Samuel has already told me what he wants to work towards on his next two checklists of school assignments: first a trip to McDonalds and then another trip to the Goodwill Store for another video!
I love that we have this mutually beneficial way of accomplishing something each of us wants. Now if I can just figure out how to motivate my NT students!
Showing posts with label It's working. Show all posts
Showing posts with label It's working. Show all posts
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Second Work Checklist Completed!
Samuel has already completed the second checklist of work (language arts and math), on which he got to fill in stickers as he completed assignments. He is downstairs right now doing some quick school work and then we are off to the Goodwill Store to buy the video he earned; he is so excited and I am so proud of him! I'll post photos of the checklists soon.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Samuel has now completed all the tasks and has filled in the stickers on his chart, hurray!
The next chart will be to earn a trip to the Goodwill Store, where he will be allowed to buy a videotape. I am going to include Language Arts and Math assignments on it. It's lots of fun to have Samuel motivated by these checklists. It wasn't too many years ago that I could not even comprehend using one for him!
The next chart will be to earn a trip to the Goodwill Store, where he will be allowed to buy a videotape. I am going to include Language Arts and Math assignments on it. It's lots of fun to have Samuel motivated by these checklists. It wasn't too many years ago that I could not even comprehend using one for him!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
A Nice Evening Out with Samuel
Last week I started participating in an autism support group that is being held in a nearby town. The group is called Essential Pieces and has existed for a few years now. They hold support group meetings in 8 week sessions. I first found out about this group some time last year but this is the first session that I have been able to participate in. As a preview to attending this group, I attended a conference they held last October about Sensory Stories. I found it to be a very professionally run conference and thought the topic was terrific. I'll talk more about Sensory Stories later..
During the parent meetings, some interns from a local university conduct a social group for children with autism and their siblings. I decided to take along Samuel and his younger brother to participate in this. The first meeting Samuel was not able to go because he had an eye infection. Then, this past week his younger brother was ill, so I took Samuel alone.
I was so impressed by Samuel's behavior the entire evening! We had to park in a parking garage and walk about a block to the meeting location. He stayed with me nicely, no having to worry about him running away! He also left his videos that he had brought along in the car without a problem, even after he had asked if he could bring them and I said, "I think it will be better to keep them in the car, then you won't lose them." I had told him ahead of time in the car where he would be and where I would be, and about how long I would be at my meeting. He seemed excited and interested and did not have any problem saying goodbye. Even though he is a bit older than the other social group participants (most of them look to be somewhere between 4-6 years old), he seemed happy to be there.
Our walk back to the car went great. He asked for a treat on the way, which was fine because we had to stop at a pharmacy to pick up some Pedialyte for his younger brother. Samuel was even well behaved at the pharmacy! He likes to look around stores and I had been worried about him getting into the DVD display. He found it and was able to look at it as I paid for my purchases and accepted the time limit I gave him very nicely! I let him listen to the "Cars" soundtrack on the way home.
Later that evening I thought about how nice it can be to take Samuel out now, after all the years of practising and using visual aids. We had been in a part of town that night where, about 7 years ago (when Samuel was 3 and I was pregnant with his little brother), he ran away from me and out into a road. What a scary event that was. Even though we can have tough moments out in public, it is nice to have more and more successes with him!
During the parent meetings, some interns from a local university conduct a social group for children with autism and their siblings. I decided to take along Samuel and his younger brother to participate in this. The first meeting Samuel was not able to go because he had an eye infection. Then, this past week his younger brother was ill, so I took Samuel alone.
I was so impressed by Samuel's behavior the entire evening! We had to park in a parking garage and walk about a block to the meeting location. He stayed with me nicely, no having to worry about him running away! He also left his videos that he had brought along in the car without a problem, even after he had asked if he could bring them and I said, "I think it will be better to keep them in the car, then you won't lose them." I had told him ahead of time in the car where he would be and where I would be, and about how long I would be at my meeting. He seemed excited and interested and did not have any problem saying goodbye. Even though he is a bit older than the other social group participants (most of them look to be somewhere between 4-6 years old), he seemed happy to be there.
