I have had the worst case of writer's block EVER I suppose because for MONTHS I just have had nothing worthwhile to say. Sure there's been plenty of meaningful moments and much excitement going on around me but I've just been in somewhat of a funk and just really felt that if I didn't have anything positive to contribute to the already overcrowded-with-crap internet, then I should do like my mama said and not say anything at all. But now I have gotten into (and fallen in LOVE with) the world of essential oils and - hooray!! I have something positive to contribute, once again!! But, before I can even go into how the oils are helping us, I feel like I need to do some catching up on what's happened since our last trip to UAB. For months and months that would have been an easy job because NOTHING HAPPENED. We waited. And we waited. And we waiting some more to hear from UAB after all the testing we went through only for them to tell us we needed more testing. But we were going to get the results of the tests that COULD BE useful for the future testing at some point. We had actually received the short-version of the results of the UAB testing over the phone. After all those long hours of tests, we came up with two rule-out diagnosis, meaning more testing was required to tell us what we went down there basically just to confirm. At this point, I have no doubt that my daughter is on the spectrum and definitely has attention issues. We were told that the final report would be mailed to us once it was transcribed which could take some time...and that it did.
Then, one day, we get a call from Vanderbilt that we have reached the top of their waiting list for the Autism Testing and they gave us an appointment. After feeling burned by UAB, I asked if this would be the same deal as UAB offered us: we drag the girl-child through all sorts of testing and poking and prodding just to be told we have to do even more 3 years down the road before we have an actual diagnosis. They said that was not the case with them and that we would within 2 weeks have not only our actual diagnosis for my girl, but also recommendations for things we could be doing to help her. Sounded wonderful to me! So, as it had been about 4 months or more since UAB was going to start typing their reports up and send them to us, I decided to call and check to see when we could be expecting them. All were ready except for the report from the psychologist who was about to go on maternity leave. With our Vanderbilt appointment rapidly approaching, I called and asked - no, BEGGED- her to PLEASE dictate her findings so we didn't have to go through the same testing at Vandy. Finally about a week before we left for Vanderbilt, we got the report. This turned out to be more important than we knew because the DAY before we were to leave for Vanderbilt, they call us to let us know that our insurance would not pay for any of the testing they were going to do. After hours on the phone it was concluded that our insurance does not cover Autism Spectrum Disorders AT ALL. Seriously. In 2015??? Nope! Not.A.RED.CENT. (Apparently other providers had billed differently, because in two plus years this had not been a problem.) I flipped my wig. We had waiting over two years for this test, had our hotel room booked and paid for, and needed $1500+ the next day. Fortunately, we had the resources to still be able to go, but what if we hadn't? What do people even do who have severely autistic children and wait for years to find out what is going on and then can't afford to get the help they need? I'm very thankful that's not our situation, but the wrong of it all just tears me to bits. So, we headed off to Vanderbilt and acutally had a really great time. Vanderbilt got us a discount on a really nice hotel which shuttled us to the hospital and we were able to make a fun trip out of it. The hospital was GREAT with wonderful staff and it went more smoothly than I could have ever imagined. Vanderbilt was able to use the testing done by UAB and it saved us about half of what we would have had to pay and more importantly saved the girl-child from hours of retesting. Within two weeks, we DID have our diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder; ADHD, Inattentive Type; and Anxiety Disorder. Most of what they recommended we were already doing, but they did suggest she receive Cognitive Behavior Therapy on a weekly basis instead of every six weeks as we had been doing due to the distance from our doctor in Birmingham (She's worth every mile!). It was just such a relief to have the actual confirmed diagnosis and to know that there is an actual physiological reason for some of her struggles. Once the problem is clearly identified, the solution is easier to identify as well! Isn't that what someone taught us in school? Math maybe?
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Leaving the hotel the morning of testing and Vanderbilt.
The girl-child wasn't real excited... |
So that puts us where we are today: Social Skills on Monday, Occupational Therapy on Tuesday, after school activity of my daughter's choosing on Wednesday (right now it's a "Gooey Science" class at her school), horse back lessons are for now scheduled for Thursday, and a Girl Scout outing on Friday. We squeeze the cognitive behavior therapy in there somewhere, too. That's just our typical week with no kinks or extra appointments (which we seldom have a week without, but you get the general picture). This is where the essential oils have come in. Not only is my daughter a prime candidate for benefiting from the oils with her anxiety and attention issues (she is the reason I tried them), but with all the stress and hustling, this mama needs to be on top of my game! As I have written in my introductory blog, I by no means seriously think of myself as the Mom Bomb. The majority of the time I am a HOT MESS, I tell you. I am less than well-organized for sure. My phone stays dead half the time and my husband says living with me is like a constant scavenger hunt because we are always searching for where I've left something: my phone, my glasses, the kids (just kidding on that one-they are hard to lose, trust me! ha!). But these oils, y'all! I can breathe again with them. Literally and figuratively. The baby is at long last sleeping through the night meaning I can get up and go to the gym with friends at 5 a.m. I feel healthy and am using the oils instead of the pharmaceuticals that made me feel so sluggish and blah. The oils are a game changer, I tell you. I actually feel like I'm winning for the moment! Or at least staying in the game. I'll talk more about how we are using them in future blogs, but don't worry. This is not going to become "Allison Sells Oils" blog. I still plan to blog about the crazy, the heart-wrenching, and the wonderful things going on in our lives. Until next time!!
But, I wasn't real sure that she would remember or take the time to do it so I wanted a better option. I did what I always do and turned to Pinterest for inspiration and came up with the idea of helping her make a clay necklace. We got almost all the supplies at Wal-Mart on our weekly shopping trip except for the stamps which were 50% off at Hobby Lobby where I got a good variety in a pack for about $4.00. All items below came from Wal-Mart. 
The Air-Dry clay was about $5 and was the most expensive item I bought. The closure attachments weren't really necessary since you can kit make the necklace long and just tie a knot but I thought we might make some bracelets too so I bought some just in case. You can use pretty much any kind of string or cord. 
The clay takes a day or two to dry then you just thread your cord through. I like to fold the cord in half and put the doubled end through a bit making a loop then pull the two loose ends through to make the necklace lay flat. 
You can then either tie on the closures or or just make the necklace long enough to tie a knot and slip it on and off their heads. Each morning before school, in addition to putting the oils on her skin, I add a drop of oil onto the necklace. The clay absorbs the oil so it's there during the day. She likes peppermint best and as it helps to increase focus, I think it's a great choice for her to wear to smell when she hits that mid day slump. 
On the necklace above, we also made a small bead out of some of the excess clay, poked a hole through it with our skewer and added it just above the pendant for a little extra decoration. We've learned these necklaces break fairly easy when left long and dangly, so I recommend making them shorter. Plus, it keeps the scent nearer to their noses. :)
