As I was gathering the necessary things for Samuel to take Thursday evening I asked him a few questions about the snack he wanted to take and he joined right on in getting everything together! It was such fun seeing him interested in an upcoming event at school. When I asked him about the snack he told me he wanted peanuts and apple juice. We decided that he would take his bean bag chair and he asked to bring a blanket as well. I talked him out of bringing the comforter for his bed and he accepted taking an oversized flannel baby blanket. He also wanted to take a stuffed animal, so we found a nice squishy one. They were told to bring "a book or two," he wanted to take 5 and ended up taking six, all Dr. Seuss books! He proudly carried in his things to school yesterday morning.
We heard a "Hi Samuel!" as we were walking in. A boy walked in from the parking lot and joined us in the hallway. Samuel, with a smile on his face, said "go away". He gets excited when something unexpected like that happens, I need to review his social stories about greetings and how to respond! I finally got Samuel to return the hello and then I talked to him. He told me his name, which sounded familiar from a few school years ago. "Were you Samuel's computer buddy in kindergarten a few years ago?" He indeed was and he is in Samuel's class this year. He said that he likes to help Samuel. I thanked him for that and told him that Samuel has two brothers who help him also. He said "I know, I saw you in the grocery store last year when I was with my Mom." (Then I remembered him saying hello there also)
Samuel does seem to be pretty well-liked by his classmates. His teachers have told me that other students pitch in to help him. Samuel does not usually respond to them very much, though I think he does respond much more now than he did a few years ago. I have thought about asking the teachers what they tell the other students about Samuel and the other autistic boy in their class. One time I mentioned (in an e-mail) a book to share with the other children about an autistic classmate and the teacher never responded to being interested in it. Something I'm going to have to inquire about.
Our dialogue when I picked Samuel up yesterday afternoon was something like this:
Me- How was your reading day?
Samuel - Good. I took my socks off!
Did you have your snack?
Yes. I ate all my peanuts.
Did you read to the kindergarten class?
Yes. I read Hop on Pop and _________________.
(Can't remember the other title )
It was great to have Samuel in a good mood after school!
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