Our walk back to the car went great. He asked for a treat on the way, which was fine because we had to stop at a pharmacy to pick up some Pedialyte for his younger brother. Samuel was even well behaved at the pharmacy! He likes to look around stores and I had been worried about him getting into the DVD display. He found it and was able to look at it as I paid for my purchases and accepted the time limit I gave him very nicely! I let him listen to the "Cars" soundtrack on the way home.
Later that evening I thought about how nice it can be to take Samuel out now, after all the years of practising and using visual aids. We had been in a part of town that night where, about 7 years ago (when Samuel was 3 and I was pregnant with his little brother), he ran away from me and out into a road. What a scary event that was. Even though we can have tough moments out in public, it is nice to have more and more successes with him!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Vision Exam
Yesterday Samuel had his first-ever visit to the eye doctor. I started telling him about this appointment a few weeks ago. I have learned that it is best to inform Samuel ahead of time of these things so that he has plenty of opportunity to voice any concerns or objections! He expressed concern about having to get a shot and also asked, "Will it hurt?" His concerns were very easy to answer and I am convinced that talking about them helped the exam to go smoothly.
The in-home helper who is with us during the morning and afternoon has become very good at picking up what is going on with Samuel and he makes upcoming events a part of their conversation as they play together. He even suggested that they act out an eye exam, since we have an eye chart as part of our toy doctor kit.
When I scheduled the appointment I informed the receptionist that Samuel was autistic. Just a few hours before the appointment I called the office to remind them of this and the receptionist was once again very reassuring, telling me that they have seen other special needs patients and that there are ways of checking vision if the patient has difficulties communicating.
Samuel did very well! I went in to the office to fill in paperwork while Samuel and his helper waited in the car. I called them in once I was finished. There were some toys in the waiting room and I remembered how Samuel likes to check those out. We have had issues in the past at dentist visits if he doesn't have time to look at the toys! He voiced some last minute concerns about the exam, which we (his helper, the office staff, and I) were able to talk to him about. I was relieved to find we were the only ones in the waiting area. The appointment was right after the office had reopened after lunch.
After just enough time to look at the toys he was called back. Samuel went along with the examiner just fine. His helper and I both sat in the room. His helper was terrific in assisting Samuel. Sometimes I feel like I don't let his helpers do enough. It took some effort yesterday but I made myself sit back and tried to let him take care of Samuel getting through things. It was a challenge at times to get Samuel sit still, but his helper and the examiner were able to explain things and Samuel cooperated very nicely!
Once some measurements were done and photographs of the inside of Samuel's eye were taken, we were then moved to another room. This is where the optometrist examined Samuel. It really helped that we did not have to wait very long. Once again it was challenging to get Samuel to sit still, but somehow he did long enough to get the exam done. There were issues with the chair needing to be moved, getting Samuel to properly cover one eye so that he could look out the other eye, and also with getting him to look through the viewing lenses correctly. He was in a very good mood and was making the funniest comments! (To the doctor, "This isn't so bad!" "I love this, I love you!") Most amazingly of all, the doctor had a laptop computer sitting on the counter that Samuel did not disturb at all, even though there was a slide show of photos being displayed on it!
The end result, Samuel needs glasses. I am not surprised. He has been squinting the past few weeks. I'll be curious to see if he notices and tells us about his improved ability to see once he gets his glasses, which will be in about a week and a half.
Factors that contributed to the success of this appointment: informing Samuel ahead of time, letting Samuel voice his concerns and discussing them with him, having good assistance from his in-home helper, timing the appointment well during the day, leaving his siblings with a very generous friend (I almost brought them along!), Samuel's previous experience with visits to the dentist.
