Building memories with a little extra (Part 2)

Wow! We wish we could stay longer in Florida because more than the emotion of going on a tour, we enjoyed each other some much as a family. This has brought a positive effect on all of us. Watching Tommy being confident, exploring, happy and enjoying the noisy environment made us realize he is beginning to heal. Skills I thought were lost began to reappear during and after the trip. In our vacation, we heard Tommy's voice more than ever. He said many words and even new words in English and Spanish. Some of the words I remember he said are: door, 'boca', galletita, ocean, dolphin, gorilla, drink, eat, bear, elephant, run, bye, hola.  One day, he passed by Francis and told to Francis 'I am Tommy Lane.' Which is curious because I randomly ask him 'Who is Tommy Lane? and point at him you are Tommy Lane. I do it just as a silly game. Other day, he made up a song while he was taking his bath. He surprised me! Because I could recall the events had an effect on him to pretend he was a singer –Elmo's DVD, American idol, he saw a singer in Panama city in a restaurant we went to eat dinner and he also saw a singer at Sea world. The night before, he took his clothes off by him self, saw I made a big deal of it. I clapped at him, hugged him, kissed him and made a lot of happy noises. I told him you did it! He said to me 'I did it' (it is not the first time he has said it to me when he has accomplished something). So the next day, he expressed it with a song!

Enjoy the song 'I DID IT' by Tommy Lane, Future American Idol!
He performed at the bathtub in a room at the Embassy Suite Hotel
in Orlando, Florida!

Saying 'boca' (mouth)

Here is Francis showing his moves at Sea World

We truly enjoyed this trip, specially, Tommy. He enjoys the evelevators, the hotel and even the halls at the hotel. He trully knows how to have a good time.

Here is the video of the moment we all were waiting

for,face-to-face, Tommy and Elmo. 

You can see the paparazzi (mom and dad) working together to capture the moment!

 

We all love Elmo!

Having fun the night before going to Walt Disney World

Yes! Tommy drove, but Daddy took over after 

crashing many times!

 

Tommy attacked me with kisses

I love this picture because it shows how we are as a family

I love this video of Tommy because he showed good manners while coughing,

 greeted at the camera and answered my question.

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

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Tips for families with a member with developmental challenges:

• I know that thinking on vacations is something many of our families with a child with developmental challenges cannot even think about it because of the high medical bills and private paid therapies. But there is always a way to make things can happen. The website www.autismtravel.org gives good ideas on how to organize a family vacation with your love one with developmental challenges. 
• Depending on the child's diagnosis and medical issues, it would be good considering the services of a travel agency for people with developmental challenges.  I personally don't have experience working with this type of agencies, but I want to share the information with other parents. Hammer Travel is a travel agency dedicated to help adults and children with developmental challenges to enjoy a vacation. To get more information you can visit their website: http://hammertravel.org/