International Day

Today was International Day at Ciara's school. Each class presented a different country on a trip around the world. The trip ended when the flight returned to the United States. Ciara's class represented USA and closed the show. She had a good time and it was a fun day and I am so glad I was able to go and spend the day with her as Dad stayed at home with the littlest kidlet.

She's the cute one in the middle :o)

It's blurry, but I thought it was cute!

On a side note... some of you know I conducted an Irish Dancing "boot camp" as I was recruited by the 4th grade to teach them some Irish dances. Being a hermit or recluse or whatever you like to call it by nature, this was a big step for me and I had a blast! (The fact that dancing after all these years didn't cause a cardiac infarction was a plus.) The students were so eager to learn and very receptive and quickly learned their steps. They were always gracious and respectful to me and I loved the experience. They opened the show this morning and were quite a hit.

After the performances, we went to all the classrooms to sample various treats from all over the world. All the proceeds go to the Sisters of St. Louis mission work.

Life after the Prom...

Brendan had a wonderful time at the Prom! Thank you for all the well wishes.

He enjoyed dinner and the music - to a point. He moved from the main dance hall to the quiet room and eventually wanted to stay in the quiet room. It was past time for his night meds, so Dad got the call about 9:15pm (the Prom started at 6:30pm and was scheduled to end at 10:00pm) and since he had spent the evening in the parking lot - yay Dad! - he was right there to pick up Brendan. They arrived home about 10pm and Brendan was wide awake and very excited until about midnight. He had a good time and he had his trusty toy horse in the pocket of his jacket to keep him company :o)

The next day his special needs swim team - the Stingrays - battled Leaps 'n Boundz at a swim meet at the Rose Bowl. The lad swam in two races, but there was much disappointment that he didn't swim in his signature race - the breast stroke. But he had a great time. After 3 hours of baking in the sun, Dad and Ciara and the swimmer headed home.

Yesterday was Mom's first I.E.P. (individualized education plan) meeting at Brendan's school. All went fairly well and the goals that have been set for Brendan for the next 12 months are simply wonderful and will help him become more independent in his world. Today he assisted one of the classroom aides in making brownies and preparing chicken for the student run salad bar. Yay Brendan! The IEP was such a positive experience and a far cry from the meetings of old. Under the required "strengths" section on the IEP the team came up with the following: "Friendly, happy, enjoys coming to school, eager to learn, shows pride in his accomplishments, likes verbal praise, willing to try new things, puts forth great effort in all he does." For those of you who have journeyed with us along the way in Brendan's education you know the enormity of these words. And even if you're new to our journey it's pretty darn awesome.

Brendan's Big Day

Not only is today the feast of St. Brendan, it's also Brendan Michael's Prom Night! The girls and I snapped a few shots of him before he headed out the door.

My baby boy!

Not his usual shorts and t-shirt ensemble.

A huge thank you (and some smooches) to Mary for the

beautiful handmade keepsake boutonniere.


The girlies posing with their bro before he leaves for a night of dancing.



"Day of Dreams"... The day before the Prom, the high school and transition students at his school attended a local high school for typically developing students. Each student from Bren's school was partnered with one or two high school buddies and spent the day hanging out with them. The buddies take the students to play basketball, volleyball, sing, dance, play percussion instruments and do some art as well. The students all had lunch together. His teacher reported it was a fun day.

The Scholar

Second trimester awards were handed out today at Ciara's school. Dad represented the family.

Ciara maintained her First Honors status by earning a GPA of 3.68.

We are very proud of you, Ciara Mairéad!

An update and some randomness thrown in for good measure.

I posted numerous blogs today as I had much catching up to do. I’m not sure if they all fit on the first page, so if not, be sure to check older posts so you don’t miss any.

John has a complete rupture of his bicipital tendon and has torn ⅔ of the rotator cuff on his left arm. He and I will be meeting with the surgeon again on the 27th of this month. He will be in a cast/brace with his arm pinned to his side for 6 weeks following surgery. This should be interesting in our house, don’t you think? The surgery is a necessity as if he tears the remaining third it will be unlikely that the doctors will be able to repair the shoulder.