This appointment was followed with a quick visit to a video store and the grocery store. There were a few bumps in these, separate post to follow.
The in-home helper who is with us during the morning and afternoon has become very good at picking up what is going on with Samuel and he makes upcoming events a part of their conversation as they play together. He even suggested that they act out an eye exam, since we have an eye chart as part of our toy doctor kit.
When I scheduled the appointment I informed the receptionist that Samuel was autistic. Just a few hours before the appointment I called the office to remind them of this and the receptionist was once again very reassuring, telling me that they have seen other special needs patients and that there are ways of checking vision if the patient has difficulties communicating.
Samuel did very well! I went in to the office to fill in paperwork while Samuel and his helper waited in the car. I called them in once I was finished. There were some toys in the waiting room and I remembered how Samuel likes to check those out. We have had issues in the past at dentist visits if he doesn't have time to look at the toys! He voiced some last minute concerns about the exam, which we (his helper, the office staff, and I) were able to talk to him about. I was relieved to find we were the only ones in the waiting area. The appointment was right after the office had reopened after lunch.
After just enough time to look at the toys he was called back. Samuel went along with the examiner just fine. His helper and I both sat in the room. His helper was terrific in assisting Samuel. Sometimes I feel like I don't let his helpers do enough. It took some effort yesterday but I made myself sit back and tried to let him take care of Samuel getting through things. It was a challenge at times to get Samuel sit still, but his helper and the examiner were able to explain things and Samuel cooperated very nicely!
Once some measurements were done and photographs of the inside of Samuel's eye were taken, we were then moved to another room. This is where the optometrist examined Samuel. It really helped that we did not have to wait very long. Once again it was challenging to get Samuel to sit still, but somehow he did long enough to get the exam done. There were issues with the chair needing to be moved, getting Samuel to properly cover one eye so that he could look out the other eye, and also with getting him to look through the viewing lenses correctly. He was in a very good mood and was making the funniest comments! (To the doctor, "This isn't so bad!" "I love this, I love you!") Most amazingly of all, the doctor had a laptop computer sitting on the counter that Samuel did not disturb at all, even though there was a slide show of photos being displayed on it!
The end result, Samuel needs glasses. I am not surprised. He has been squinting the past few weeks. I'll be curious to see if he notices and tells us about his improved ability to see once he gets his glasses, which will be in about a week and a half.
Factors that contributed to the success of this appointment: informing Samuel ahead of time, letting Samuel voice his concerns and discussing them with him, having good assistance from his in-home helper, timing the appointment well during the day, leaving his siblings with a very generous friend (I almost brought them along!), Samuel's previous experience with visits to the dentist.
This appointment was followed with a quick visit to a video store and the grocery store. There were a few bumps in these, separate post to follow.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Success! Getting Dressed Independently
After five years of teaching Samuel how to get dressed, we have reached a big milestone in the last few weeks: Samuel is independently dressing himself!
We have traveled a long road on the journey to teaching Samuel to dress himself. He was four years olds when I started teaching him. At that time we were still doing everything for him. I started by assisting him in the process hand-over-hand. Progress was very slow, but I also took things slowly. After all, during that time I also had a baby to deal with and then three years later, another baby. We also had the pressure of having to be out of the house at a certain time each morning to get Samuel to school, so in the process I often took shortcuts so that we wouldn't be running too late. Saturdays were the time to take a little longer.
Slowly, Samuel learned to put on his shirt and pants. Initially I would hand him the clothing in the correct position and tell him "the tag goes in the back." Putting on socks was a more difficult hurdle, but he eventually got the hang of that. Then we worked on making sure the tag was in the right place. Somewhere in this process I started leaving him on his own to do everything (but never on school days). It could take him upwards of a half hour to an hour to develop the initiative to do the job, but he eventually would. I wish I had kept a record of dates that he achieved each milestone, but I did not.
While Samuel was in school I never was able to rely on him dressing himself on weekdays. I'm sure he NEVER would have done the work all day and would have been perfectly happy staying home! Sunday was another day I couldn't have him dress himself because of needing to get to church. That only left one real day, Saturday, that I could leave him to his own devices.
The situation has been much different this year. Since we no longer need to get out the door most mornings, we have much more flexibility in our daily schedule. As the school year started this past fall, we were still pretty new to having in-home help in the morning. Initially we had a helper arrive at 8am. I let her guide Samuel along in getting dressed. I still felt somewhat pressured to have him complete the process in a certain period of time. A few weeks later the in-home help started to arrive at 10am. Most mornings Samuel slept in until then (along with my other kids. They get to bed late at night and mornings are my time to alone to get things done) and was then guided along to get dressed. Samuel made progress but still wasn't very motivated to get the job done.
Now, my oldest son is setting his alarm clock to get up in the morning. He discovered he likes the quiet time also. He has a few minutes to play Playstation before he starts his school work. Some mornings Samuel would wake up as well. He wanted to watch videos. It finally occurred to me that I now had the perfect reinforcer for Samuel. Just in the past two weeks I have started requiring Samuel to get dressed before coming downstairs to watch a video. This past week I added the requirement of going over our daily calendar and singing with me. I wake him up between 8:30 and 9:00 to get started.
It has really surprised me how well he is accepting this! One morning I was busy downstairs. I could hear activity upstairs and when I finally got around to going up, Samuel was walking down the stairs completely dressed! He stopped however, and said, "Uh-oh, I forgot to clean my room!" (he had already made his bed!) He turned back and took care of it! After almost three years of seeing the same visual schedule, Samuel has the routine down and the motivation to do it on his own! Yipppeeee! Now I can put a little more attention on my two year old who is already trying to dress and undress herself! A next step with Samuel (once we revel in this victory for a little while) will be to work on him using zippers and buttons. Most of his clothes do not have these things right now but I eventually want him to be able to wear clothes with these.
We have traveled a long road on the journey to teaching Samuel to dress himself. He was four years olds when I started teaching him. At that time we were still doing everything for him. I started by assisting him in the process hand-over-hand. Progress was very slow, but I also took things slowly. After all, during that time I also had a baby to deal with and then three years later, another baby. We also had the pressure of having to be out of the house at a certain time each morning to get Samuel to school, so in the process I often took shortcuts so that we wouldn't be running too late. Saturdays were the time to take a little longer.
Slowly, Samuel learned to put on his shirt and pants. Initially I would hand him the clothing in the correct position and tell him "the tag goes in the back." Putting on socks was a more difficult hurdle, but he eventually got the hang of that. Then we worked on making sure the tag was in the right place. Somewhere in this process I started leaving him on his own to do everything (but never on school days). It could take him upwards of a half hour to an hour to develop the initiative to do the job, but he eventually would. I wish I had kept a record of dates that he achieved each milestone, but I did not.
While Samuel was in school I never was able to rely on him dressing himself on weekdays. I'm sure he NEVER would have done the work all day and would have been perfectly happy staying home! Sunday was another day I couldn't have him dress himself because of needing to get to church. That only left one real day, Saturday, that I could leave him to his own devices.
The situation has been much different this year. Since we no longer need to get out the door most mornings, we have much more flexibility in our daily schedule. As the school year started this past fall, we were still pretty new to having in-home help in the morning. Initially we had a helper arrive at 8am. I let her guide Samuel along in getting dressed. I still felt somewhat pressured to have him complete the process in a certain period of time. A few weeks later the in-home help started to arrive at 10am. Most mornings Samuel slept in until then (along with my other kids. They get to bed late at night and mornings are my time to alone to get things done) and was then guided along to get dressed. Samuel made progress but still wasn't very motivated to get the job done.
Now, my oldest son is setting his alarm clock to get up in the morning. He discovered he likes the quiet time also. He has a few minutes to play Playstation before he starts his school work. Some mornings Samuel would wake up as well. He wanted to watch videos. It finally occurred to me that I now had the perfect reinforcer for Samuel. Just in the past two weeks I have started requiring Samuel to get dressed before coming downstairs to watch a video. This past week I added the requirement of going over our daily calendar and singing with me. I wake him up between 8:30 and 9:00 to get started.
It has really surprised me how well he is accepting this! One morning I was busy downstairs. I could hear activity upstairs and when I finally got around to going up, Samuel was walking down the stairs completely dressed! He stopped however, and said, "Uh-oh, I forgot to clean my room!" (he had already made his bed!) He turned back and took care of it! After almost three years of seeing the same visual schedule, Samuel has the routine down and the motivation to do it on his own! Yipppeeee! Now I can put a little more attention on my two year old who is already trying to dress and undress herself! A next step with Samuel (once we revel in this victory for a little while) will be to work on him using zippers and buttons. Most of his clothes do not have these things right now but I eventually want him to be able to wear clothes with these.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Video Vacation and Moving On
Samuel's video vacation ended last Sunday. It had started the previous Sunday when I attempted to put the boxes of videos away and he did the job for me!
How did the week of "Video Vacation" go? Overall I would say "good!" Like I mentioned on day two of the vacation, we weren't without videos completely all week. The supply we checked out from the library did stay in a location where Samuel had access to them all week. Actually, they were in a hidden place but Samuel discovered it a few days later. However, he was not allowed to look at them or take them out. He was only allowed to access them when it was time for him to watch a video on TV.
Now that "Video Vacation" is over, the boxes of videos he was attached to previously are still down in the storage room. Samuel is allowed to go look at them on occasion. He is being very good about not getting them out in groups of 4 or 5 and taking them all over the house like he used to. The bag of videos from the library is still in the laundry room. He goes and looks at them sometimes, but only takes a video out if he is going to watch it. One of my upcoming projects is to come up with a decent place for Samuel to store them. The budget director of our household (my husband) has an ongoing request from me for a good media storage cabinet for our entire family's collection of CDs, DVDs, videos, etc, but perhaps a small cabinet or bookcase for Samuel's things would be good as well.
I had hoped that Samuel's scripting of videos and production companies would curtail as a result of "Video Vacation" but that doesn't seem to be the case so far. I hear him singing the themes from Tristar, Paramount, and Strand (found on old Thomas the Tank Engine videos). I am happy, however, that Samuel seems to have accepted the restricted access to his videos and DVDs. I'll really have to stay on top of this though, he'll slowly try to go back to video chaos! Another good outcome is that I have been able to place video watching on his morning schedule AFTER getting dressed. This is proving to be a very powerful incentive to him dressing more independently. He even picked his own clothes out yesterday morning!
How did the week of "Video Vacation" go? Overall I would say "good!" Like I mentioned on day two of the vacation, we weren't without videos completely all week. The supply we checked out from the library did stay in a location where Samuel had access to them all week. Actually, they were in a hidden place but Samuel discovered it a few days later. However, he was not allowed to look at them or take them out. He was only allowed to access them when it was time for him to watch a video on TV.
Now that "Video Vacation" is over, the boxes of videos he was attached to previously are still down in the storage room. Samuel is allowed to go look at them on occasion. He is being very good about not getting them out in groups of 4 or 5 and taking them all over the house like he used to. The bag of videos from the library is still in the laundry room. He goes and looks at them sometimes, but only takes a video out if he is going to watch it. One of my upcoming projects is to come up with a decent place for Samuel to store them. The budget director of our household (my husband) has an ongoing request from me for a good media storage cabinet for our entire family's collection of CDs, DVDs, videos, etc, but perhaps a small cabinet or bookcase for Samuel's things would be good as well.
