Update

It's been over a month since I last updated this blog. Forgive me... I've been busy with end of the school year stuff, but now, school's out for the summer!!!

Camryn has had many, many successes over the past month. I'll do my best to try to remember as many as I can.

* Although we didn't get to go to her school awards program, (too much going on that we didn't realize when it was), Camryn was able to walk onto the stage to accept her awards. They sent a picture home with her, though. She definitely had on her "S.M. face," but the most important thing is that she did it!

* I had to work last Monday and Tuesday finishing up the school year, so my mom took Camryn to VBS those first two days. There wasn't an opportunity, as a result, for me to go in, give her teachers one of my little SM cards explaining why Camryn may not talk, which has been my standard procedure for the last several years. But when I took Camryn in on that Wednesday morning, she went right in and sat with her group. The next morning, I figured out that I could use the car rider line to drop her off. I had asked her if she had talked to any of her teachers. She said no, but that she had talked to the person handing out name tags since she had to tell them her name. So, I drove through the car rider line, she got out immediately (no hesitation), and walked up to the name tag table. She must've told the lady her name because she immediately started looking for the appropriate name tag.

* She participated in her VBS program last Thursday night. She was placed front row/center on the stage. I wasn't sure how that was going to work. Last summer, I would've had to tell them to move her to a different spot. Anyway, she didn't sing, but she did most of the movements. That is, until she spotted me watching her. Then she would stop and give me this really mean-looking stare, so then I would have to purposefully look at someone else performing until she looked away. When she caught me looking at her again, we'd go through the same scenario. For the time that she was sitting on the stage watching the rest of the program, she continued to motion to me that she was cold. She must've done this about 10 times. Of course, there was nothing I could do about it, but I was amazed that she would communicate with me in front of such a large crowd, even if it was non-verbal.

* She has been talking to more of her friends. There is a little girl in her Sunday School class that she knew from Kool After School that she invited to sit with us during church yesterday. Before this, there was only one little girl at church she would talk to.

* Last Saturday morning, I loaded up my truck with garage sale stuff to take to my parents' garage. I had already told Camryn that I would need her to go into the house (they weren't there), go down the stairs to the garage, and click the button to open the garage door. While this type of action is not related to her SM, it is very much related to her overall anxiety. I really didn't think she would do it... walking into a dark house, going down a set of dark stairs, and opening a door to a dark garage... but she amazed me and did it, without any hesitation!

So, I think this will give you a good picture of Camryn's recent progress. We are extremly blessed with all she has accomplished since beginning her medication at the end of March. I'm still not naive enough to think that her SM is "cured." Not talking is only a symptom of her overall anxiety, and we continue to see her struggles with anxiousness in other areas of her life.

So, please do me a favor... STOP for just a moment and thank God for anwering our prayers about Camryn talking in school and please pray that He would continue to loosen the chains that bind Camryn in the form of anxiety. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!