Meet Zach & Noah!

ZACHARY SIGMUND LASHLEY

Zachary was due October 15, 1999 but showed up on June 23^rd.  A pregnancy is considered viable at 24 weeks, so Zach beat that label by about 3 days.  There are a plethora of problems that a baby THAT premature can endure, but Zach’s bottom line was Johnson Taber Lewis Syndrome. (named after his and other neurologists) This means that as a micro-preemie (pre 25 weeks), his cerebellum was simply not done developing, and therefore led to Cerebral Palsy.  Cerebral Palsy is a result of brain damage that affects muscle tone. In most cases of CP, the afflicted are spastic or ‘tight.’ This is due to high tone. There are also cases of Hypotonia, or low tone; and there are MIXED cases, of both high and low tone, that can result in involuntary movement called Athetosis.  Lucky Zach (NOT) has Mixed-Tone CP with Athetosis.  The only time his body is not moving is when he is sleeping. If he wants to control a limb and do something purposeful, he has to overpower the involuntary movement first. Can you imagine how difficult and exhausting that would be?  He burns calories like mad!

Zach is wheelchair bound and technically nonverbal, but those who know and are close to him understand the communication that he does do.  Unless he is sick or hurting, he is a happy boy and spreads joy like wildfire. He has beautiful blue eyes, long eyelashes, and a contagious smile, giggle & squeal. 

Other issues that stem from his CP and/or Prematurity include CVI (Cortical Visual Impairment), Reflux, Constipation, and Respiratory Difficulty. The reflux and constipation have been well controlled for years, thank goodness.  Zach wears a respiratory vest that vibrates, and takes breathing treatments twice a day to try and boost his system and keep him healthy.

He is in 6^th grade and will be 12 this year. He LOVES music, animals, lights and funny noises.  He is VERY social. He LOVES school, going out, and hanging out.  He is also quite the ladies’ man. Watch yourself, girls! He manages to get that hand awful close to your skirts and leaves waitresses turning with evil eyes toward dad!! Lol    He has a lil devil inside him and likes to ‘play’ people. He understands EVERYTHING said to or around him, he just can’t communicate back effectively yet to show it consistently.  He does have a communication device that can talk for him, but he gets so excited when he hits the switch, that his body goes crazy and he has to start all over again.  We’re hoping he will be able to get Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery someday soon to reduce the involuntary movement so he can focus on the purposeful.

NOAH RYAN LASHLEY

Noah’s mom lived in the hospital for three months, on complete bed-rest, so that she could get him here healthy. He was still born premature at 35 weeks, but was relatively healthy aside from needing some extra time under a blue light for Jaundice.  Nevertheless, genetics kicked in for Noah, and he didn’t get to be categorized as the ‘Neurotypical’ child for whom his mom prayed.  His parents began noticing that something wasn’t quite right, even though he was reaching milestones early, including walking and talking.  He also had quite the impressive vocabulary very early on.  It was always very clear that he was really smart—gifted, in fact—but he just didn’t quite do things the way all the other kids did.  By 1^st grade, after a lot of appointments and research, his previous diagnoses of ADHD, and OCD with Anxiety, became secondary issues to his true diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome.  On paper, that’s “High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Noah’s parents call him “Motor Mouth!” He can talk forever about a subject, and doesn’t even seem to notice if no one else is interested. He has trouble reading body language and social cues.  The thing about Asperger’s is that is a disorder of the central nervous system that causes sensory perception to be affected.  Noah experiences all of his five senses much more so than we do.  He can literally feel a noise, taste, or smell.  For example, he cannot tolerate loud or irritating noises.  But, in addition to the obvious ways one’s senses can be hypersensitive, there are more abstract ways.  He doesn’t mean to be, but Noah is VERY rigid in his thinking. It is VERY hard for him to see outside a box or to let go of control of a situation.  Maintaining that control is the only way his mind can help his body feel safe.  This also makes him very ego-centric.  His mind & body go out of its way to make sure he knows how ITS feeling, but it is very hard for him to understand what others are feeling. Sometimes it’s even hard for him to understand that others even HAVE different feelings.  He is also EXTREMELY literal and speaks exactly what he is thinking without any kind of filter.

Noah is working very hard to deal with all of these issues and adapt to the world around him. He sees a Psychologist, a Psychiatrist, an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Therapist. He also takes medication to help with his anxiety, attention span, obsessive/compulsive tendencies and to improve upon his executive skills.

Noah likes to surf the internet, play video games, make & do thinking puzzles, play school, draw, and do crafts & science experiments. He is a wonderful speller. He is really good with special needs kids. He LOVES his brother, Zach. He nurtures him, plays with him, and helps him interact with the world.  Whenever he has a chance to be around other special needs kids, he does the same.