Not exactly a real update but..

this convo was too funny not to post. I'm like a month and a half past my last update, but - this made me laugh!

ABA Therapy, and stabbing myself in the eyes.

My son Neil, is 3, he's been in the twp's preschool disabled program since February (started on his 3rd bday), has been receiving private Occupational Therapy/Speech Therapy 1 hour a week (each) since February as well.

He started receiving Early Intervention in our home 2 hours a week last September, which ended when he turned 3 in Feb and started school.

He is in these programs primarily for a speech delay. He does talk now, and since we began everything his speech, socialization, motor planning has drastically improved. He still needs assistance in speech and OT and like any kid he's got his good and bad days - but all in all, having only 4 months of these services we have seen an amazing improvement.

So, we went for his IEP and they suggested next year he receives the same preschool program, and suggest adding ABA Therapy for 2.5 hours a day (lunch is included in this time) This would bring his day from a typical 8:45-11:45, to a longer 8:45-2:45. This seems like a tremendous amount of time to spend in school, working. We agreed to it initially, and now having spoken w/ his private therapists, his pediatrician, and other valued opinions - we are second guessing ABA. We agree with them, and they all say the same thing - why so soon? He's only been in school for 4 months, and he's got another 2 years of school before Kindergarden - why do we need to push him hard, so soon?

For what it's worth, my son has not been diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum. I think, being in NJ where we have the highest rate of kids that are "on the spectrum" and of them, 4 our ot 5 are boys - I think that is what the school is assuming. The therapists that spend 1 on 1 time with him refer to him as a "mystery kid" and do not think he is on the spectrum.

For those of you who don't know what ABA is exactly, well, first, welcome to my world haha. Here is what I've learned about it from books, internet research, and other therapists. It stands for "Applied Behavioral Analysis" and generally, it is a lot of repetition - rewarding, and "programming". It is compared to the way you train a dog. You want your dog to sit? You tell it to sit over and over and over, and each time it does, you give it a treat. Same thing with ABA kids - you want them to say Hello? You prompt them to say it over and over, and each time they do they get an M&M. It is very by the books, very structured, very routine. I can see how this would work for some kids, kids that you can't "reach" in other means -but Neil? We are reaching him already. And frankly, in the real world we don't get "verbal prompts" and we don't get an M&M each time we do something we are supposed to. I am afraid of turning my smiling, laughing, creative and independent little boy into a robot.

Part of me thinks, hey, if the school is suggesting it - he must need it. Then I did research, parents in other districts FIGHT for ABA. We happen to have a fantastic district, and they just offered it to us. I....... Well, frankly I'm having a hard time finding unbiased parental opinions on this matter since the kids that are getting it had to fight for it, ya know?

I never knew parenthood would include having to make so many of these heavy, life changing decisions..... at least not so many of them, so fast. It sucks!

59* in May....what?

As soon as Neil got on the bus this AM I headed out for a ride. I stayed local..... I'll probably do that for a while. I like the local ride here, it's pretty, there's no cars to worry about for most of it, and there are a lot of options if I want to keep going.

Yesterday it was aprox. 90* out. This AM we woke up - and I was sending Neil to school in long pants, a tee shirt and a sweatshirt over that! It's 59* outside! WTF? It's MAY 26TH! I mean, I am a lover of cool weather - I really am.... but this is just weird!

The weather says it's supposed to storm off and on all day, so, since it wasn't raining when Neil got on the bus I went out. The sky was spitting here and there but nothing constant so I kept going. I could have gone more but it really started to come down heavier and I didn't want to have to ride home in the rain and get my bike wet & stuff so I headed back. I ended with 30 minutes and 4 miles - not too shabby! It's still 464 calories burned.... which is good cause I'm making London Broil tonight. It's been marinating in the fridge since Friday...gotta cook that baby today!

I guess because it's 60* out I didn't sweat as much as I normally would have in 90* typical May weather.....I actually came home with cold hands and a cold nose! The lack of sweat is making me feel like I cheated.... ya know?

On my way into the neighborhood I saw in someone's driveway leftovers from yesterday's yard sale with a sign that said "FREE TOYS TO A GOOD HOME" Among the pile was a little toddler bike with a handle on the back for me to hold onto/push. I passed it at first and then went back and grabbed it after my ride cause I figured, hey, it's free.... he needs to learn to pedal & stuff and it could be fun! So, yep. He'll have a surprise waiting on the porch when he gets home. Of course it'll probably be raining when he gets home but...... maybe tomorrow.

One day coming up I want to take my camera with me and grab some pics of my ride too. I need to get pics of Freedom Park anyway for the Handmade Faire, so, double duty :)

Medford's Bike Pat

I found a whole other side of Medford's bike trail today that I didn't know existed. From my house to the end there is 1.9 miles, so that's 4 miles round trip aprox. I wish it were longer but the good news is there's lots of quiet streets to explore around there. I did the bike path, doubled back, went through the elementary school's parking lot and picked up another part of the path and went around. Then I headed back through Freedom Park, did that loop again and headed home. Once I got to my neighborhood I circled through the Catholic School and up to the firehouse which pushed me up to 6 miles! It took me 42 minutes, though I had a few breathers in there.

