More About Bryce

Many of you have asked questions about Bryce so I thought I would give you more info about the doctors visit.
Bryce was originally supposed to go to the doctor on Feb. 23rd, but when the original date was set I asked them to put us on the cancellation list. That way if they had a cancellation, maybe we could slip in that spot and get in sooner. The reason I wanted to get in sooner was because when Bryce turns 3 he will no longer be able to receive First Steps. First Steps is a government funded program to help children with developmental delays.

Bryce was talking a few words when he was 11 and 12 months old. Then Bryce recieved his MMR shot when he was 13 1/2 months old. Brayden his little brother was born a few weeks later. Around then is when I noticed that Bryce wasn't saying anything anymore. At first I chalked it up for the arrival of a sibling. Then as the months went on, he never recovered his words. When Bryce was about to turn 2 I read an article in a parenting magazine about signs of Autism. At that time I started to make a mental note that maybe Bryce was Autistic. I mentioned it to many people that either work with Autistic kids, or have a family member with Autism to watch Bryce. All of them said the same thing, "Bryce has excellent eye contact, I doubt he is Autistic". So I decided that he was just delayed. I called First Steps right before Brenna was born and they suggested that I call them after Brenna was born. So the week after Brenna was born I called again. By the end of August, they had Bryce in the First Steps program with a plan to help Bryce. They determined that he had Sensory Integration problems. In addition I continued to question Autism. I thought I was just being over protective and silly. I often would ask Bryce's OT (Occupational Therapist) and DT (Developmental Therapist) if they thought that they saw signs of Autism. They are not allowed to say anything like yes or no, so they both told me they thought that if I was concerned about it I might ask his pediatrician to take a look. I do not care for our Dr so I was a little apprehensive. However when I mentioned it, she was willing to have him checked by a DP (Developmental Pediatrician) So that is how we came in touch with Dr Luzzi.

Back to Bryce's appointment now. He went in on Feb 13th, ten days earlier than originally scheduled. We were so excited to get him in there. Then when we talked into the office I started getting nervous. Thoughts were running through my head like what if Bryce isn't Autistic? What is it that is causing the speech delay and other things he does like hand wringing, or hand flapping, walking on his tip toes, constantly wanting to kick things like walls, coffee tables, siblings, yes you read that right. He sits on the floor and uses his feet to kick his brother across the room. Brayden cries and cries, but Bryce doesn't understand that it is hurting his brother. Another thing Bryce does is called stimming. He will just start yelling so loudly that it hurts your ears. He desires to spin and hit and kick and have what they call "input" to his body. So as I stressed over what it might be if not Autism, they called us back to the Dr. Luzzi. After Bryce was weighed and measured, he went into a room so kid friendly that I knew Bryce was gonna have fun and I stopped stressing. Dr Luzzi introduced herself and tried to examine Bryce, but he wanted nothing to do with that. After a little playing and Dr. Luzzi watching Bryce and asking many questions, I finally asked the question I was dying to ask since we stepped foot into her office. I said to her, " So, do you know if Bryce is Autistic?" She had a sympathetic look cross over her face and she said "Yes, I believe Bryce is Autistic." I started to cry. She came right over to me and put her hand on my leg and said "I'm Sorry" I then told her I wasn't sure why I was crying because I knew in my heart that Bryce was Autistic. She handed me a tissue and then told us some treatment options for Bryce. Bryce is very strong and has a terrible time with his temper. So the first thing she wants to do is put Bryce in a program called ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) which will help with the temper tantrums. She also has recommended the Logan Center in South Bend. Possible Hippotherapy (therapy involving Horse Back Riding.). He will be seeing a pediatric dietician. Dr Luzzi is recommending to go Casien Free. That is milk protien free. I have found that Casien free often included Gluten free as well. Since Bryce likes only five or six different foods, this will be hard. He likes: Mac N Cheese, Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Patties, Fries, and Hot Dogs. All of these foods included milk. Yikes!!!! So Bryce is about to have a rough couple of weeks. We haven't started the diet yet, I will let you know how that goes when we do start it. The Dr also mentioned a medication to help his nerves process data to his brain. We have a dr that is also willing to do things naturally. So that is exciting to me. She suggested Probiotics, DHA, EPA, and daily Vitamins with Iron in his daily diet. So we are trying to get that in his diet now.

So that is it in a nut shell. I still cry at times dealing with the emotions of my childs diagnosis. I am not sure how Nick is dealing with the emotions of all this, He does not talk about it a lot. I think he will talk when he feels he needs to talk about it. Nick is a very introverted person, so I think he will deal with it in his time and in his own way. If he needs to talk with me, he will in his own time. He is a quiet strength for me, I know I can talk, cry, and laugh about our life together and with our babies. I love my family and am so happy and blessed that the Lord sent each and every one of them to me. Bryce is teaching me that it is ok not to be like everyone else. I love to have peoples acceptance, and I know I don't need it. Bryce is teaching me that I don't need to please everyone. I can be me and God is ok with me the way I am. I hope that makes sense. It is 1:30am and I need to get to bed, this is the only time I can have to think and blog. However, my brain is now fried. I will blog more another day. Thank you for prayers. We are grateful for them. Keep them coming. Have a great day today!

The Clark Clan

Welcome to The Clark Clan Chronicles

Update on our Family:
I have never thought about blogging until recently, because I need a way to release my thoughts. I am so blessed to be married to a Godly man who wants to please the Lord and his family. Nick is an excellent father and husband. We were married 4 1/2 years ago. The first year we were married we discovered we were pregnant with our first child. Bryce Jamison Clark was born April 1st 2006. He was such a blessing and answer to our prayers. Our second child was born 14 months and 7 days later. Brayden Jarrell-Michael Clark arrived on June 8th 2007. Thirteen months and 20 days later Brenna Jenee' Clark joined our family. Our precious baby girl and last child was born July 28th 2008. Nick says we are done. I am in agreement, so we will make it permanent soon. I am a stay at home mom and Nick works Mon. - Fri. as a receiver for a warehouse in Elkhart, IN. It is a job and with the economy the way that it is we are grateful for the job.

Bryce:
Bryce our oldest who is 2 3/4 year old, was diagnosed with Autism on Feb. 13th 2009. We were not surprised, yet we are still learning to deal with the "blow" of the diagnoses. Most parents pray for their child to be healthy and happy to grow as a "normal" child. So to be told that your child is not "normal" is quite a shock to your system. As I learn more about this diagnoses I will share with you. Obviously we have to remember that Bryce is just the way he is supposed to be. God created him just the way he is. We are grateful for him. I have found myself in tears over his diagnoses. We asked God for Bryce, He was our only child that we prayed and asked God for. The other two were added, yet a surprising, blessing. We prayed for all of them after we knew we were pregnant, however we were not trying to get pregnant with Brayden and Brenna when we did. We wanted more space between our children. Isn't God good? He always know what is best. Bryce was the only one we tried for. I remember telling God that I would take whatever He thought we needed. I was thinking like sex wise, boy or girl. The Lord reminded me recently of the promise I made Him that if He would give us a child I would be happy no matter what He gave us. Every time I get overwhelmed by the label that is now on my sweet Bryce, I remember that I promised God I would do my best to be a Godly example to my child. I do not want this label of Autism to define Bryce. He is such a loving little boy full of life and very busy. He and his brother are always getting into trouble. They are kind of like raising twins. What the one doesn't think of the other will. Bryce does not talk, he does what they call hand flapping, his senses are different than yours and mine, he has a terrible time being told "no" like any two year old, but along with that comes terrible temper tantrums. When he gets frustrated, he hits or kicks, which is hard to deal with sometimes. He is very strong, so he can pick things up and throw them. He has broken many things in our home. We live with my in-laws currently. They are very patient loving people. As I talk with my in-laws about Bryce's diagnoses, I realized my mother-in-law was crying. She suspected Autism around the same time as I did, however I was in denial longer than she was. Her first grandchild has something many people don't understand. 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with Autism, yet we still don't know where it comes from and why some kids get it and some don't. I will get into where I think Bryce's came from another time. On to the other kids.

Brayden:
Our "little tank" as Nick calls him. He loves to jabber quite a bit. He is 20 months old and like I said before he is busy along with his brother Bryce. Brayden can say quite a few words now. He says "bye", "please", (but it sounds more like psssss) " He just learned "tankoo" today or we would say thank you, and some other words. He is a funny little guy, keeps all of us laughing. He thinks he is big stuff. Carries on conversation, we just wish we knew what he was saying and thinking in that little brain of his. I will share more about Brayden next time I blog.

Brenna:
Our precious baby girl. What a joy she is. Brenna is 6 months old and only cries when she needs something. Other than that she is a very happy baby. She is sitting up now. She has some issues with eating. She has a high palate so she doesn't take a bottle well. We have her in a program called First Steps, (so is Bryce) it is a early intervention program to help with development. They come to the house and give therapy to develop her mouth muscles to have closure on the bottle nipple. She only wanted to nurse, but we are working on weaning her to a bottle now. She is also taking cereal and baby food only veggies. She is not big on the fruit yet.

Closing:
So that is the start of our family blog. I hope you enjoy reading it and feel free to comment or ask questions. I will blog more about Bryce and Autism next time. Have a great day everyone!