LEARNING NUTRITION

Since I’ve spent so much time researching what to do to help my twins with special needs, I decided that I might as well get a degree in nutrition. I’ve been using what I’m learning to keep enhancing their health and overall gains. This is what Amor thinks about it…

Praise the Lord indeed! Amor had sensory issues as a child, a lot of which she has overcome.

Today, she has lingering irritability and digestive issues. But I am so thankful that she has been learning to “listen to her body” to know what helps her! She’s my best nutrition client so far 😉!

#nutritionstudent #ourASEAjourney

Best friends 

I thought I was blessed when Pam volunteered to be Nathan’s Son-Rise Program…I am super blessed because Pam’s 10-year-old daughter, Elli, happily volunteers for Amor’s Son-Rise Program. Amor rightly calls Elli, her Best Friend! 
We are mightily blessed!

In the photo: Amor ends her Son-Rise session with this letter to Elli!

Life is a Breeze with Amor

Wow! It’s such a breeze doing groceries with Amor now. 
She was was so good on the bus ride from school, she waited patiently for her favourite tamago sushi, she helped me pick up the groceries and patiently waited in line at the cashier and at the taxi stand.  

When Amor was younger she was very irritable and rigid. It was hard for her to transition from one activity to another.

Thus, an activity like this would be peppered with tantrums and resistance. But today, the only quirkiness that made me smile was Amor asking the same question (or variations of the same question) over and over again and her scratching the seat belt (which I believe helps calms her hearing senses). But I like querky 😄!

Life is a blessing!

In the photo: I was loving Amor’s demeanour as she helped me get the groceries.

Overcoming Sensory Issues

As a toddler, Amor used to have so much sensory issues. She refused to wear shoes, she refused to fix her hair and obviously Jewellery were out of the question.
Back then, I never though I would ever have a photo like this, Amor with braided hair wearing bracelets. This morning she asked me to braid her hair and she found her birthday-gift bracelets and chose to wear them.
A lot of Amor’s sensory issues were managed because of our Son-Rise® attitude which helps to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for her. We continue to give her the reassurance she needs so that she can overcome all of her adversaries.

Spot the Special-Needs Child???

One of the “controversial” principles of the Son-Rise Program® is that specials needs kids grow best in a distraction-free, one-on-one environment. That means keeping them at home, no parties, no crowded gatherings UNTIL the child can handle over sensory stimulation and can better relate to people.

I have never doubted that principle. Amor always responded well in a distraction-free, one-on-one environment like bed time. At school, when there are more kids and more parents around, I used to get puzzled why Amor couldn’t follow simple instructions, couldn’t hold a conversation, became irritable and could not transition to next tasks.

I happily chose not to go to parties with Amor. I also did not like the idea of Amor grabing party food out that was outside her special diet.

But today she’s ready…with just a bit more assistance. I assisted her at the beginning of the party so she could participate in games. 😅

When the relay games started, however, I watched Amor as she studied the kids in front of her. I felt confident that she didn’t need assistance to participant in the game. So I got video to capture the fantastic moment!….Now, try to spot the child with special needs.

You can hear me in the background cheering as if my daughter just won the Olympics! True enough, I know she is already a champion!

God is good!

Amor’s Progress 2014

The SRP has helped us deal with many of Amor’s sensory issues and manage her irritability. I personally observe her in school and, because of the SRP, know what conditions will help her flourish. I continue to work with her teachers and therapists, asking them to adapt some SRP techniques at school. Since then we have helped Amor, conduct better lunch manners, be more compliant, stop copying manners other kids with autism, use more words rather than tantrums to move teachers, etc. We have also started conducting a “weekend” SRP to augment Amor’s schooling. Amor has since learned and applied appropriate social reactions in public.

Overcoming sensory hearing issues

When Amor was younger, she had sensory hearing issues. She hated the sound of the vacuum cleaner, blender or even an electric toothbrush. She would freak out every time I invited her to dry her hands with the electric dryer in public comfort rooms. As a result of her hearing sensitivities, she had trouble picking up and singing her nursery rhymes on tune. I though she simply took after me. I can only sing in the shower :-). Haha. She still has a little issues with certain sounds, the issues comes and goes, but she has definitely come a long way and continue to overcome many challenges!

It’s so fascinating watching her catch the right melody and tunes of this song. And unlike her previous Christmas presentation, she is so connected with the crowd and not distracted by the microphone anymore! We just enrolled her in singing class and she learned so much so fast! Hurrah for her music teacher!

The biggest thing that has helped us with Amor’s sensory issues is The Son-Rise Program. Simply understanding that Amor could not handle those sounds…YET and removing them, putting her in a distraction-free environment, to nurture her growth first until she was ready for the challenge. Sure enough, today, whenever I invite her to dry her hands in public dryers, she will gladly do it as I tell her how proud I am that she is so brave dealing with that “loud” sound. Of course, we continue to work on Amor’s health by ensuring she doesn’t not eat preservatives, coloring, sugars, gluten and casein. We also test and supplement mineral/vitamin deficiencies.IMG_3525

It’s getting so easy teaching Amor

It’s so easy teaching Amor to follow instructions now. Mind you this is a laptop (not iPad), which requires more fine motor and hand-eye-coordination skills. Both of which has been her weakness for years.

Plus she doesn’t even get frustrated trying and easily laughs at her mistakes and tries and tries again. She used to be so irritable and frustrated as soon as she couldn’t do things.

This has got to be the chlorine dioxide (formerly called MMS)!

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Amor’s awareness

Me: Amor, do you want Tita Pam to be your son-rise volunteer?
Amor: Yes!
Me: How about Nathan?
Amor: He already has a son-rise volunteer, Tita Aldhel is his son-rise volunteer.
Me: What does a son-rise volunteer do?
Amor: Amm…helps children recover from autism.
Me (shocked at her awareness!): How did you know that?
Amor: From watching the video.

I am so amazed at how deeply Amor understand everything happening around her 🙂

Amor learns to read

Amor has vision problems and short attention span so I have never forced her to read is she didn’t want to. At one point I was worried dyslexia might be an issue (still am). Lately in school, however, she has shown so much interest in reading. Now that it’s her motivation, we’ve been using letters and flash cards for interaction and she’s responding very well. Since it’s now a motivation, it can be used to PROPEL her learning so she can catch up with they peers. We’re going to teach her to read the Son-Rise way: lots if Energy, Excitement and Enthusiasm (3Es), lots of encouragement and use internal motivation to keep learning!

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