It's good though - I don't feel disgusting and sweaty until I stop and am at home..... I guess cause when you're moving you are creating your own breeze so even though it was 89* and I was sweating like crazy, I had a breeze. That goes a long way with me because I hate FEELING disgusting and sweaty. It keeps me from stopping for too long also hehe.

I like this trail though, there's a stream, some woodland.... and a nice paved path. It's not a straight line, there's some twists and turns but, I like it, and it's working for me. When Neil goes to school (he's off today for the holiday) it will be nice because I am still very local and could pedal home in 10 minutes from pretty much any part of it if I hauled butt enough.

There's also a canoe/kayak launch where I pass - I really would love to go canoeing one day! I love water related activities, and I love exploring the pine barrens and I think I could really fall in love with exploring the pine's in a canoe! I think that might be a treat for me when I get to some milestone of weight loss. We'll see. I gotta see how realistic that is, I have no clue how much canoe's cost and what's involved in taking them out!

Today's Stats:

42 Min

Trip: 6 Miles

Odometer: 18 Miles

Average Speed: 8.6 mph

Max Speed: 16 mph

Cadence: 60-75ish...though it did get higher. I have to guage this myself kind of and find an average, so I am estimating low.

Cycling

Today was my fourth day out riding. I found a route that I like - farm land, quiet rode - a few spots were a little rough/gravely but they ended quickly and went back to nice pavement.

Stats:

30.09 Min

Distance: 5 Miles

Odometer: 12

10.2mph Average Speed

15.4mph Max Speed

I noticed my cadence hovered between 75 and 89.

It was pretty nice riding. There are farm houses on one side and fields of wheat to the other side. It smells great out there!

I ended up doing 4 miles, getting back to the car (parked @ WaWa) and then decided since it had only been about 25 minutes, I wanted to push it to 5 miles. That's 1 mile more than I did yesterday (but yesterday was on and off road, and I was exploring the local area a bit to find a good way).

It says I burned 494 calories! Sweeeeeet! I'm trying to go for 30 minutes. I'm pushing myself hard but not so hard that I am going to make myself dread it....I don't want to end up with a headache, or feeling crappy afterwards. It was 93 degrees today, and I swear, they call it "Oak Shade Road" but I couldn't find an ounce of shade where I was! Plus, I had to fight the wind coming home which was not so fun....those swaying feilds of wheat get REAL OLD when there's nothing breaking the wind from you!

We are Penny Killers

Last week Holly and I got together and decided to play with some power tools. The general idea was to drill holes in pennies, so that we could use these wheat pennies for various craft idea's that we both have.

Neither of us have 100% figured out the creations we'll make with these, just a general idea - so that's a whole other blog post hehe.


These pennies didn't come out of the jar looking as great as they do now. They were all dull, boring, and well.....they looked like pennies. It took us a little trial and error but finally the eco friendly housewife that I am came out and I remembered my green brass polishing combo - lemons and salt.
We had tried some other combo's that were quite exciting - like white vinegar and baking soda, a personal favorite of mine! But, alas, the salt and lemon juice worked best! Scrubbed those pennies right up!

Then we drilled the pennies, which, also required a lot of trial, error, and makeshift protective eye wear (sunglasses, I'm such a diva lol)

We were finally able to get some good pennies with nice sized holes drilled, but - not without a few casualties. Here is the obligatory "In Memorial" pic of the drill bits and pennies that were harmed in the creation process.....


if you want to see some more pics, or Holly's blog on these pennies - check it out!
More pics on Holly's flickr
Holly's Blog about the Pennies

Four Wheeling in the Pines

The forest is as beautiful as ever now that Spring is just around the corner (although I'd say the same thing about Fall, I absolutely love the pines in the fall...really, when don't I love the pines?)
So hubby, Neil & I have been going out on many weekends and exploring the pines.
A few weekends ago we entered on East Stokes Road, and ended up around Batsto Village. It was a long way (even on main roads it's a good 40-50 minute drive) But it was a great drive! We found lots of great stuff, some awesome swimming holes that we marked on our GPS to return to in warmer weather, and some beautiful scenery! Here's some pics, they are from two different days...

View over the Batso River, a much wider part of it than we usually find!

Exploring a river bed we came across..... Neil's favorite!

View over the Batsto River

The caravan :)


We came across this, we didn't put it this way and we were pretty deep in the forest:

only thing we can guess is the forest fire service must have done it, because it looked as if there was a fresh brush burn within the last few week. It was still pretty creepy though haha. It made for a good pic! Maybe it was a geocache too....sometimes you see things like that as hints. I'll have to post about our adventures in geocaching, we have a blast doing that!

more pics on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbieroad/