Holiday Lights Synchronized to Music!
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HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! The Christmas lights and music will be on 7 days a week from 5:30pm - 11:00pm from 12/1 - 12/31! Tune your radio to 91.3 to hear the stereo broadcast! NOTE: The Light Show will be off during *heavy* rain or snow storms for the safety of everyone. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The Entire Christmas Show For 2011 is 27 Minutes Long!
IMPORTANT! WE ARE DOING THE CANNED FOOD DRIVE AGAIN IN 2011 Hopefully, people remember from last year 2 years that we have been doing a food drive. Shane was pretty proud and has received some recognition from the Cub Scouts and everyone is asking for it again for 2011! The box will be in the front by the mailbox, you can't miss it. It will be out all day/night for the next month and emptied each night. We are wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas for 2011 as things are starting to be a little brighter around here (other than the lights). Last 2 years just felt dismal due to the economy and the suffering going on. If you are a first time visitor, please read through the rest of the information below as this is the main reason I started doing this website.
OUR STORY I hope you are here because you saw one of our holiday light displays in front of our house and I hope you enjoyed it if you did! (I think it's a little more desirable than my website for sure!) If not, you can find links to the videos from previous holidays or a MAP to come and see them! Please make sure to Sign Our Guest Book! Not getting any younger and with the kid still alive in me, I purchased my first set of hardware & software to run my first show in 2006 and it was alot of fun and un"fortunately" - addicting. However, in 2007 I decided to use my animated light show that I use for the holiday's (Christmas & Halloween as of right now), to help spread awareness of Autism as well. There is so much I could cover right now, but the most important thing for me at this point, is that you are here and are reading this! My goal is simple: to get people to learn more about Autism and the rate at which it is growing - visit here at Autism Society of America to see what I'm talking about! If we can help just one person become aware of the signs that your child might have autism so you can start treatment early, then I think we have done a good job. Read on to find out why..... In 2006 we realized our youngest son Ryan (16 Months old at the time) was not developing like our oldest son or our all of our wonderful friends kids and felt concerned. For almost everyone who has not had to deal with this, the reaction is always "How you could not notice anything?" The reality is that the answer we got when we questioned early on was "Let's give it a little more time" or "All kids do that, it's normal and they are just learning." So, in talking with our pediatrian and our AWESOME school district (Macomb Intermediate School District) we started him in special schooling just before 2 years old and has made great progress, but we know we have a long way to go. While had not been "officially" diagnosed with Autism, all of the things we had researched had pretty much led us to give into the fact that he was afflicated with this disorder and we are going to do whatever it takes to help him grow into a normal adult.
2008 UPDATE In February 2008, Ryan was officially diagnosed with autistic disorder. Again, early treatment seems to be key in treating this disorder. We can honestly say that since February '08 and over the summer, he has made some very significant improvements! We did start him on some heavy vitamins, cod liver oil and dietary suppliments for yeast control in late 2007, as well as attempt a total Gluten Free/Casein free diet. The diet was very difficult and we really had a hard time with finding things he liked. We made it through the summer keeping Ryan active in as much social interaction and heavy play/excercise (He loves to swim!) as we could. We went and saw Jenny McCarthy and got inspired even more to get him well! We are seeing a DAN! Dr. regularly (Defeat Autism Now!) and have him a total Gluten Free/Casein Free diet along with the vitamins & B12 shots that we give him every 3 days. Needless to say, thanks this Dr., we finally were able to determine the root cause of all his skin problems were directly related to allergies to Dairy, Soy, Wheat & Corn (along with his severe egg allergies!) so that helped motivate us even more. Visit www.autism.com for more information about DAN! Ryan is now in a full time A.I. Program (Autistic Impaired) 5 days a week all year long through the Macomb Intermediate School District (MISD). He gets on the bus every morning and LOVES IT and we've met some great parents that helped us learn some cooking tips for a GFCF diet! 2009 OCTOBER SCHOOL UPDATE Ryan has been in the Autistic Impaired (AI) program now for just over a year and has recently started transitioning to a MAINSTREAM pre-school! Now, that comes with alot of hard work and blessings from God. While there is still a very LONG way to go, we are pleased with the advancement. While Ryan still has difficulty talking, it certainly a sigh of relief knowing he can talk! His reading, word recognition, numbers and all that are amazing. 2 days ago I just decided to open up notepad and start typing things like "I LOVE MY MOMMY AND DADDY AND MY BROTHER SHANE" - and he frigg'n read everything as I typed! I did this for about 5 minutes and was blown away. Social skills are still the hardest thing to obtain, but it's something that is worked on daily with school and with us. We've been working on potty training for about 6 months, but not there yet. He'll go to the "potty" if we ask him, but he won't go on his own... Oh, well.... It's progress and we'll keep working on it! 2010 OCTOBER SCHOOL UPDATE It's been a LONG hot summer but a very exciting year for us because we took another giant leap with Ryan. Near the end of the "regular school year" (Before other kids go on summer vacation, which Ryan never has because the AI program goes to school all year long), we were told by the MISD/AI program that they believed he was ready for FULL TIME MAINSTREAM KINDERGARTEN! Oh, boy, you gotta be kidding us! So, we went to the Elementary School and had like 12 people from social workers, his current teacher, occupational therapist, the principle, and went over everything with them. They basically then gave us the "Welcome To Elementary School" treatment and it made for an exciting summer looking forward to the next big challenge. So 1 month in and while there has been a few rough spots, his doing pretty good. Transitions are not to difficult, but sharing and wanting to be "First and not last" in lines to do things is the hardest part. This is all due to video games and racing his big brother to do just about everything (Get in the car, get buckled in, brushing teeth, get to the swings, etc..) So, we are working on that with help from the school which has been really helpful with the help of his teacher and his aid. Really, thank you Ms. Chaney & Ms. Jordan we think the world of you for helping our child out! Ryan's communication skills are still rough for a 5 1/2 year old, but he understands when we talk to him and sentences are starting to form a little better, but we still have alot of work to do. The exciting thing is he is at a 3rd grade reading level, so that really helps learning to talk and it will only get better. 2011 NOVEMBER SCHOOL UPDATE Ryan is still maintstream and now in first grade! Somebody is watching over us as we continue to pull rabbits out of our hats in the teachers he gets (or maybe we just have a great school!) He does still have some bad days and can't stay focused and on task and ends up in the resource room. His verbal communciation is getting better and his comprehension is progressing as well. He is VERY excited about seeing the lightshow and was going nuts when I did a test run last night. Look for him in the window when you are watching the lights as he loves to count the beats to the music and the leaping arches. We can certainly see progress all the way around and we have been taking him to additional therapy a few times a week on top of his normal school schedule at Center for TLC right here in Chesterfield. They have been awesome and have taught him so much including how to tie his shoes! Who-woulda-thunk-it! Once again, thanks to our all of our Friends & Family for not only coming to see our show, but also spreading the word. We've been so fortunate to meet so many great people through the school system and people that would have just been seen in the hallway during conferences are people we consider not just friends, but part of our extended family. From our entire family, Have A Great Holiday And Happy New Year! Sincerely, Ryan, Shane, Chuck & Megan
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