Update

Even though it has not been too long since our last post, a lot has happened. We went to our appointment at WEAP (Wisconsin Early Autism Project) and Tom was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified) the doctor said that other than the speech delay it would be Asperger's but she could not dismiss the fact that he never started to speak on his own. Either way for now it doesn't matter much what you call it. She told us to continue to use the material that we are finding about Asperger's, as that will apply to him the most. We also finally got the results form the micro array back, that is the DNA test we had to determine if he has any sort of genetic disorder. The test came back positive. I was devastated by the news. I cannot explain why I took the news so hard, I guess because this could mean that more issues will arise in the future. It is also hard to think that only a couple of missing genes out of 30,000 have caused us so much heartache. The most disappointing news really was that so far they have not encountered any children with the exact same deletion so they do not know what to expect for the future. They were able to tell me that these genes operate the nervous system. More research is being done everyday with DNA and hopefully in the future we will learn more. We are having some additional tests done that may shed some more light on the DNA issue, I will update you about that when we here something. We had a meeting with the school this week. We will meet in a couple of weeks to create new goals for speech therapy for now. We will have to wait and see how things go and most likely will not get a full evaluation from the school until next school year. We will hopefully be starting occupational therapy with a private provider and also are looking into a few visits with a WEAP therapist, these are 100% self pay though so we would only go a few times in order to get some ideas on things we can work on at home. For now this will have to be enough. I have finally added our Christmas pictures so be sure to check them out. I also have been updating the Everything Autism section, so be sure to check that out (you will find the link on the side of this page), also within that section there are other places to click and I have been trying to update frequently.

Wait, wait, wait!

I would like to make a small clarification in regards to the post below this one about Obama. I would like to officially announce that I, Adam Neibauer am endorsing Barack Obama for 2008. I know that my endorsement carries much weight and is nothing to be dealt with lightly, therefore I chose to wait until TONIGHT to officially announce it. Everything before this very moment is mere heresay! Not that I don't support Hillary Clinton anymore, and I will certainly vote for her should she become the Democratic nominee ultimatley, but I do believe in what Barack is saying and think that we have the BEST chance for a new direction with Barack. Go Obama!

We are no longer a house divided...I won!!

I nearly forgot to share the most exciting Neibauer family news! Adam has finally come to his senses! We are now all on the same page! We are now Neibauers United for Barack Obama!!!!!

Time Flies...

Happy New Year...a week late! We have been so busy, it seems like only yesterday it was 4th of July! Things have been going well here. We are finally nearing the end of the work portion of our basement and all that will be left will be taking the previous owners to court and hopefully recovering the money that we spent to make the repairs. I for one will be happy when this whole thing is over! Adam has been enjoying his new job though the hours have been long. It is helpful that he is doing the job that I used to do so I understand what goes into it. I know that as much as he may want to leave at 5:00 or even 5:30 that a lot of times it is just not a realistic expectation. As things settle down hopefully he will be able to have a couple of days each week that he is able to leave on time. No matter how you look at it things are better for us now than they were a little over a year ago. When we were both working we all left the house at 6:45 and did not return home until around 6:30 or 6:45 each night! Now I get to stay home and have fun all day! Speaking of fun, Ben and Kami are really growing up! Kami is clearly not a baby anymore, she is a big girl now! She is very entertaining and really keeps me on my toes! She is getting to the age where she comes up with some very cute stuff! She is going to be a big sister in July and if you ask her where her mama's baby is she pats her tummy! Adorable! Ben changed practically overnight. He is getting around a lot, playing and being very interactive in general. He will definitely make sure I am getting my exercise that is for sure. It is so nice right now because Ben, Kami, Jack and I can all sit on the floor and play blocks together. Jack builds, Kami knocks down, and Ben and I laugh at them! That is all I have for now. Tomorrow we have our long awaited appointment at the Wisconsin Early Autism Project, I will let you know how it goes!