We are seeing some improvement during the day from her baseline with no meds that was listed last week. CBD oil is not a cure but it has very few side effects and safer than prescription medications. Our top priority is that Ashley is happy, not in pain, and gets good sleep (along with our household too!). She seems less anxious in public places and not on sensory overload. Her random "episodes" of self-harming behaviors has almost disappeared!!!! We still see some of it BUT that is related to a behavior (not getting what she wants, waiting, etc.). She is still very interested in light reflections, putting items in her mouth, and some other isms but we never thought CBD oil would decrease those. Her therapists and Son-Rise volunteers have all noticed a HUGE difference this past week! She is super happy and interactive! We are thankful for Anny & Marilyn for introducing us to CBD oil as option for Ashley and praising God for guiding us on Ashley's autism journey!
Wednesday, August 10th, 2016
She did not sleep well last night and woke up multiple times. Overall she had a pretty good day despite lack of sleep! Ashley went on a morning walk with Sascha and she captured a precious picture! We are going to miss Sascha who will head back to working at school but hopefully we will see her on holidays!
Today we though it would be fun for Ashley to try school shopping with Sascha and use her coins to buy them. I made her a visual shopping list and printed out a hard copy for her to hold. They went to HEB and Ashley did so great using her shopping list and finding the items! She even helped Sascha check them off her list once she put them in basket. I forgot to pack her coins so we will have to try that again next time! She apparently is a huge help in stores now because she will push the cart AND she can steer it around corners and down aisles!
In session with Tracy, we brought in the CD player with some of her favorite songs. She really enjoyed listening to the music, dancing with Tracy and it seemed to calm her down well. She was super flexible in session today, making great eye contact, taking turns, and shaking her head yes & no while saying words a few times with action! She did great matching letters and was very vocal. She said "yes, no, more, crachers (for crackers), rarry (for Larry), Baba (for bob), Eggie Tales (for Veggie Tales), Tracy, pricess (for princess), want red, reasy (for ready), this, music and sing".
Thursday, August 11th, 2016
I joined Ashley and Sascha later and we all went to Pei Wei for lunch! We have tried it a few times in the past but she would never even try it. She liked the honey chicken but the rice is NOT allowed to touch it! :) She did great waiting in line to order the food, carrying napkins to the table and then waiting for them to bring our food! It was a good experience to watch how Sascha and Kelsey have had success with her at restaurants! When we left I asked if she could get her backpack and she said "backpack".
We went to get Ashley new shoes after but she was not a big fan so it was a rough start. She said "no" with shake of head but we convinced her she needed new shoes since her feet have grown. Once we got the new shoes on her, she kept looking at them almost as if she approved! The woman in Stride Ride Outlet was so patient with Ashley and shared that she has a nephew with autism.
Cousin Chloe came over and had a great session with Ashley! She got great eye contact when they were jumping and Chloe did great distracting Ashley when she started random "episodes" of crying.
My brother Chris came after to pick up Chloe and Ashley seemed excited to see him. Noah and I were both saying Uncle Chris when his car pulled up. When he came inside, Ashley said "this" 3 times, then "kiss" 2 times, and then "chis" 2 times! She was trying to say his name!!! She then took his hand and pulled him to the backdoor. He asked if she wanted to go outside and she said "outside" so clearly for all of us to hear! We went outside for a few minutes and when Chris said they needed to leave she walked back inside calmly with them!
Kylie came to do a short session and they had fun with wigs, masks, and hats! Towards the end Ashley's mood changed and it got really rough. I had to eventually go in there because she would not stop hitting her face...Her moods can be all over the place these days.
Friday, August 12th, 2016
We started CBD oil this morning so we are praying that we will see quick results if this is right direction to go with her.
Today Ashley was in a good mood again and did great getting her haircut! In session, she enjoyed playing the play food, balls, bus, jumping, veggie tales songs and lots of tickles! She is also putting my arm around her shoulder which is now how she ask for a bear hug! She made great eye contact today! During the day she said "bye, ice, chichen (for chicken), really, sing."
