Oh my, it has been a while since I have added anything to our blog. We have had alot going on recently. Matt started vocational rehab two weeks ago. He has returned to his high school but will be receiving his rehab there with a wonderful counselor. He has been working on his art and music, along with work skills by helping work in the consession stand at scheduled breaks. He is really glad to have something to do instead of staying home with me everyday.
Matt has been meeting with our pastor over the last month after expressing interest in being baptised. That has gone well and he and our pastor have become "pals". They have had talks regarding how much Matt understands about his faith and the purpose/significance of bapitsim. After several meetings and some practice Matt was baptised last sunday. I was soooo proud.
My baby grown up so quickly. His autism may have made life somewhat different for him and myself but it has not prevented him from becoming a wonderful yourng man with an enormous amount of things to continue to teach me and others.
I encourage all parents of autisitc children to find their child's skill or talent and encourage, promote, and aid them with whatever it may be. I truely believe that is one of the best therapies for them. The Lord will show us much through the eyes of our special children.

Probverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord eith all your heart and lean not on your own understanding..."

Dear Matt

Dear Matt,
I am soooo proud of you. Over the last week you have again shown me what a wonderful, young man you are. I only hope to exhibit one ounce of your generosity, compassion, and hope.


Love,
Mom

God at Work

What a day!!! Received a call yesterday regarding Matt returning to school for a "transitions" classes. Spoke with our wonderful vocational rehab counselor and Matt met with our pastor regarding baptism.(upcoming blog on baptism)
Matt will be returning to school and receiving vocational services. Yay!!!!! However, this should have been done two years ago. I am saddened to report that somewhere the ball was dropped. I have been inquiring about services for him for sometime now and the school did not offer any services or ideas. I was introduced to the vocational rehab counselor after many inquires and much time spent on the internet and with a touch of God's hand. Over the summer I have been in touch with her often and have discovered that my school has not ever mentioned her services to me or any other parents of "special" children. It is very saddening and frustrating to hear this when as a concerned parent I have offered my time and always made it known to the school that if there was anything that I could do to help Matt and them that I was available. Only to find out that I was never contacted about services that the school had. I feel so guilty myself for not doing more..... Matt always received the services that were available on school campus but was not offered or refered to any services off campus. I had asked and was told that they were not provided(vocational rehab, transportation, etc)
In our small community I knew there were not many options so I became Matt's instructor on ADLs, basic skills and how to do tasks and certain jobs. God has blessed us in that what I did has helped Matt to develop and experience growth as an individual. Let me add that his SPED teachers were the best!!!!! and in no way to slight them at all. They too were not informed of the proper programs that were available. Over the last week, God has worked overtime in our lives. Through much prayer and the help of our voc rehab counselor, Matt will be receiving extra services that will help to transition him into society, and will aid him with job skills. My intent with this blog is not to point fingers or lay blame, but to hopefully alert parents, especially in small communities that there are services available and that with payer and diligent perserverance your child must be accomodated for. Every parent must review IEPs and ask questions, and do research on their own regarding services and the rights of the disabled. I use that term loosely, because each one of these unique children has a gift and special qualities that can be benefited by all and give something to the society in which they live.

About three years ago I turned my life over to Christ in the middle of my living room, but never made a public announcement of it. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to publically for the first time acknowledging Him as my savior and accept Him through believers baptism. This has brought up questions that I never thought that I would have to deal with. Matt has been inquiring about the reason behind baptism. He says that he wants to be baptised with me. I don't know if Matt is able to understand and I am unsure how to go about explaining the process to him. I am a little selfish because I would like nothing better than for my son to be baptised with me but at the same time I know that is a decision that I can not make for him. Its difficult because I am not sure of what his comprehension is of what he hears in church. He is unable to express to me how he feels and what he believes. Is there any advise anyone can give me? I have spoken with my pastor but only briefly about the subject. This is something that is important to me and it appears to be to Matthew but it is hard because he can't make me or anyone else aware of what he is truely thinking. He communicates, but in his way and sometimes he can get confused about what he wants and what he hears someone else say, because he does like to repeat words (whether they are his thoughts or someone else's). We plan to meet with our pastor soon, but in the meantime I wonder how I will know what the correct answers are to help Matt understand his request for baptism.