We Are So Close!!!

It has been a pretty amazing past few weeks here for the Blackburn Family so I wanted to share with everyone else who reads our blog (if anyone actually does). :)

Austin continues to amaze us each and every day with his incredible ability to overcome challenge after challenge. Just in the last 2 months alone we have seen a HUGE jump in Austin's language. One of the many challenges that Austin has been facing is his ability to use functional language and communicate with others. For the last year, Austin's communication with others has consisted of constant babbling (with no functional use or direction) and physically pulling you by the hand to get his needs met. There has never been any repeating of words or words/sounds used in attempt at communication. But since August this has all changed.

At the end of August we began a new treatment to address yeast overgrowth in Austin's gut and, AGAIN, altered his diet by eliminating more foods. And along with the exceptional ABA therapy he gets, within just a few short weeks started seeing changes in his verbal ability. :) What we started seeing was something called echolalia. Echolalia is the immediate or delayed echoing of whole or partial phrases and words. It was amazing to see Austin repeat an entire sentence from his favorite cartoon, Little Einsteins, but then get so frustrated b/c he was not able to repeat something as simple as "bye-bye" or "juice".

As the weeks have gone by we are continuing to see Austin grow and make more and more connections with speech. He is now in the beginning stages of understanding that using language can get his needs met in a positive way. Something that Casey and I have always done with Austin while playing with him is count "1...2...3!!!" when doing something fun and exciting or saying "ready...set...GO!!!" when playing chase games. He has always loved these and these have been the only 2 phrases that he would ever repeat on command when we asked. Just in the last week Austin has begun to use "GO!" as his way of getting something across to Casey and I. Let me give you an example - I will say, "Austin, are you all done with lunch? Do you want down?". We will repeat "down" several times b/c we want him to say "down" so we know that he understands what we are telling him and that he communicate his need to us. Instead what Austin will say is "GO!". This is so fascinating b/c Austin has made the connection (through our play time) that when "GO!" is said by him that he receives something he likes. :)

This is all so minor and is still in the beginning stages but we are FINALLY seeing the light that Austin will be able to express himself verbally in the near future. He just has to connect a WHOLE lot more dots than the average kid! :) All of Austin's teachers are so excited with these latest developments and have given me great feedback this week of things he has said while at school that is functionally correct that continue to give us all hope in Austin's abilities. :)

I posted some more cute pictures of Austin taken over the last few weeks that hadn't made it into the blog yet. ENJOY!

HOOK 'EM HORNS!

GO COWBOYS!!!

Casey has been remodeling our basement recently and Austin got a kick out of his protective eyewear. :)