In speech with Brooke, she did great being flexible at the beginning by going to kitchen for Brooke's water instead of going straight to the gym! She also said "no, backpack, fish, thank you, swim, ducks, please, fix it, batt (for batteries), chicken whittle" and mumbling Nemo song "just keep swimming"!
Saturday, August 13th, 2016
Today we went to Catch Air and Ashley seemed overwhelmed. It was really odd and she wanted to leave after 20 minutes. She also got to attend Camp Grace this afternoon and had great afternoon with water activities. She did have some random episodes again where she would cry out and start hitting her head/legs. We also noticed she did rocking again today at Catch Air and in the car which we haven't seen that in a few weeks.
Sunday, August 14th, 2016
In session with Miranda, Ashley enjoyed rolling marbles on the pool noodles cut in half and singing Veggie Tales! She also got to try a new game of matching Shimmer & Shine cards! She impressed Miranda with her problem solving skills because the marbles we rolling off from the middle so she was able to adjust it correctly! She said "sing, snack, cracher, and yes" in session!
We are so appreciative of Ashley's therapists over the summer!!! One goal was taking her to a few restaurants because eating out (except chicfila) has always been super challenging and stressful. Well.... tonight we got to meet family at Kerbey Lane and had a very successful dinner for 2 HOURS! She did so great waiting for food and we got to have actual conversations! We did pull out the tablet for watching netflix half way through but even trying this in the past would not keep her content to sit! Restaurants are no longer something we cannot do as a family unless they do not have WiFi ;)
Before bed sometimes Ashley will ask for a healthy ice cream bar. Last night instead of just saying "ice" she said "ice cheem" 2 times!!!
Monday, Aug 15th, 2016
Ashley slept through the night last night and had a FANTASTIC day. Could this be the CBD oil starting to really work and help her?!?! It seemed like yesterday afternoon (Sunday) that we started to see a change in Ashley where her mood was not all over the place. She seemed content, happy and interactive ALL day today!
She was in a great mood today and I only recorded 1 random "episode" of her hitting herself. We had a great morning and she was making so much eye contact! At lunch she said "sandwich, chip, and juice".
Kelsey took her on an outing today and said she can tell a huge difference in Ashley. Last week she averaged about 30 random self-hitting episodes each day during a session (not related to behavior). Today it was only 4 random episodes during their session! :)
I forgot this week that our speech time changed so Ashley was not very happy when we showed up to see Brooke and then had to leave. I took her to Hop N Happy to get some exercise since it has been raining so hard. There had to be over 60 kids plus parents there and it was very chaotic. Somehow Ashley did not seem to mind and had a great time! I was surprised that she was not overwhelmed or anxious!
In session with Tracy, she said it was night and day from last week regarding Ashley's behavior and interaction! She was so interactive, alert, great eye contact, and laughing WITH Tracy! They enjoyed readin books during snack time, looking at animal cards, making instruments out of toys, and trying Go Fish game which she is not quite ready for. She said "book, crachers, dance, sing, some, this, Tracy, A, red, yes, no" and spontaneous words she said "birds, fro (frog), baby, silly, cheches (matches) & thuh (for thirsty)."
Tuesday, August 16th, 2016
She slept through the night again making that 2 consecutive nights!!!! She was in another great mood, made lots of eye contact, seemed alert, enjoyed playing with Noah for a while laughing WITH him, and even helped me carry in a grocery bag! During morning, she said "chip, juice, shoes, water, bye, ice, want, chee (for chicken little)." We recorded only 3 self hitting episodes that were random and not related to behavior (transition, accepting no, waiting, etc).
At speech with Brooke, she did great transitioning to leave and was very verbal! I didn't get list of her words but she apparently there were a lot of words.
In session with Kylie, she got to do a Scavenger Hunt around the room for new Tinker Bell toys and pictures!
Wednesday, August 17th, 2016
This morning we went to Hop N Happy with other special needs families and kids had a great time getting exercise. I was jumping at same pace as her and caught this picture of her so happy! She was ready to leave for lunch and did great helping me go find Noah in bounce house.
