Med change and a school update

Today was Brooklyn's first day with her med change. She's now taking the regular release Adderall twice a day. In the morning (at 8:30) she takes 5mg of Adderall and .5mg of guanfacine. 4 hours later at 12:30 she takes another 5mg of Adderall and .5mg of guanfacine. It went really well, I was a little worried as to how well it would work for her. The controlled release Adderall is supposed to last 8-12 hours, but she usually had it beat within 6 hours. The regular release Adderall lasted a good 8-10 hours today, plus, it didn't seem to effect her appetite as much as the controlled release.

Brooklyn had an assessment at school today. Apparently they are assessing all incoming Kindergarteners to see where they all are skill wise before making official class lists. She met with the assistant principal and did AMAZING! I was SO worried; not that she wouldn't know the stuff, but that she just wouldn't speak to them. Brooklyn has a tendency to not make eye contact or to communicate with her hands and grunts (she becomes non-verbal) in new situations, especially without someone she trusts. Brooklyn read the assistant principal two books, identified all her letters upper and lower case as well as their sounds, and counted to 100. The assistant principal was VERY impressed with Brooklyn :) My little smartypants!

We had to give the school MORE copies of Alayna's therapy records, last IEP, and her last test scores for standardized testing. Apparently the school psychologist that we spoke to last year isn't going to be the school psychologist at their school this year, she's being moved to another school. She was the one with all those copies. But, we should know who Alayna's teacher is by the end of the week.

Next Tuesday miss Alayna has a therapy intake appointment, it's just for personal counseling. With all the changes in her life we thought it would be good for her to have someone to talk to. Tuesday is also the day of the back to school BBQ at the kids' school. The big kids will get to meet their teachers, see their classrooms, and maybe meet some new classmates. We won't know Brooklyn's teacher until NEXT Friday.

School officially starts next Wednesday, but Brooklyn only goes on Thursday next week for half a day. But, once they figure out the placement for the Kindergartners then we'll get to meet her teacher and see her classroom Friday afternoon.

On the 17th I have to officially request Alayna's IEP evaluations. I'm hoping to have her referrals for private therapy next week, she goes in to see our pediatrician next Thursday. So many things to do; PT, OT, and speech evals, she needs a thyroid panel done, and a developmental assessment. I imagine the month of September is going to be really busy for the Ryders. It might even over flow into October. But, I'm so excited to be getting things going for the kids.

I will have first day of school pictures to post next week :) We're all getting really excited!

An education in futility via the Department of Education

According to the Department of Education for FY 2009, the cohort default rate for all student loans was 8.8 percent, and for for-profit schools (like the ones I went to) it is 15 percent. Wait, did I read that right? 8.8 percent overall, but 15 percent just for for-profit schools? In the data, that's a larger percentage than the other school categories. With a higher rate of default in the last few years, you would think that there would be more ways designed to get people out of default. Boy, that would be great.

Car seats...

So, I'm in several parenting groups on facebook, they are either about homeschooling or related to the special needs of my daughters. One of the groups is a group for parents of kids with sensory issues. I can tell you I have learned a TON in that group, but I've also been overwhelmed or thought "WTF!" (as in, those people are crazy, LOL). I can admit it. But, my child doesn't seem to have as severe of sensory issues, so I have no idea what I would do if it were me.

Anyways, today a woman asked about car seats for her daughter. She stated that her daughter hated both seats they have (the scenera and a my ride 65). She said that her daughter said that they hurt her back and her butt and she doesn't like the straps. The woman said that she had tried the strap covers, but that her daughter just took them off.

Here's my reply, WORD FOR WORD:

The Sceneras are really uncomfortable. There's NO padding between the seat cover and the shell of the car seat. I'd suggest taking her to Babies R Us or Toys R Us and letting her sit in some to see which she prefers.

Also, please do NOT put anything on the car seat that didn't come with it. Even those strap covers are a no-no unless they come directly from the car seat manufacturer.

Apparently this SET HER OFF! She became very rude and nasty, in an attempt (I think) to try to get the admins involved and get ME kicked out. I was very nice, I restated my opinion on the Scenera and again suggested she may want to take her daughter to try out car seats to see if there's a specific one she likes. The woman CONTINUED to try to start a fight with me, so I just responded with: "I gave my suggestions, and my advice. You can continue to nit-pick and be nasty, that's fine. I hope you find a car seat that works for your child." The freaking woman STILL had comments...

Here's the thing what it comes down to is that car seat choices are often left up to parents to decide. But, if you're going to ask specifically about car seat advice, expect to get information, including some you may not be happy with or that may go against what you're currently doing. Do you HAVE to listen to suggestions/advice? No. But, if I have information that can help protect your child and you didn't previously know it, wouldn't you WANT to hear it?

Any additions to a car seat (head rests, strap covers, seat covers, etc) are ALL unsafe UNLESS they came WITH the car seat OR directly FROM the car seat manufacturer. This doesn't make sense to some people. How can something so small effect the way a car seat works? Well, it may or may not, THAT is the issue. These items haven't been tested WITH the car seat. Do you want to risk your child's life? I don't! Strap covers and head rests that go around the straps can effect how the straps fit on the child's body. Just a little bit of "wiggle room" in the strap can result in deadly consequences in the event of a crash. Seat covers that go between the baby's body and the seat or that go around the straps can have the same effects. Why risk it? ALL car seat manufactures state that if it didn't come WITH their seat NOT to use it because it hasn't been tested. I certainly don't want my child used as a crash test dummy, do you?

If rear facing your child to age 2 (or even older) makes them over 5 times safer in the car, why wouldn't you? If keeping them in a 5 point harness longer keeps them safe AND there are car seats on the market that allow you to keep your child in a 5 point harness to 5,6, or even 7 why wouldn't you? If putting your child in a booster seat until they are 4'9" (which is the average height at which a seat belt will fit properly) or until they fit a seat belt properly, will protect them better in an accident, why wouldn't you?

Cars aren't made with small children's bodies in mind. They are made to fit a full grown adult. I have trouble fitting a in seat belt properly at 5'. I have a scar on my left shoulder from a seat belt injury during a car accident. There are so many things on the road that are out of your control. I'm not going to risk my child's life if I have the ability to make them safer in the car. I'm not talking about wrapping them in bubble wrap or never taking them into the car. I'm talking about using products, and new updated information, to keep your child safe in the car.

My mom says all the time that when she was a kid they didn't have car seats, heck my brother and sister were out of car seats by 3 or 4. But, you also have to consider that there are more people on the roads now, there are more distractions (specifically cell phones), and that speeds are higher.

You don't have to take my advice. There's no law requiring you to do so. But, if you are going to ASK for car seat advice, don't get your panties in a bunch if/when the advice you get goes against what you are doing. And don't assume that any ONE person knows everything. There are many "rules" for car seats that don't apply to different brands, or some that have specific "rules" for just their seats. Do your research and make the best EDUCATED decision for YOUR child.

State laws only require that you use car seats properly according to manufacturer's guidelines. It's up to you, the parent, to know the guidelines and do what's right for your child.

Taxes

Oh, this is a hot topic right now with the presidential elections looming and President Obama and Mitt Romney butting heads at every turn. There's all this talk about how much Romney made and how much he paid in taxes and how it's unfair that a teacher making $40,000 pays 20% of their income and Romney making $21M pays 13%.

Let's break that down a second:
20% of $40K is $8,000; which is a lot considering that it drops the person's income down to $32,000 a year or $2666.66 a month. Well, that's more than we take home supporting a family of 6. And, it's important to remember that if this teacher has kids they're claiming they're getting most if not ALL of that $8,000 back. Plus, anything they purchased for the classroom is a tax write off.

13% of $21M is $2,730,000. Nearly $3million.

But, that gives you a crappy over view of the tax system.

Let me give you some REAL numbers from REAL families.

