Squillo www.confutata.com It has become easy to forget that my kid is a little different. Because he’s our first child, his behavior at home has always seemed normal — always been our normal — since we had nothing to compare it to until his neurotypical sister came along almost three years ago. A few weekends back, we took the kids to the classic car show that’s held in our town center every year. We started going three years ago, when Squidboy developed a keen interest in old-fashioned cars. It’s really a combination street fair and car show, with music, food, and kids’ activities, as well as the parade of automotive awesomeness, and that first year we figured it was going to be a smash-hit with the kid. Managing expectations is a lesson most parents have to learn; those of us with autistic or other developmentally different kids learn it in…
Tag: progress
Molly Keene keenesandco.blogspot.com Today, we were working with letters. I pointed, hastily, at a “z” on its side that looked like an “n.” “Ennnn,” I said. “Ennnnnnnn.” “Eeee!” crowed Ollie. He walked over, turned the letter correctly, and said, again, “Eeee.” Well, I stood corrected. Today, he spelled walrus. Giraffe. Happy Halloween (that one freaked out my friends last week). He can’t say any of those words, but he can spell them. He knows the variations of his name, both full length and nickname, and will pull out books with each to compare the two. Today, he happily shouted letters as I gave phonetic clues. “Ah!” said I. “Ayyy!!” he replied. Today, we danced to Lady Gaga and the Glee soundtrack in the kitchen, in between therapy (with letters, today, because that’s what he wanted, and we are working on “being with”). Little Bit, in her jumperoo, laughed and bounced.…
Prather Harrell www.africanamericanautismofaz.org No, not my autistic five year old son … I’m the one on the verge of a meltdown! It was one of those days where I could not seem to make anyone happy. Jonah, my five year old, had been having a bad summer all along. I can’t say that I blame him. Here we go changing his schedule around from KinderPrep (ABA/habilitation) in the mornings and public preschool in the afternoons with a few therapies sprinkled in between, to therapies in the morning and KinderPrep in the afternoon and no more Mrs. Marsha period (his preschool teacher – Jonah completed preschool this spring and will be headed to Kindergarten this fall). The teachers changed, the students changed, some of his therapists changed — we flipped his entire schedule around and no one ever consulted him about it. I guess I’d be pretty pissed too if somebody…