I can hardly believe that almost 4 months have passed since I've had a chance to write an update on Travis! Things have been quite hectic all along, but most recently Jeff has been working non-stop since the oil rig explosion (his company flies BP) and I've been struggling just to make it as a "single parent". All vacations are on hold at his job which is unfortunate because we are going to a horse ranch in Arkansas next week for Travis to - hopefully - get some experience on the horses which are very gentle and can work with kids with special needs. We have some very kind and gracious friends who offered to let us stay there for an entire week free, and we arranged it last September to be the first week in June which is when Travis' program at the Children's Hospital is on break. So we are going without Jeff... thankfully Nana and Papa are going too so I will have some help! It is about a 12 hour drive and I believe the closest big grocery store is a couple of hours away so it should definitely be an experience.
Overall, spring has been good and Travis is doing well. He's made lots of progress with speech (4-6 word sentences!) and being more interactive over the last few months. He also is much better with going to new places and meeting new people. The only thing that doesn't seem to be coming along too well is the physical improvements with his GI tract. Despite being on a strict special diet for 18 months, and a ton of different supplements and more recently different drugs, based on the stool and urine tests he isn't making much progress with getting rid of all the yeast overgrowth in his gut along with several pathogenic bacterial infections and imbalances. At 3 1/2 years old he's still not had normal stool, and this is a bit distressing since we hope (someday) to be potty trained. We started with a new MD a few months ago and I'm hoping we get some better results soon. But, on the bright side, his behavior has overall been pretty steady so that's something to be grateful for.
On the Son-Rise (home program) front, we had a great experience in April when we had a consultant from the east coast come for 3 days to work with Travis and help us improve our program. Over that time she worked one-on-one with Travis in his playroom for about 9-10 hrs, observed each of us work with Travis and gave us feedback on improving our techniques, ran a group meeting for us, and even did a session with Travis and Julia in the playroom together. It was great to see how well he did with her in the room (she certainly was very skilled and got wonderful responses, eye contact, and flexibility from him) but even more exciting was to hear from her how well he's doing. We track his progress on the Son-Rise "developmental model" but we're never sure if we're accurate in our assessment, and it was great to have her professional opinion about where he's at, which was even farther along than we had thought. It also made me feel more relaxed about the various approaches we're taking (home program, TX Children's Hospital, PPCD in the public school, diet, supplements, etc) since it seems to be is working for him. Since progress is always so much slower than we would like, I can't help but wonder sometimes if we should be doing more or less of some things, and it was really nice to have some reassurance.
Well, I think that covers most of what's been happening on our end. Julia had her last day at preschool today and the public school PPCD class will end for Travis next week, so summer should be a little more relaxed with only Travis' TX Children's program to attend. Both kids will do swim lessons this summer, and Travis finally got a slot at the local hippotherapy program (after almost a year on the waiting list) so he will start riding a horse just a week after we get back from the horse ranch. Talk about perfect timing! Hopefully he'll have a good experience on our trip and be excited about riding a horse when he gets back.
I'll look forward to updating more soon!
Fund Raising For Travis
Hello! We are Travis’ parents, Laura and Jeff, and have set up this web page in response to family and friends who have been so loving and generous in wanting to help us on this journey. We appreciate all the love and support you give us, and your well wishes are a most valuable resource for all of us!
Travis is a beautiful, sweet boy with an adorable laugh and twinkle in his eye. After developing normally for the first year of his life, Travis stopped babbling around 12 months and became delayed in other areas of development. At 18 months, he was diagnosed with autism. Autism is a developmental disability resulting in challenges in language, communication, cognition, and social interaction. While there are many things that are still challenging and frustrating for Travis, he also gets a lot of joy out of life. He loves to climb and play outside, run around with his big sister Julia (5 yrs old), and play in his "Son-Rise" playroom with family, volunteers, and therapists. At 4 yrs old, he has progressed over the last 2 years from communicating with signs and sounds to speaking in multiple word sentences, and developing much more interaction with others.