Áine had a visit with her orthopedic surgeon yesterday afternoon and he is pleased with her progress. She will be fitted for new leg braces over the summer and she was the subject of a presentation her doctor gave at a national conference recently. And it turns out she has a stress fracture in her right heel. That would explain the not wanting to bear weight and the falling down. Sometimes it’s the obvious things that we miss with her.


Since the visit with the endocrinologist at CHLA was a bust, we were referred to a neuroendocrinologist at UCLA. Go Bruins! We called for an appointment and even gave the name of our contact to get in as soon as we could and we were given the first available appointment of October 7th at 8:00am. Sigh. (Update... some strings were pulled and we now have an appointment on June 4th!)

Brendan will be attending the Prom at his school on May 16th. I’ll be sure to post pictures. Ciara helped put together his ensemble.


Ciara is counting down the days to the end of the school year and has set goals this summer to learn some new cooking skills with Momma, catch up on her scrapbooking, read lots of books, and relax. That’s my girl!


Family update over... WARNING... some venting ahead.



Here’s a tip for what might not be appropriate behavior in a crowded waiting room at a childrens hospital. It might not be appropriate to whisper sweet nothings to your significant other. It might not be appropriate to nuzzle said significant other’s chest. And I do mean the chest of the female kind. It might not be appropriate to kissy-face in the waiting room. It might not be appropriate to slurp on the neck of said significant other. It might not be appropriate to express your pleasure audibly. It might not be… well, I think you might get the picture. In all my years of waiting in hospital, therapy, and doctor waiting rooms this took the prize.


And lastly, as most of you know if I never hear another word come out of Jenny McCarthy’s mouth, my life will be complete. That being said, I was facing a sleepless night the other night and while folding laundry turned on the only thing I could find on the telly – Chelsea Handler. I think the woman is a trip. Lo and behold Jenny McCarthy was her guest. Too tired to change the remote, I thought I’d give it a try since before Jenny forced herself into the autism world I found her rather entertaining. The two women were funny and I breathed a sigh of relief. You’d think I’d know better, wouldn’t you? At the tail end of the second segment, Chelsea whips out the “autism expert’s” third book. Jenny admitted to being tired of talking about autism and while she won’t be writing any more books on the matter - and I thank a benevolent God for that – she won’t be going away any time soon. Do you hear that, CDC and AAP? (Can’t you see them shaking in their collective boots?) Anyway, the woman has said some things that have sent me over the edge, but her pontifications on this night absolutely were the topper. Acknowledging her guest’s weariness of talking about autism, Chelsea asked her to share the one thing she’d like to tell mothers out there. Jenny proceeded to inform all of us that autism is preventable. That women need to cleanse their bodies of toxins. Don’t drink, don’t smoke, remove your mercury fillings. Ah, so it’s the mother’s fault that we keep birthing these children with autism. Interesting. It’s amazing how one person – who has an enormous and supportive following – can forever change all the work that has happened in the 50 years since autism was first acknowledged as an actual diagnosis. Moms in the early days of the autism diagnosis were the culprits of their children’s affliction because they withheld love. They were dubbed “refrigerator mothers”. Then we moved away from that tripe and the rightful definition of autism as a neurobiological disorder aka THE CHILDREN ARE BORN WITH DIFFERENT BRAINS finally made itself known. And now we have the autism expert Jenny McCarthy telling the world that Moms can prevent autism. Good to know, Jenny. I don’t smoke nor drink. Damn it all. Guess I should have replaced my fillings 16+ years ago. Thanks for the info. I never knew I had the power to stop a neurobiological disease.

An interesting development

The other day at speech, using her Dynavox Minimo, Áine requested music. Amy, her most wonderful SLP, instructed her to go to the toy closet and get it. The tape player is usually on a shelf higher than Miss Áine can reach so she usually goes into the closet and squawks for assistance. On this day after Amy gave the direction to get the tape player, Áine stood up, picked up her chair, and took it to the closet door. Amy and I looked at each other and wondered if what we thought was happening was really happening. Áine opened the closet door, picked up the chair, and took it inside. Amy helped her stand on the chair to reach the tape player. Now this may have been a coincidence, but Amy and I chose to give Áine the benefit of the doubt as she has never done this before. She brought the chair out of the closet and took it to the table where she and Amy happily listened to music.