In 2010 2.2% of my husband's income was taken out for taxes. At the end of the year, we filed our tax return, would you like to know how much we "paid"? ZERO! We got that 2.2% back AND then received more money back! Adding our tax return to our total earned income for 2010, 25% of the money we received for 2010 was tax return from OTHER tax payers. Granted, we did receive that in 2011.

Let's look at 2011 where Joe made a bit more money than 2010. (Note: 2010 was a REALLY crappy year for us income wise). Alright, in 2011 we made about $8K more than 2010, but still only paid 3.1% out over the course of the year. We got all of that back and more! Adding our tax return to our total earned income for 2011, 15% of our total money received for 2011 was tax return from OTHER tax payers!

I could go back to 2009 and 2008 which were even worse for us income wise than 2010 and show you an even greater amount of income we're making OFF of the government in taxes.

So, we pay 2-3% in taxes each month over the course of the year and then make an extra 15-25% from other tax payers.

Let me make this VERY clear: This happens to a LOT of lower-middle income families and lower income families! And if we don't file taxes, and try to allow the government to KEEP that 2-3% we get into trouble.

I can tell you that the tax return is nice. And without it, we would struggle more than we do with it. Tax returns have made it so that we were able to afford to buy decent reliable cars for our family. There's no way we could swing a car payment.

Anyways, this is why I think  flat tax with no deductions is the best, and I benefit from the current system. If everyone paid say 10%, the teacher making $40K a year would be paying $4,000 in taxes, and Mitt Romney making $21M would pay $2.1M.

Occupational Therapy Evaluation

The OT evaluation was today. We arrived about 15 minutes early so we could make sure they had copies of our insurance card and everything was good to go. That's when we find out that the OT we were supposed to see went home sick about 2 hours earlier and they were supposed to cancel our appointment. I was so disappointed, I didn't want to have to reschedule and wait. Thankfully another OT was able to see us, but our wait was another half hour. The big kids had brought books to read, and I had my phone that Brooklyn could play on (Bella had spent the night with Papa the night before). We opted to wait.

So the OT, Matt, called us back and we went into a room. He got out a couple toys for Brooklyn and we started the interview part of the evaluation. We went through Brooklyn's history of behavior modification therapy, medications, diagnosis of ADHD, ODD, and Mood Disorder-NOS. I explained how I didn't think ODD fit, as Brooklyn is not outright defiant, and that I didn't know anything about Mood Disorder-NOS. He was super great. He tried to engage Brooklyn in conversation a few times, but she was having none of that.

Matt had given her a peg board with rubber bands to play with, it also had a stack of papers with patterns on them that you could make on the peg board with the rubber bands. Brooklyn was able to re-create each one, Matt was very impressed with her intelligence. At one point he asked if it was possible for Brooklyn to skip Kindergarten and go straight into 1st grade this year (he's actually the third professional to ask that). After he finished his paperwork he gave me a sensory questionnaire to fill out and he took us back to the "swing room". Brooklyn was SO excited to go to the swing room.

Brooklyn got to bounce and swing on the "frog swing" and them play on the "moon swing". She liked the frog swing better and went back to that one. Matt noticed that Brooklyn doesn't seem to show signs of getting dizzy or having any type of nausea develop after all the swinging. That was the end of our hour and he said that he thinks it would be best if he saw Brooklyn 1-2 times a month. He doesn't think an IEP is necessary as Brooklyn doesn't have special education needs. He said if the teacher and school are willing to listen to and accept his suggestions in the classroom for Brooklyn that she should be fine. If they don't, then we may need to push the IEP issue, but he doesn't want her to be labeled with an IEP if it's not necessary.

He still has to score her sensory questionnaire and then put everything together in a report for the insurance company (to approve the ongoing therapy) and for me so that I can have a copy of it. I plan to give a copy of it to her school as well. We talked a bit about Brooklyn skipping Kindergarten and he agrees that if they're just going to give Brooklyn 1st grade work in the Kindergarten classroom that they should just allow her to go up to 1st grade. So, that will definitely be a conversations we'll be having with the school.