In session with Tracy, she did great matching letters A-M, matched numbers 1 & 2 correctly to a picture with correct number of dots shown and matched #3-10 with prompting to correct picture of dots! She also enjoyed listened to Paw Patrol Book during snack, listening to Tracy sing songs, matching fairies, and shaking pom poms. She said "snack, crachers, purple, more, Tracy, want, no, yes, water, this, that one, treats, bowl, A, B, C, F, J, L, M, 6, 7, 9, 10." Tracy observed Ashley was very interactive and really feels CBD oil is helping!
In session with Miranda, she did theme of musical toys including xylophone, cymbals, tambourine, cooking pans with spoons for a drum, metal spoons, etc. She even adapted it at the end to be pretend eating with spoons out of metal pan. She did great with eye contact, saying "yes" and "no" when answering questions.
Thursday, August 18th, 2016
Ashley was really interactive with Noah tonight! It was fun to see her wanting run circles with him and I have not seen that in over 3 weeks. It was really cute because she gave him a great hug and they were laughing together on the couch. I was only able to catch the end of it! :)
Today Ashley got to attend her Open House and she did great! I remember last year was a nightmare and ended up in several meltdowns. Today she did great accepting no a few times to items she wanted in the room. She made eye contact with her teachers and waved! We got to meet her 2nd grade inclusion teacher she will get to join during specials, recess, PE's and circle time.
In session with Chloe, she enjoyed a new Veggie Tales book that Chloe brought for her. She also said "book" 3 times and Chloe said Ashley did not hit herself at all! She made great eye contact and also LOVED when Chloe sang the Veggie Tales song!
Friday, August 19th, 2016
Today I am really starting to feel positive about CBD oil and I think it is really helping Ashley! I got to be with her for 7 hours straight today so got to observe her even better. She slept through the night again! :) She was so pleasant to be with today and seemed "present" with me more than she has been this past month. She was really comprehending what I said and she was sooooo happy! She pointed to her pink dress in family picture on the fridge so I commented how pretty her dress was and she said "dress".
We had a fantastic session today and I didn't want to leave the Playroom because I was enjoying it so much! She was interactive, smiling, laughing, lots of eye contact and many words/sounds! She had choice of several activities today but she chose "muse" for music. She played the xylophone for probably 10 minutes and did great using stick. She gave me a few turns to play too! I tried making a soft drum using spoon and the cooking pan but she let me know she was not a fan! In session she said "yes, want, bah (ball), juice, fish (for goldfish), boat, duck, bye."
I also sang the Veggie Tales theme song 2 times today and she instantly becomes alert with eyes on my mouth. I will try my best to explain this with words because I so wish the camera had been recording. What was interesting today is that she seemed to be mouthing almost every word as I was singing. When I sang word smile, she smiled the first time too. After when she was sitting on the potty, I sang "where is my hairbrush" song and she really did great filling in!! I have never seen her fill in approximations like this for any song!!!!!!
I would pause at some places on the songs and here is what she filled in for me:
Word I was silent for What Ashley said spontaneously with NO prompting
potatoes ssss
tomatoes ssss
Veggie Tales tales
Brocolli buh
Celery ceh
Veggie Tales (last line) Eggie Tales (with CORRECT pitch)
hairbrush ush (3 times for Where is my Hairbrush song)
I took her to Chic-fil-a for a mommy & daughter date since Noah stayed over with my parents last night. She again did great waiting for the food and said "dench dies" multiple times and "chih" for chicken nuggets. On the playground, it was just Ashley and another little girl around age 4. She kept getting in front of Ashley, who was sitting on the bench, asking her "can you play with me?". I just watched for a few minutes and Ashley was smiling making off and on eye contact with the girl. She didn't respond to the girl but it made me very excited seeing her listening to the girl. I loved how that girl did not give up and kept asking Ashley to play! I finally went in and tried to encourage Ashley to chase her up the stairs but she just went at normal pace up stairs and then down slide. I know she will get there one day socially and seeing these baby steps is very exciting! :)
Saturday, August 20th, 2016
Ashley slept through the entire night again!!! Ashley and I had a long walk this morning and then went to play at a muddy playground. In a short session with Jeremy, she enjoyed music again and loved getting tickles from daddy! She was really interactive with him and lots of laughs! She loved putting her hands over his facial hair and it must have been a sensory activity. She styled his hair and seemed to examine all over his face! :)
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