Kaden's Life in Pictures

One of my closest friends growing up loved to take pictures, and is now a very successful photographer. She was constantly posing us all through high school, documenting every memory we made. This grew on me, and naturally I learned to love pictures as well. But it wasn’t until very recently that I realized the true power of a picture.

When we first started to recognize some of the challenges Kaden is facing, everyone told me that it would be so important to figure out what his strengths are and build on those. After so many evaluations, assessments, and people placing Kaden’s every little behavior under a microscope, it has been so wonderful to see his little world open up and help him find his strengths. He has so many!

Through this whole process everyone who has worked with him has told us he is very visual. He may not talk, he may have a hard time organizing & processing everything as it comes into his brain, but he is somewhat of a visual genius (those are MY words!) When he started learning PECS (using pictures to communicate his needs), his speech therapist could not believe how fast he learned them. The more he started using PECS to communicate, the more he began to sign and make noises. Today the school psychologist came out to our house and said she has never seen a kiddo as young as Kaden using PECS so efficiently. He is speaking in sentences, with pictures!

Our house is now completely visual. He has his PECS book which we take everywhere with us. That means that we have to know where we are going in advance and I have to have pictures of everything he will have access to. He has a “please” and “I want” picture as well, and he has to use those when communicating what it is that he wants.

He has a magnetic PECS board in each room of our house. So, in the kitchen his board is hanging on the wall and includes everything he could want in the kitchen. We did this because it would have been too many pictures in his book, so we decided his book could be more mobile.

In addition to his PECS book and boards, we have set up a daily schedule board for him. It is a huge dry-erase board that hangs in our living room. We have pictures with magnets on the back in the time slots of everything we are going to do in that day. As we go through our day, he takes down the pictures and places them in the “all done” envelope at the bottom of the board. This board really helps him transition through his day with less anxiety…knowing what to expect is so important for Kaden.

We have started to introduce “social stories.” These are little books of all of his different routines. For example, his social story for bedtime will have pictures of everything he does during his routine. “Kaden brushes his teeth” and next to it will be a picture of Kaden brushing his teeth.

It sounds like a lot, and at times it is. It is a lot of planning and discipline for all of us. With that being said, it is so worth it to see him as he learns to communicate and function in his day to day life without all of the frustration one must feel from not being able to talk. He wants to communicate so badly, and now that we are giving him the tools to do so his whole world has changed.

I think it is ironic that 2 years ago it was Kaden who was one of my biggest inspirations to study graphic design. I have been told that I have a “keen eye” when it comes to graphic design. Well now I get to take all I know from my inner creative toolbox, and create visuals to help Kaden in his development. I have worked on a lot of wonderful design projects in the last couple of years, but not one of them has been as important as this one.

Without the pictures in Kaden’s life we would still be trying to anticipate his needs and he would still be extremely frustrated. Next time you snap a picture, remember that in someone’s life a simple picture could be making a world of difference!

Angels

My heart is full today. It is full of happiness, pride, and gratitude.

This morning something truly amazing happened. I was sitting in my office staring at my blog contemplating what my next entry would be about. Kaden climbed up on my lap and together we were staring at the picture of him and I on this blog. I said “Kaden, that is you and mama. Can you say mama?” He smiled. He looked at me and said “mmmmmmm.” After a few minutes of coaching he put his sounds together and said “mmmmmaaaaaaaam.” He then said “mam” about 5 more times and I was so excited, I started yelling and clapping. I have been waiting for him to say this for two years!

I am incredibly thankful to all of Kaden’s therapists. Every day, Kaden looks out the window waiting for one of his therapists to arrive. After they are finished, he watches them out the window as they leave, signing thank you. In my eyes you are nothing short of angels. You are saving his life, you are his best friends, and he looks forward to seeing you every day. He knows you are fighting for him, he knows you are on his side. You amaze me with your patience, enthusiasm, and passion for what you do. You are not only opening up Kaden’s entire world, but you are giving our family tools that we will take with us for the rest of our lives. You cannot put a price on this. We are so lucky that Kaden has the best of the best working with him right now. This time is crucial, and we can never get it back.

I am thankful for our amazing family and friends ~ you know who you are. For all of you who knew nothing about autism but have taken the time to research, read the books, watch the movies, and ask all of the questions in the world. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for not looking at Kaden and saying “Wow, he looks normal.” Instead you did your own research and tried hard to relate to us on this confusing, crazy journey. Thank you for not judging the decisions we have made as parents but rather supporting them. For all of those close to us who felt as if they never had a connection with Kaden and said “wow, I thought it was just me,” thank you for not giving up and taking the time to form your own special connection with Kaden. It means more to him than he can let you know, I see it in his face every day.

Thank you to Kaden’s cousins who are constantly teaching him, forcing him to interact, and pushing him. He loves you guys more than he can even express. But one day he will be able to tell you how much he loves and appreciates you.

Kaden is so loved. Without all of the amazing people surrounding him, this journey would be so much more difficult. Please know that we appreciate each and every one of you, every single day.

As a family, we face challenges every day with Kaden’s development. I am not going to lie, It is not easy watching him among his neuro-typical peers. There are days that it hurts, but days like today make all of those challenges fade away. Kaden will be ok. He is so smart and amazes us day after day. There are no words to express how proud I am of my little man, and how thankful I am for the angels in his life!