All in all it was a good evaluation, and I think he's a good fit for Brooklyn. I'm exhausted after a very long day. I'm sure tomorrow I'll remember details that I have forgotten to add.

But, for now, we're just waiting. Next Monday we'll meet Brooklyn's new behavior modification therapist. On the 23rd we go on our mini stay-cation. It should be fun!

Appointments, appointments, appointments.

I have spent ALL week scheduling appointments! I think I need some type of organizer/calendar/something to help keep everything straight.

So, onto the exciting news, Brooklyn's OT appointment has been scheduled! YAY!! Apparently the paperwork was mailed to the wrong apartment number, so I went down and picked it up yesterday. When I returned it, they had JUST had a cancellation, so Brooklyn's OT evaluation is scheduled for Tuesday August 14th, at 1pm. I'm a little anxious and full of what ifs. What if they say she DOES have sensory processing disorder? What if they say she DOES have Autism? What if they say she's fine and *I'm* crazy? So, for now we wait and see.

Alayna's appointment schedule is getting full too. She has a therapy/counseling intake appointment the first week of September, she has a doctor's appointment the first week of September, and ALL the kiddos go to the dentist on the 20th of September. Once we have the referrals from the doctor we can start making MORE appointments. Hopefully we'll be able to schedule all the evaluations (OT, PT, speech) for the same day/time. We have a nice list of specialists she needs (cardiologist, geneticist, ophthalmologist, etc), plus I'd like to have her hips checked out. She swings her hips around when she walks. Rather than her legs moving front and back they swing around to the side. She also needs a thyroid panel done, as the last time it was checked in November 2010 it was elevated, and hasn't been rechecked since.

That's not counting Brooklyn's weekly behavior modification therapy and the IEP evaluations we're requesting for both girls. So, needless to say the next 6-8 weeks are going to be SUPER busy.

Frustrating!

Ugh! I am STILL waiting on the packet of information needed for Brooklyn's OT evaluation! I was really hoping that we could get the OT evaluation done before school starts. I can almost guarantee that the evaluation will be helpful in getting the school to agree to the IEP evaluation. While I can't say 100% how Brooklyn will be in the classroom, I can say that I anticipate issues based on how she was in her pre-school classroom. I'm hopeful that the Kindergarten teachers will be better at engaging Brooklyn and holding her attention. But, with 23 other kids in the classroom, I'm worried.

In the mean time, we had a GREAT appointment with the psychiatrist that works in the same facility as Brooklyn's behavior modification therapist. He suggested a change in her Adderall, from 10mg of the long lasting stuff every morning to 5mg of the short acting stuff in the morning and another 5mg dose again 4-6 hours later. Along with that he's adding in a medication called guanfacine, .25mg twice a day to start, possibly up to .5mg twice a day. Once in the morning and once again 4-6 hours later. We'll see if that helps with the other issues we're still having. I was quite surprised with Brooklyn, she allowed me to leave the room and she spoke with the doctor alone.

He also asked if Brooklyn had ever had an OT evaluation (funny how EVERY professional keeps asking about that), and was very happy to hear that we were in the process of scheduling one. If only the paperwork would come...

Anyways, we did also receive a bit of bad news, Brooklyn's behavior modification therapist is moving. Her partner was accepted into a law school a state away and they will be moving. So, we ave 2 more "hang outs" with this therapist before she moves. However, she's SUPER great and is going to find Brooklyn a great replacement. She's going to have that therapist come to our last "hang out" so that Brooklyn can meet him/her before starting therapy with the new therapist.

So, that's where we are at this point. Hurry up and wait. So frustrating.

We're also waiting to hear about Alayna's medical, so all of her appointments are on hold until that can be worked out. As of right now we're looking at September 1st as the time when we can start making her appointments. I had really hoped to get her therapy evaluations done before school started, but that isn't going to happy. However, she will be evaluated for all services available at her school and we can always find outside services should the need arise.

So, again, hurry up and wait. But, at least we have a good game plan going for both girls :)