Welcome

Well, hello there world! After many suggestions, prodding, and down-right being told, I have finally started this blog. So let me just tell y'all I'm new at this and have no idea what to do, so I'm just gonna start by telling y'all a little bit about myself and my wonderful family.

I'm Shannon, I'm 31 (*gasp* I still can't believe I made it to the "grown-up" stage), and I'm a stay-at-home mom of 3 kiddos. My awesome lil man is the oldest--JB, he's 8, and he has classic, non-verbal autism. We also have 2 adorable little princesses, Jenna, 6, and Ressie, 4.  I'm married to a totally awesome man, Butch, and he's 41 and works his butt off in the oilfield everyday so that we can give our family what we need. We are also beginner homesteaders. We live on about 10 acres (mostly wooded right now), and besides the kiddos, we are raising pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese. We did have rabbits, but we were getting in over our heads, so they were the first to go when we were downsizing last year. This past spring we did not get our garden in because we were moving, but this year we do plan on starting again with a small garden. We're down-home type folks; we value God, and try to teach our kids right from wrong in the best way we know how. We're outdoorsy people; we hunt and fish and love wild game. We raise a lot of our own meat (Butch was a butcher before his current oilfield job, so that's a pretty handy skill to have around the homestead) and veggies will be coming soon! We love to camp and get dirty! We'd rather hang out with our friends and family around a bonfire than hit the hottest club. I think that pretty much sums us up!

So my hope for this blog in the future is this:  I want to give folks a look into what its like dealing with autism day-to-day in a rural setting. I haven't seen a lot of those types of blogs yet, so I'm hoping I can reach out to like-minded folks who are in sort-of the same situation. Or people who are just curious about our situation. I'd love to see some comments and feedback, suggestions, etc from y'all about what you'd like to know about our family and how we do things. We're just simple people, trying to live simply and within our means. Did moving to the city cross our mind after JB was diagnosed?  Of course it did, but after thinking about the long-term effects on the whole family, we decided that we really are country folks who are meant to be rural. We are definitely not city-folks. I know a lot of people who love the city--my brother is one of them--and it works for them, but not for us.

ABOUT JB AND HIS AUTISM

JB was diagnosed with severe autism at about 21 months of age. He was totally non-verbal (and by that I mean did not make any kind of sound other than screaming; there was no babbling  grunting, or articulation of any kind), he also did not make any kid of gestures, like pointing at something he wanted. So he had basically  no way of communicating with us. He did not make eye-contact, he was a toe-walker, he did not play with his toys appropriately. He had all of the classic "warning-sign" symptoms of autism. I first noticed something wasn't quite right with him when his little sister Jenna (they're only a year and 2 weeks apart) was hitting developmental milestones before he was. I was told in the beginning by our pediatrician the classic lines like "don't panic, boys develop later than girls",  and "its just a phase he'll grow out of", but I knew there was more to it than that, so I got very verbal and was referred to Children's Medical Center in Dallas for an evaluation. It was an all-day process. There was a whole team of folks, and they observed him playing by himself, with us, and with therapists. His dad and I went through a rigorous question and answer session with a therapist. ((Small side note because of the "his dad" comment above: we are a blended family. Butch is my second husband, and so not the biological father of JB or Jenna. He is only biologically Ressie's father, but is a wonderful father to all the kids)) The different team members observed JB playing.  At the end of all this we were basiclly just told "JB has severe autism. Here's a list of resources (all in Dallas, which is an hour and a half away from us), good luck to y'all. Early intervention is the best course of action. I'd look for therapists in your area and get started at once. Have a nice day, you can make your payment on the way out!" And that was pretty much it. I was all alone with this. ((another side note: at that time, Greg (kids' dad) and I were separated, but not divorced. Hence the "I was alone..." comment.)) My family was super supportive, but unfortunately, they were also clueless with how to really help. So, I picked myself up and got to studying! My mom and I read tons of books and scoured the internet. There is so much info out there y'all...but its so contradictory and confusing when you first start out!! We finally found out about Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) through our local MHMR, and so we started with Speech and Occupational therapies. Then we found a developmental pediatrician in Tyler who recommended us to a therapy clinic in Tyler so we could get more therapy. We started going there and had to drop ECI therapies (because you're not elegible if you go to outside therapies), but we still had a caseworker who visited. ECI was very helpful with our starting school in the PPCD program (its a special-needs preschool program) at our local elementary school when JB turned 3 and aged out of ECI.


The therapies and therapists were wonderful for JB. He finally started babbling and making gestures. The speech therapists introduced the PECs system to us, which is a system for communicating with pictures. He started learning how to do things like eating with a fork and buttoning his shirts. Then it was time to start school. School was the best thing that ever happened to JB. Though routine and awesome therapies  therapists, and teachers, JB is now doing so very well. He has moved from the PECs system to using a similar system on an iPad. He is right there with his second grade classmates on his reading and math skills. He spends a lot of his school day in a mainstream classroom with the help of an aide. Needless to say, I am one very proud momma! I am so proud at how far he has come, and so grateful to everyone who has had a hand in getting him here!!

ABOUT THE PRINCESSES


Jenna and Ressie are just the best little sisters ever! They are so awesome with JB, especially Jenna. They both help so much with him. They love to play with him, and they get excited if a word sneaks out of his mouth. The best though is when he says "night" and "I love you" before bed pretty much every night. They get excited every time!

Jenna is 6, and is truly a little diva. She loves clothes, shoes, and purses, and anything pink. Extra points if its sparkles! And of course ANYTHING Disney Princess! She loves school, gymnastics, and playing T-ball. She's also our little artist and she draws and colors all the time.

Ressie is 4, and a little bit of hell-on-wheels--a total spitfire! She is rough and tumble and loves to follow Butch around and try to do everything he does. She's also a little girly, though purple is more her style, but again, extra points for sparkles! She wants to go to school with the big kids so bad and pouts when she has to stay home with mommy.


Well, I think I'll stop before I start typing gibberish and y'all get completely bored. Just know that I'll be back with the latest in our oh-so-exciting life soon! Thank you all for stopping by!

My three babies waiting on the train at Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio