A Deqlan Update!

Daredevil Deqlan wanting to jump from the top of the jacuzzi!
waterboys

playing on Dad is better then on the jungle gym!

looking at the moon and stars

from the other night, jupiter and venus in line with the moon

Hello Everyone!

We are so excited about this weekend! We are going to be welcoming Logan home! After more then a year and a half of being seperated, Deqlan and Logan will finally be able to play together again !! What an amazing sister you have been Logan - at your tender age, of then 5, to understand that to protect her brother from illness, she needed to stay away from him for so very long - the heartache in her eyes when she could only wave to him through the window, was a moment i will never ever forget! Will my gogga - God has given us the gift of Deqlans health and all is going to go back to normal - what a beautiful Birthday you are going to have on Sunday and what a wonderful Christmas we are going to have together, all together, celebrating what Our Lord has done for us.

We have also just heard that Logans report was wonderful , 4 a's, 2 c's and the rest b's - well done Logan - what a fantastic achievement, congratulations, you are firmly on your way to grade 2 - but enough about school for now, hey - we will think about that again in the New Year!

Granny Rene will drop Logs off later this afternoon! I CANT WAIT - is an understatement! Then tommorow we are going to go shopping for a few Birthday goodies for her little family celebration on Sunday - then in the afternoon i will take Logs and Deqlan to Hannahs 2nd Birthday Nemo Party - very excited - but its also going to be a learning curve for me to have a VERY active 2 year old and a very bubbly bouncy almost 7 year old, together, at the same time, all by myself - should be interesting ,but we got to start somewhere hey! Then on Sunday morning we are going to go with a family shoot, with the wonderful talented Loren, then go back to our place for a little family celebration for Ms Logans crown Birthday , turning 7 on 7 Dec! So be sure to check back in for news on the weekend and lots of photos

I think they can only be good for each other - Logs and Deqlan - I think Deqlan will relate to Logan in a child like way and want to communicate more with some one closer to his age and size. I think Logan will enjjoy taking care of and protecting Deqlan and showing him the ropes on lots of new things....

Deqlan is doing great - we have been in the jacuzzi a lot lately - water does wonders for our surfer boy - he never wants to get out and i find myself floating around and jumping around with him for over an hour most days - great work out for my arms, but more importantly great one on one time with Deqlan - his joy is so obvious in every splash and jump - his eye contact with me is amazing - so the real key to connect with Deqlan is during activities he enjoys and loves - so we will definitely continue with this - he loves watching Nanna say 1, 2, 3 and then jumping together with her - its a great sign that he is now understanding the concept of anticipation - 1, 2, 3 or ready, set, go - by 2 or by the word set - he is laughing and giggling cause he knows whats coming!

Every day is a little different - some days Deqlan like to line things up - this hasnt happened in a while though - some days - he gets so frustrated when he cant tell us what he wants that he will want to bite my arm , or his own knee - this has also improved this week - not one bruise!! The 'stim' at the moment ( an excercise Deqlan chooses to stimulate himself with) is turning , around and around and around - and he never gets dizzy - he also tries to look at things from the corner of this eye while spinning - another red flag on the spectrum - its actually very uncomfortable to do , and hurts our eyes terribly, so we got to think of ways to break this - more importantly - not to let him spin the whole day - we have to limit repetitive behavior - we dont wont things like this to become a 'habit' for him - so when he comes to Dada or Me to hold his arm and twirl him round and round , we do , and then try and change it into a jumping game - but at the moment, he is happiest when spinning around and around.

We have great days of eating and some not so great days - but in general this has improved - still battling with fruit and vege - but at least he is enjoying dried mango and raisins The amount of bread and biscuits he is eating has also decreased - which is a great thing! Deqlan still loves his cheese and juice, especially cream soda! Oh yes, we back into Oreos again, i dont mind sharing one or two with him either!

I continue to do lots and lots of reading and research and trying to get very organised for all the plans i have in store for Deqlan - but before i can do some of them, i have to complete 2 or 3 other things first - which i really want to jump into these holidays - first being the flash cards - dont know if i mentioned them before, we take actual photos of people he sees all the time, of items he uses, food he eats - and the hope is for Deqlan to use the cards to communicate with us and show us what he needs/wants - he already relates to photos of Mark and I and smiles everytime he sees Marks face, so i am so positive this is going to work - we dont want to use this system to replace the words, but to help him communicate while he learns to talk. At the moment Deqlan is saying car and mom - lots of other 'words/sounds' we are still trying to work out, sounds like Kitty could be on its way back - we just got to be patient with him , and i know in my heart , one day he will be talking the hind legs off a donkey!

Deqlan continues to amaze us with the things he does - we know he is so very intelligent - for example when he chooses a dvd to watch , he will put it in the machine and turn it the right way round, so that the letters are facing him , so that you can read whats on the dvd, he understands that letters ave to be a certain direction in order to understand them - he is fascinated with letters and numbers, and he probably understands so much more then what we know!

He loves Dub - dub his best buddy comes everywhere with us and gives him lots of comfort - he likes to sleep holding Dub - when he is playing and realises Dub isnt in the room, he knows exactly where he left him, goes to find him , and brings him to the room where he is playing! The other HUGE favorite is Thomas the Tank Engine - i have read many many sites and books that say kids on the Autism Spectrum love Thomas for some reason - he loves the dvd, and we have about 5 different Thomas trains, which he groups together , especially when watching the dvd - i saw a stunning Thomas ball pit today - going to chat to Mark about getting that for Christmas - he will love Thomas, and the balls , and being in a ball pit, creates deep pressure around Deqlan - which we learnt from Anri , our OT is part of the sensory integration programme.

We await details on when exactly we are going to be starting therapy again , but hopefully very soon in the new year

We are also going to be seeing a doctor from Cape Town , she is coming up on 14 Jan to meet with us, she did a DAN course in the USA and is a certified DAN doctor ( defeat autism now) as well as a medical doctor and homeopath - she will delve into possible biomedical reasons for Deqlan being on the spectrum , such as allergies to wheat or gluten, over active or under active thyroid - so we are looking very forward to her expertise and advise!

Well, let me be off for now got to prepare for Logs arrival! Hope you all have a great weekend, please please keep the prayers coming for our Deqlan, that he remains NED always. I also need to remind you to please keep praying for all our warriors, but especially at this time for Ruan, Declan, Elizabeth, Ilsa, Yolanda, Yolandie, Henco

God Bless, have a wonderful weekend

Lots of love

Mark, Samm, Deqlan

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE

MARK 29;23