Travis’ parents are helping Travis overcome his autism with a home-based, child-centered Son-Rise Program® in combination with biomedical interventions and other therapeutic options. The Son-Rise Program® has helped thousands of children move towards recovery, using an optimistic, loving approach that is based on the belief that all children have a limitless potential for extraordinary healing and growth. Funds raised initially were used to help Travis’ parents attend the Son-Rise Program® Start Up, a five-day group training course at the Autism Treatment Center of America™ in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in September of 2008. Additional funds were used for Laura to attend the advanced Son-Rise training programs Maximum Impact (in March 2009) and New Frontiers (November 2009), as well as to support his enrollment in other therapeutic settings such as the Bridges Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, where he received Floortime, speech, and occupational therapy for a year and a half. Current donations are being used towards continuing private therapy with his former Bridges therapists following the closing of the Bridges program in September 2010 due to budget cuts . To find out more about The Son-Rise Program® visit the website: www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/.
To send a donation for Travis, you can send a check to our address below, or click the "Donate" button on the right to donate with a credit card using PayPal. Please note that this donation will not be tax deductible since we are not a non-profit organization, as the funds raised will help one particular individual. Any amount is most appreciated and helpful, but nothing is as valuable as all your positive thoughts and prayers! We are amazed at the generous outflow of kindness that has already come our way in response to starting this journey. Everyone seems to know someone who is willing to share their story, experience, advice, or information about a new therapy, dietary intervention, educational program, etc. This support has been so very helpful by both providing us information and also letting us know that we’re not doing this alone. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!!!
- Laura Licato and Jeff Meier
Travis Meier
4607 Rainbow Valley Ct, Missouri City, TX 77459
For more information, email: travismeier@sbcglobal.net
Travis is a beautiful, sweet boy with an adorable laugh and twinkle in his eye. After developing normally for the first year of his life, Travis stopped babbling around 12 months and became delayed in other areas of development. At 18 months, he was diagnosed with autism. Autism is a developmental disability resulting in challenges in language, communication, cognition, and social interaction. While there are many things that are still challenging and frustrating for Travis, he also gets a lot of joy out of life. He loves to climb and play outside, run around with his big sister Julia (5 yrs old), and play in his "Son-Rise" playroom with family, volunteers, and therapists. At 4 yrs old, he has progressed over the last 2 years from communicating with signs and sounds to speaking in multiple word sentences, and developing much more interaction with others.
Travis’ parents are helping Travis overcome his autism with a home-based, child-centered Son-Rise Program® in combination with biomedical interventions and other therapeutic options. The Son-Rise Program® has helped thousands of children move towards recovery, using an optimistic, loving approach that is based on the belief that all children have a limitless potential for extraordinary healing and growth. Funds raised initially were used to help Travis’ parents attend the Son-Rise Program® Start Up, a five-day group training course at the Autism Treatment Center of America™ in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in September of 2008. Additional funds were used for Laura to attend the advanced Son-Rise training programs Maximum Impact (in March 2009) and New Frontiers (November 2009), as well as to support his enrollment in other therapeutic settings such as the Bridges Program at Texas Children’s Hospital, where he received Floortime, speech, and occupational therapy for a year and a half. Current donations are being used towards continuing private therapy with his former Bridges therapists following the closing of the Bridges program in September 2010 due to budget cuts . To find out more about The Son-Rise Program® visit the website: www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/.
To send a donation for Travis, you can send a check to our address below, or click the "Donate" button on the right to donate with a credit card using PayPal. Please note that this donation will not be tax deductible since we are not a non-profit organization, as the funds raised will help one particular individual. Any amount is most appreciated and helpful, but nothing is as valuable as all your positive thoughts and prayers! We are amazed at the generous outflow of kindness that has already come our way in response to starting this journey. Everyone seems to know someone who is willing to share their story, experience, advice, or information about a new therapy, dietary intervention, educational program, etc. This support has been so very helpful by both providing us information and also letting us know that we’re not doing this alone. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!!!
- Laura Licato and Jeff Meier
Travis Meier
4607 Rainbow Valley Ct, Missouri City, TX 77459
For more information, email: travismeier@sbcglobal.net
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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