It has been quite a week around here. We had a ginormous snow storm - something like the 5th largest...I could be totally making that up but suffice it to say, it was a LOT of snow. We were basically snowed in for 3 days. Hubby had to make it out of town through a series of very annoying and difficult hurdles so the boys and I were on our own for a few days. Then my big guy got a stomach bug followed by a doozy cold. Bring on the Christmas vacation!
Things are happening so fast and furious around here that it's hard to keep up. The singing is still totally taking off. He probably has over 10 songs that he sings now. Yesterday, he was even hearing songs for the first time and trying to sing them. This is a huge step. Kids learn by imitation. B is missing that ability. If he can learn to imitate, he can be taught so many things including language/communication. I have yet to get any of it on video (why do they always turn off as soon as a camera comes out?) but it is so fun and so amazing. He sings the complete ABCS including the "now I know my abc" part, twinkle twinkle little star, Elmo's song, a couple of muppets songs, some of the toy story theme song, a couple of songs from a group called super simple songs on Youtube and still more.
Since he seems to be responding so well to videos, our team tested out something new today. They videotaped themselves doing simple things (SUPER simple like putting arms out or spinning or tapping on a table). B then watched the DVD and imitated what they were doing. He seemed to totally get it. It was amazing to watch. I can't even put it into words because it sounds SO simple but he has never copied anything we've tried to teach him. He just didn't seem to comprehend the concept. To see him figure this out with barely a prompt was fascinating. I am in awe of our team. Obviously, it's a whole lot more work to film these things, put them on a dvd and THEN teach to B. vs. teaching 1-1 in person. My confidence in them grows by the day.
Tonight, when hubby put B to bed, he labeled at least 5 or 6 things when Daddy pointed to them (frog, dog, ball, duck, car, boat, cat) and then POINTED himself to the buttons in his Thomas book and named them (Thomas, Percy, Bus, Helicopter). Someone pinch me.
On the flip side, he has been on a bit of a food strike and waking up in the night pretty consistently again. It's certainly a roller coaster and a marathon. But as long as he keeps giving us these awesome bits of glory, we're not about to jump off the ride.
xmas 2013
Friday, December 17, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Hope
Yesterday was our first 6 month review of B's progress. Of course, he has only been in the program since September so it was really more of a 3 month review. It's premature at this point and there are absolutely no guarantees but it was a really, really good review. The data confirmed how we've been feeling all along... B is getting it and he is learning and progressing!! He has made some huge strides in a very short period of time. We were told that everything pretty much looks as good as it possibly could at this point. Plus, the staff was so full of praise for hubby and I that we felt like rockstars ourselves. It's good to know that the hard work is paying off. I'm proud of our family and full of hope for our future. Hope is a beautiful thing.
B was in rare form during the meeting too. He was in a therapy session downstairs. We heard laughter and all sorts of good noises (no crying) while we had our meeting. He came up to me at one point during the meeting and jabbered to the whole group, then sat on my lap and picked up my pen and scribbled on my paper. He seemed to be hamming it up. What a change from the kid they would've seen a few months ago. Later, we heard him belt out "That's Elmo's song" with some major gusto. The singing has totally taken off. We have a new program where he is to be given whatever he "requests" verbally no matter what so that he gets what a great thing language is. I don't know if he's on to us or if it's just a coincidence but the first session where that was implemented tallied THIRTY of these vocalizations. And he is just singing ALL THE TIME. Very cool.
Yesterday, we also said goodbye to our senior therapist who has become a dear friend and part of our family. I literally choked back tears every time I looked at her in the meeting and the waterworks were full on when we finally said our goodbyes. We will always be grateful to her and will not forget her contributions. The first couple of months are key and we couldn't have had a better leader to get us up and running. Our time together ended too soon and she will be sorely missed.
B was in rare form during the meeting too. He was in a therapy session downstairs. We heard laughter and all sorts of good noises (no crying) while we had our meeting. He came up to me at one point during the meeting and jabbered to the whole group, then sat on my lap and picked up my pen and scribbled on my paper. He seemed to be hamming it up. What a change from the kid they would've seen a few months ago. Later, we heard him belt out "That's Elmo's song" with some major gusto. The singing has totally taken off. We have a new program where he is to be given whatever he "requests" verbally no matter what so that he gets what a great thing language is. I don't know if he's on to us or if it's just a coincidence but the first session where that was implemented tallied THIRTY of these vocalizations. And he is just singing ALL THE TIME. Very cool.
Yesterday, we also said goodbye to our senior therapist who has become a dear friend and part of our family. I literally choked back tears every time I looked at her in the meeting and the waterworks were full on when we finally said our goodbyes. We will always be grateful to her and will not forget her contributions. The first couple of months are key and we couldn't have had a better leader to get us up and running. Our time together ended too soon and she will be sorely missed.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Husband of the year
So, I have the greatest husband in the world. For my bday this week, he gave me the best gift: a day off. All of you moms know what a foreign concept that is. Even more so now that we have such a packed therapy schedule. I had a fully indulgent day of shopping and spa treatments. And then came home to roses and cards from my boys followed by a decadent dinner with my hubby. What more could a girl ask for? I could not love him more.
In addition, he took on the job of mr. mom for the day and got a taste of what the day-to-day is like around here. It sounds like he was a rockstar (no surprise there). I don't think he's anxious to trade roles anytime soon though...
In addition, he took on the job of mr. mom for the day and got a taste of what the day-to-day is like around here. It sounds like he was a rockstar (no surprise there). I don't think he's anxious to trade roles anytime soon though...
Friday, December 3, 2010
The laugh
We had our weekly progress meeting yesterday. It had been a few weeks because of Thanksgiving and a dr. appointment for B. We went over the highlights for both of the last 2 weeks. Two weeks ago, he had his best week ever. His "acquisition rate" was close to 8 - meaning he gained 8 new skills in one week. Um, yeah - that's awesome. It went down last week but he missed 3.5 days of structured therapy due to the holiday so it's not a totally accurate representation. He appears to be thriving.
We're addressing a couple of new things that are a bit hard to hear though. First, we've started a "procedure" whenever he cries. He has to do a totally arbitrary task - putting rags in a basket, then wait 20 seconds to see if he calms down, then keep repeating it until he calms. One of the first times, this went on for about an hour but overall, it seems to be reducing the length of time he spends crying. This is one that baffles me. It seems totally counterintuitive and honestly, I just don't get it. But I trust our team and their expertise so I guess time will tell. I know I would LOVE to cut out the crying. It still kills me to listen to it.
Secondly, one I've really been dreading - his laugh. In the words of our team leader, "B is super adorable" (I tend to agree) so it's hard not to get caught up in his laugh and inadvertently reinforce a stereotyped behavior. B has a couple of different laughs and I have to admit that I adore both of them. One of them is a typical laugh where he is genuinely delighted about something. The other is what they call a "stim" meaning self-stimulatory behavior. This is the one where he is sort of out of his mind, drunken laughing at nothing in particular. This is the one he does alone in his bed for hours in the middle of the night. It too is adorable and it's no secret that I am a fan - after all, that's the name of this blog. The problem is that it prevents him from being able to focus, to learn and really to function. It's one of those things that separates him from his typically developing peers. So, I'm not surprised that the topic came up but I know I cringed when it did. Fortunately, at this point - we're not looking at stopping the behavior or having any sort of negative consequence. We were all just cautioned to avoid reinforcing it (i.e. coochy, coochy coo - B, you are SO cute and funny) and not to try to run any of his programs while he's off in his own world that way. No big deal I suppose. I just don't want to lose my happy silly guy. It still hurts my heart to acknowledge that something I have always found so endearing is part of the autism.
We've had some recent sleep disturbances again. B has been waking up in the night and not napping consistently. We had about 3 nights in a row of poor sleep. Hopefully that won't continue because I am sooo feeling it. Last night, he slept through the night but woke up early - as in 5 a.m. early. In addition to his chatter and laughing, he belted out a strong Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Even at 5 a.m., it was music to our ears.
We're addressing a couple of new things that are a bit hard to hear though. First, we've started a "procedure" whenever he cries. He has to do a totally arbitrary task - putting rags in a basket, then wait 20 seconds to see if he calms down, then keep repeating it until he calms. One of the first times, this went on for about an hour but overall, it seems to be reducing the length of time he spends crying. This is one that baffles me. It seems totally counterintuitive and honestly, I just don't get it. But I trust our team and their expertise so I guess time will tell. I know I would LOVE to cut out the crying. It still kills me to listen to it.
Secondly, one I've really been dreading - his laugh. In the words of our team leader, "B is super adorable" (I tend to agree) so it's hard not to get caught up in his laugh and inadvertently reinforce a stereotyped behavior. B has a couple of different laughs and I have to admit that I adore both of them. One of them is a typical laugh where he is genuinely delighted about something. The other is what they call a "stim" meaning self-stimulatory behavior. This is the one where he is sort of out of his mind, drunken laughing at nothing in particular. This is the one he does alone in his bed for hours in the middle of the night. It too is adorable and it's no secret that I am a fan - after all, that's the name of this blog. The problem is that it prevents him from being able to focus, to learn and really to function. It's one of those things that separates him from his typically developing peers. So, I'm not surprised that the topic came up but I know I cringed when it did. Fortunately, at this point - we're not looking at stopping the behavior or having any sort of negative consequence. We were all just cautioned to avoid reinforcing it (i.e. coochy, coochy coo - B, you are SO cute and funny) and not to try to run any of his programs while he's off in his own world that way. No big deal I suppose. I just don't want to lose my happy silly guy. It still hurts my heart to acknowledge that something I have always found so endearing is part of the autism.
We've had some recent sleep disturbances again. B has been waking up in the night and not napping consistently. We had about 3 nights in a row of poor sleep. Hopefully that won't continue because I am sooo feeling it. Last night, he slept through the night but woke up early - as in 5 a.m. early. In addition to his chatter and laughing, he belted out a strong Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Even at 5 a.m., it was music to our ears.
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