Earlier this day Áine was on fire with her minimo. She is now able to use to make requests at recess as to whom she’d like to play with. The kids in her class love hearing their names and they love helping Áine. They all know that the minimo is Áine’s voice thanks to the wonderful explanation by Miss Roxanna. Áine was a hit on the playground as she asked to play with her friends.

Later at her speech therapy session with Cindy, Áine was able to have quite the conversation with her. At first I was going to put quotes on the word conversation, but that wouldn’t be fair. They had an actual conversation about her BFF at school and her job for the week at school and who she played with that day.

To see Áine communicate with the world in all her various ways is a blessing to behold.

Working hard after the requisite posing...

Here are a couple of shots of Áine at her session with Cindy - her speech therapist for AAC (augmentative and alternative communication).

Cindy, Áine, and her Dynavox Minimo.

Posing in the waiting room.

The Waiting Game

Here are the three kidlets as they await the start of Áine's PT session and Brendan's OT session.

This picture cracks me up... the smiling girl and the sleeping boy.

The studious girl.

Áine and OT

Here are some shots of Áine at OT (occupational therapy) with her therapist, Sue.

Sue is brushing Áine to help desensitize the feeling on her left arm.

Sue is putting a pedi-wrap on Áine's arm to extend the affected arm which she usually keeps flexed and can lead to muscle contractures.

Áine is writing her name in cursive with Sue's HOH (hand-over-hand) assistance. Sue uses the same key words every time and really only lightly holds Áine's hand for support. You can feel Áine's hand moving beneath yours as she forms the letters herself!

The result!

Please not the clothespins again, Sue!

Brendan and Amyfish

Brendan's last day of individual speech with his beloved therapist, Amy, was on Monday. He is now going to school 5 days a week and will receive speech and language services at school. Amy is a much loved member of the Madigan team and I know Brendan will miss her. However, since Áine will continue to see her, I know she will remain involved in Brendan's education plan.

(By the way, as you all know my boy LOVES animals and is accurate in naming them. When he looks at pictures of sea life he always says "Amyfish" when he sees an angelfish. Love it!)

Of spectacles and CBT...

Ciara Mairéad once again lived up to her fashionista reputation with the selection of her new glasses. She tried on about 8 pairs, but kept returning to the Ralph Lauren Polo pair (thanks for passing along the brand name gene, Auntie Kat) because they felt good and complemented her hair and eyes and freckles. I have to agree.

On another note, Ciara asked me to share on the blog the latest development with her CBT - cognitive behavior therapy - to help with her OCD symptoms. According to her therapist, Ciara has had an atypical response to treatment. (Now for those of you who go waaaay back with the Madigans, this is not usually a good thing, but in this instance it is!) Rather than the usual course of treatment of 4-6 months of individual therapy, Ciara has managed to learn to control her OCD challenges in about two months of individual therapy. She has gone from asking well over 100 reassurance questions a day to an average of 3. Yay for Ciara! She will continue with her monthly group sessions and this will increase to twice a month during the summer months as symptoms seem to increase during that time.

Ciara has worked hard to understand her OCD and its triggers and we are most proud of our middle kidlet.

Smiling with "D"

Áine was playing with her beloved "D" aka Daddy the other night and I snapped these cute shots of her.

Helping Dad find her ear and then say "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer".

A Day at the Pool

It has been a while since I took some shots of Áine swimming. She is amazing to watch in the water. She knows how to hold her breath while underwater and can often be seen smiling at the same time. Her leg movements are incredibly symmetrical in water. It's a powerful therapy tool for her. And she is the diva of the therapy pool. She runs mostly with the geriatric set during her sessions and she enjoys making the social rounds and getting her nose touched and having her "fans" blow bubbles for her. Then it's back to the business of swimming and water safety. She is working on a one-armed freestyle stroke with the goal of one day joining Brendan on the swim team.

Waiting to swim.

Hanging out in the pool with the life belt.

Free at last sans life belt avec fins.

Not really digging having hips straightened.

Diving with Kathy!