Friday, November 04, 2016

Continue Following our Family

Whether or not you have a FaceBook account, you can follow our family's story as we continue learning and growing together at:

www.Facebook.com/TheCornishFamily

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Our (Current) Outlook on Dealing with Behavior

I’m often asked how we deal with behavior.  Let me start with-- we do not have “well behaved angels” with Down syndrome.  No, we have REAL people, REAL CHILDREN, REAL issues, REAL past hurts, and REAL trauma that we deal with around here.  That means REAL behavior issues.  For REAL!  So, when someone stops and tells me “your children are so well behaved!” I just might be jumping up and down inside.  Because we are SURVIVING!  It means that at that moment, no one is actively going nuts on me :D.  It’s a ‘win’!


Also, let me start off by saying that we are PARENTS.  We aren’t professionals.  Michael’s Master’s degree is in Organizational Leadership, not behavior management, and my Bachelor’s degree is in Education, not psychiatry (though I did minor in psychology! ;) ).  We don’t claim to have all the answers, don’t claim to do everything right.  We struggle through and are learning all the time!  We find something that works for one kid, for one month, then find out they’re no longer responding to it, meanwhile we have another kid it never worked for that something different did!  It’s a constant cycle of learning.  That’s why this list is far from exhaustive.  We are learning and trying new things ALL THE TIME.

We believe strongly that behavior is 2 things: Indicative of communication, and needing to be directly molded to be as appropriate as possible.

How we accomplish that is also a two-fold approach.  One is dealing with the behavior at hand, and the other is dealing with whatever it is communicating-- which can both work us through the behavioral challenge and help us to avoid it in the future.

None of this is anything spectacular or new, but it is sometimes just a reminder of what we already know that prompts us to be able to more effectively deal with behavioral challenges.  We don’t pretend to have all of the answers, and we are regularly met with behavioral challenges in all areas of life, so we are a definite work in progress!  I wrote this simply to share where we are at right now and to put it into one place.  


Remember, the ADULT behavior is also communication, and the adult’s response to the child is going to play a role in whether they want to repeat the non-compliant behavior in the future.

When met with a behavioral issue with a child, there are some initial things to keep in mind:
  1. CONSISTENCY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!

Monday, February 08, 2016

Our Annual update... 2016

It has been a whirlwind of a year and an awesome one at that!

2015 in review.  In 2015 we...

March: Sold our home in Florida.
March: Learned we would be having a new baby (biological) in November
April: Bought a house in Monroe, GA
May: Finalized the adoption of Paul Matthew Cornish (age 8, with Down syndrome- adopted through private US adoption after he was living with us for 18 months, originally from Bulgaria)
June: Adjusted to life in our new home and started our 2015-2016 school year.
July: Spent a week in Florida visiting family
August: Began AWANA with our entire family (except Kris since he's now in middle school youth group)
September: Started in on annual doctor's visits galore!
October: Made final preparations for our new arrival and finished up doctor's visits for the other kids
November: On the 3rd we welcomed our newest daughter, Harper Naomi via repeat c-section and spent the month resting and recovering while visiting with lots of family
December: More company, and Christmas!  Our first Christmas as a family of 13!
January: Sickness struck and we spent 2 weeks down and out.

A little about our children right now...

Aleksa: 13 years old.
Favorite things to do: play with baby dolls and swing.
Personality: She’s a watcher and takes in everything going on around her all the time. She is always working on figuring out social situations which can be positive or difficult depending on her frame of mind at that time.
Medical update: Behavior is still her biggest struggle.

Emma: 12 years old (13 in 2 weeks!)
Favorite things to do: Play with stacking type activities and flap flat objects.
Personality: Emma is a strong willed little one who always is calculating things within her perceived circle of interaction. She likes to rub the little boys' shaved heads.
Medical update: She was able to go to 'inserts' which wrap all the way around the top of the foot in her shoes instead of ones that 'velcro on' and she is walking great still with less support!

Kristopher: 11 years old (12 in 3 weeks!)
Favorite things to do: Play computer games, Lego’s, and explore.
Personality: Kris is loving and giving, he’s a go-getter and very driven when he has something he wants to see accomplished. Kris is a leader and will step in to help with situations when he sees a need.

Wesley: 11 years old
Favorite things to do: Snuggle with Odina (his service dog), roll and navigate his surroundings, hold his baby sister
Personality: Wes is happy and easy going with a great sense of humor and a stubborn streak thrown in.
Medical update: Wesley had 3 grand mal seizures in 2015 and was diagnosed with Epilepsy in January.  This is unfortunately a common 'coexisting' diagnosis for people with cerebral palsy.

Brianna: 10 years old
Favorite things to do: Play on the ipad or computer, navigate the roku, and run around outside.
Personality: Brianna is a go-getter but is definitely driven by technology. She can be extremely outgoing or extremely shy in different situations.
Medical update: All is well!

James: 9 years old
Favorite things to do: Listen to music, RUN, and sing
Personality: James is a busy busy kid who loves physical interaction and is easily overwhelmed or overstimulated.
Medical update: James was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss and will receive his first hearing aides tomorrow!

Micah: 9 years old
Favorite things to do: Flip through books, play ball or cars, swing, and pet the dog
Personality: Micah is a charmer and is quiet and sneaky as well. He’s always wearing a smile whether he’s being sweet or a stinker.
Medical update: We continue to struggle with hearing and speaking and figuring out any diagnosis for that or any reason for it.

Paul: 8 years old
Favorite things to do: Pet the dog, swing, and play ball
Personality: Paul is a watcher, but he’s also a snuggler. He’ll join in when he knows he’s going to be accepted into play.
Medical update: Clean bill of health!

Lynae: 6 years old
Favorite things to do: Color, play Minecraft, play with dolls
Personality: Lynae has a leader personality, and loves to play with others. She likes to diffuse conflict and will often put others first.

Delaina: 3 years old
Favorite things to do: color, play with dolls, play on the ipad, play with Harper
Personality: Delaina is a fun loving kid who wants to be big all the time. She is selfless in so many ways, always going out of her way to take care of the needs or desires of others, often without them needing to express that desire.

Harper: 3 months old
Favorite things to do: nurse, snuggle, and play on her ‘baby gym’ mat
Personality: Harper is pretty easy going at the moment, loves to be held, talked to, and see her surroundings.
Left to Right: Aleksa, Lynae, Emma, James, Micah, Brianna, Kristopher, Delaina, Paul, and Wesley
Homeschool Fire Truck Education day at our home in October 2015


Harper Naomi, born Nov 3, 2015 (~8 weeks in photo)

In front of our new home in April 2015
Kids from Left to Right: Wesley, Odina (Wesley's service dog), Brianna, Aleksa, Lynae, James, Delaina, Paul, Micah, Emma, Kristopher

For more updates, you  can follow our public page at Facebook.com/theCornishFamily whether or not you have a FB account.