• Sensorimotor Impairment
• Minimal Brain Dysfunction/ Disorder
• Pure Motor Aphasia
• Speech Sound Muteness

Book: Speaking of Apraxia by Leslie A. Lindsay, R.N., B.S.N.

Black Pepper Prawns

This recipe is a winner, I must share it with you. Each time I make this, they are whipped up while they are hot and saucy. My boys love it.

 

Ingredients:

10-12 pcs of large prawns, shelled and deveined
1 spring curry leaves
2 tbsps oil
fresh coriander for garnish

The Sauce:
3 tbsps oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped (cos I love garlic!)
1 stalk of spring onions
1 tsp chilli paste (store bought or homemade)
1 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
1 tbsp ketchup manis or sweet sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsps feshly cracked black pepper (spiciness to your taste)
1 cup seafood stock (store bought or homemade)
50g butter
1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsps water

Steps:

In a saucepan, heat up some oil. 

Fry half the chopped garlic, curry leaves and prawns. This will be rather quick as the prawn cooks fast, and you don't want to burn the garlic. Remove the prawns when they change colour. Set aside.

Add in a little more oil, and fry the rest of the garlic and spring onions.
Add in the chilli paste, miso paste and ginger, stir a little.
Add in the ketchup, oyster sauce and black pepper to your taste preference.
Add in the stock and butter, for extra flavour.

Add in the cornstach as a thickening agent, and stir well.
Add in the prawns and stir well to mix the sauce evenly.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.

Hope you try this recipe. Enjoy!

Childhood Apraxia

It is difficult to narrow down the specifics of Apraxia. You may be unsure as to whether or not your child has it. I did a lot of observation on Ivan, in the early stages, to help me to help him. These observations helped me a lot when we went to professionals for help.

Some books tell us that childhood apraxia are often inherited from the family. But yet others say, that it could be a unique case for any particular child. Nothing is carved in stone, to each its own. Here are a few pointers based on the age of a child, that I think will be helpful to you.

Warning Signs in Infancy (Birth to Age 1)

• There is decreased cooing or babbling. Others comment on what a "quiet baby" you have.
• May have feeding difficulties.
• Your baby's first words appear late (after 14 months) or not at all.
• If first words do appear, they are often "easy," sounds (phonemes) replaced with even easier ones. For example, "hi" might sound like "I," but is used in a greeting context.

Warning Signs in Early Childhood (Age 1 to 3)

• Understands most of what is said, but cannot verbalize well. Large gap between receptive and expressive language.
• Cannot correctly use sounds.
• Difficulty imitating words and phrases
• Messy and distracting eating. Requires prompts to take a bite, chew, swallow, and drink; may overstuff or "pocket" food in the cheeks.
• Hyper-or hyposensitivty to oral activities such as eating different textures of foods or brushing teeth; difficulty identifying an object in the mouth through touch.
• Prosody (melody) of speech is affected. Also may only be able to repeat a word/sound/phrase in the context of a practical routine; may "lose" words, and may have inability to repeat words when asked.
• May have developed elaborate nonverbal or gestural communication.
• Struggles with speech; "searching" (groping) for the right word.
• Leaves sounds out of words (e.g., "cookie" becomes "coo-ie").
• The longer the phrase attempted, the less understandable the child becomes.

Warning Signs at Any Age

Neurological problems (problems that affect cognition, body mechanics, or the sensory system) may occur with a variety of childhood conditions. Those that may accompany CAS include:

• The child often gestures and grunts in lieu of oral communication.
• Gross motor skills (running, jumping, climbing) may also be slow in developing.
• The child appears clumsy or uncoordinated , has poor body awareness (proprioception), or difficulty with fine motor skills (holding a pencil, using scissors)
• IQ testing shows high performance IQ (doing tasks) and low verbal IQ (taking tasks).
• Poor sequencing (the child has difficulties putting a series of movements in order-e.g., figuring out how to get on an unfamiliar piece of playground equipment, or sequencing events to relate to others).
• The child has poor auditory processing (listening and reacting appropriately) and others must repeat themselves often.
• Greater difficulties in learning to read, spell, and write.
• Difficulty with a variety of components of speech (pitch, quality, rate, etc).
• Correctly saying "difficult" words is well...difficult (e.g., "butterfly," "rocking chair," "exercise"). 
• The child can make the sound(s) of many letters when the letter is alone, but when combined in a sentence, will not be able to say it.
• Limited (correct) use of vowels and consonants
• May have developed elaborate nonverbal and gestural communication.
• Family history of delayed language development, as well as family propensity to have other learning problems.

Book: Speaking of Apraxia by Leslie A. Lindsay, R.N., B.S.N.

I really hope that the information we share with you, are useful to you and your family.