I had hoped that Samuel's scripting of videos and production companies would curtail as a result of "Video Vacation" but that doesn't seem to be the case so far. I hear him singing the themes from Tristar, Paramount, and Strand (found on old Thomas the Tank Engine videos). I am happy, however, that Samuel seems to have accepted the restricted access to his videos and DVDs. I'll really have to stay on top of this though, he'll slowly try to go back to video chaos! Another good outcome is that I have been able to place video watching on his morning schedule AFTER getting dressed. This is proving to be a very powerful incentive to him dressing more independently. He even picked his own clothes out yesterday morning!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Our Family - What A Difference A Year Makes
Estee, at The Joy of Autism, recently posted about how far both she and her son have come in the past year. She invited readers to comment about what their year has been like. Since I just passed the one-year anniversary of blogging at the end of January I feel like I have a lot to say about this topic. I didn't want to "overload" her comments so I decided to do my own post about this.
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
A year ago I was consumed with Samuel's situation at school. Now, he is no longer at school. I teach Samuel at home. While I don't have to worry about the lack of communication from teachers and aids anymore, I do have the daunting task of trying to figure out where Samuel is academically, and to find work for him that is appropriate and meaningful. It's worth it though, I like having Samuel at home. I want my family to live a family-centered life. I value having a good community around me, but I don't want my family life dictated by that. So much of the activity of life seems to take us out of our homes these days. I am enjoying just staying at home for now.
A year ago every day was hectic, rushing Samuel to school, racing home to do school work with my oldest son, getting out for piano lessons, music lessons, soccer, shopping. We spent a minimum of 80 minutes per day in the car just taking Samuel to and from school. That's not counting the 10 - 20 minutes I had to prepare ahead of time getting ready to go out. I tried to cram all kinds of things in to the time when Samuel was in school and it was easier to get out and about with the other kids. Now we don't have that every day craziness. We don't get out as much anymore. We have dropped the music lessons and my son now has piano lessons at home. Now if I need to go out, I have the option of taking Samuel with me (along with his personal attendant) to teach him appropriate social skills. There wasn't much time for that kind of stuff in past years.
A year ago we had help (through funding from the county I live in) for 9 hours per week from in-home therapists. They were contracted out by our county from an autism school. Now, a year later, we no longer have this county funding (because I withdrew Samuel from school) . Instead, we obtained a Medicaid waiver for Samuel and I was able to hire a personal attendant to work with Samuel and be of assistance to me. We have two people who help us right now and their help has been wonderful. The help I get now is very different from the help I had last year, but it is good help. It makes our school days at home manageable and they help to keep Samuel busy.
A year ago we had just stopped sitting in the cry room at church. We have never gone back to sitting in the cry room. Many weeks Samuel can stay in church for all of mass with only one or two breaks. His outbursts in church are only occasional. Last week we were even able to go to a different mass than our normal time. It is more crowded and there is music. Both of these things would have made mass intolerable for him a year ago. Now he is doing much better. He has even started saying the "Our Father" in the past couple weeks! Several years ago I remember asking one of our in-home helpers how on earth I'd ever get Samuel to behave well in church. Since then I have SLOWLY followed her suggestions, one of which was picking out ONE prayer for Samuel to say. The Our Father was it! I have used a child's book and a laminated page from his religion book as prompts to say the prayer so it's nice to hear it being prayed out loud by him!
Samuel seems to enjoy being at home. He has become much more emotional and dramatic in the past year. He can get into some pretty despondent moods, which can be kind of disturbing, but I see it all as part of his development. We make those moments opportunities to learn how to control his thoughts and self-regulate his behavior.
