Surfer's Healing

At long last....June 29th was here and it was time for Surfer's Healing. Matthew has been excited for months but due to his recent circumstances....lets just say his attitude has been dark. It was a beautiful day and Izzy and his wonderful crew were there waiting for our kids with kindness and incredible patience. Keiko and Rob came down to film the day too.
As expected these days, Matthew had a blow out and was aggressive and assultive with the Surfer's Healing team and Keiko who was trying to help him into a wetsuit. After several kicks and hits to the face of everyone helping some of the volunteers just threw a life jacket on him and played with on the beach and tried to calm him down. As a parent of a child with autism, your mind immediately thinks "Oh no. Here we go again" and I felt tears coming. But no......the clouds parted and the sun came back out when Puna (Matthew's instructor) put him on a board and brought him into the water. Well, he screamed on the way out but enjoyed the thrill of surfing and got up on the waves in! It was so exciting and for that time, he was just a kid named Matthew having a blast, autism was on the back burner for a short time. He was happy, laughing and being a boy. He did awesome and we are thinking of taking him to a week long family surf camp next summer with the Paskowitz Camp.

Look at him go!

In looking back, I wish we could have gotten the suit on him because the water was COLD and coming out was hard but wow! What a wonderful experience!

Izzy Paskowitz the founder of Surfer's Healing and a beautiful and kind soul.
Love you Izzy!

Thank you to Keiko and Rob for coming down to spend the day and film this incredible memory.
We loved sharing this day with friends too!

Yes, the hot blonde is my sister.

Thank you Puna for giving us a memory for a lifetime. You are a gift!

Thank you Surfer's Healing for giving our beautiful children the gift of surfing.
It was a reminder that all things are possible.
I will always have a place in my heart for you all!

Rough times

It has been awhile since I've posted...it has been a trying time for us. It is a long story but we have meed through a few medication changes and haven't found a balance that works for Matthew. He is struggling to hold it together and unfortunately isn't able to. We pulled him out of school because not only has he been extremely agitated and aggressive, he has been battling terrible insomnia, nausea and vomiting. It is heartbreaking for us and we don't know how to help him. When he is so dis-regulated I just don't feel comfortable having him out of my sight. To help pass the time (he has MAJOR cabin fever) we took a trip to the San Diego Zoo. Except for one 20 minute blow out, he managed to hold steady and had a great time.



We had a nice afternoon together and Matthew is already asking to go back again.

*****
We met up with a few friend last week to give bowling a try. I was a little nervous given the past few weeks but Matthew enjoyed himself and had fun.


Matthew and his special friend Natalie.

It has been so draining and I am hoping we find that mix that will work for him soon. Meds are hard and when it isn't a right fit, it is arduous. Whe it is a fit, it opens a new world for him so I am hoping and praying we get back to that place soon. I imagine it is awful to feel so uncomfortable in your own skin. I love you Matthew and we will do everything we can to help you through this.