What is coming up in the year ahead? I'll continue my search for a behavior specialist to assist me with Samuel. I'm also checking into using RDI for Samuel. As Samuel gets more compliant in doing his work and other activities I think RDI will be "do-able". I'm also veering more towards using Charlotte Mason methods in my homeschooling. I'll be doing my best to stay a step ahead of ALL my children!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
"Awesome Day"
The title of this post was in the subject line of an e-mail from Samuel's special education teacher yesterday afternoon. I like seeing those kinds of words as opposed to "behavior log" ! Samuel did not script at school yesterday! He is given some time to do so during breaks, but during class time he did not! His aid mentioned the good news to me when I picked him up and I was just logging on to e-mail Samuel's teacher to ask her "Did you do anything differently yesterday?" Her e-mail to me asked the same question!
I find that when Samuel has had a good day I start analyzing it very closely to see what details must have contributed to the "good" results. Eventually I end up remembering that I need to give things a few days to look for patterns and trends in these "good" things. I also try to remember that sometimes, no differently than for you and me, Samuel just has a "good day". Yes, it's helpful to know the things that contribute to it, but I shouldn't analyze it to the nth degree thinking I'll be able to duplicate all the conditions on another day. It doesn't work like that for Samuel and life doesn't work that way for me either (as much as I want it to sometimes!).
While the scripting challenge has been with us for a little while, around that challenge good things are happening. Samuel's handwriting has improved remarkably. At the beginning of the school year it was a struggle to get him to write lower case letters. Now he is doing so without prompts most of the time. His letter size has also gotten much better. He is also starting to share his thoughts verbally with us. Sometimes he is teasing us, saying things like "Mommy, I'm going to script "Cyberchase". He tells me this with a grin on his face. Other times, however, he tells me about something he did at school. He told me yesterday "Mommy, we are going on a trip tomorrow." I asked him "Where are you going?" and he told me "On a egg hunt." They are travelling to a nearby town for a special needs Easter Egg Hunt today.
He really was in a good mood after school yesterday. He followed his visual schedule quite well and when it was finished for the afternoon he filled in some things himself, which he proceeded to do until I had to interrupt it with a short homework session before dinner. Then after dinner he and his brothers got to play outside and baby sister joined them.
I need to remember this day the next time we have a tough one!
I find that when Samuel has had a good day I start analyzing it very closely to see what details must have contributed to the "good" results. Eventually I end up remembering that I need to give things a few days to look for patterns and trends in these "good" things. I also try to remember that sometimes, no differently than for you and me, Samuel just has a "good day". Yes, it's helpful to know the things that contribute to it, but I shouldn't analyze it to the nth degree thinking I'll be able to duplicate all the conditions on another day. It doesn't work like that for Samuel and life doesn't work that way for me either (as much as I want it to sometimes!).
While the scripting challenge has been with us for a little while, around that challenge good things are happening. Samuel's handwriting has improved remarkably. At the beginning of the school year it was a struggle to get him to write lower case letters. Now he is doing so without prompts most of the time. His letter size has also gotten much better. He is also starting to share his thoughts verbally with us. Sometimes he is teasing us, saying things like "Mommy, I'm going to script "Cyberchase". He tells me this with a grin on his face. Other times, however, he tells me about something he did at school. He told me yesterday "Mommy, we are going on a trip tomorrow." I asked him "Where are you going?" and he told me "On a egg hunt." They are travelling to a nearby town for a special needs Easter Egg Hunt today.
He really was in a good mood after school yesterday. He followed his visual schedule quite well and when it was finished for the afternoon he filled in some things himself, which he proceeded to do until I had to interrupt it with a short homework session before dinner. Then after dinner he and his brothers got to play outside and baby sister joined them.
I need to remember this day the next time we have a tough one!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Reflections of a Rookie Blogger and Follow Up to Situation with Academics at School
I have been blogging now for about 6 weeks and am enjoying it immensely. Since finding out my son was autistic I have always been frustrated by the "doom and gloom" approach to autism. It has been such a relief to find such positive (yet realistic and honest) viewpoints towards autism in the many many blogs I have come across. I wish I had looked into this much sooner than I did!
I love all the different kinds of blogs that are out there... the creative, the plain, the well-written and not-so-well-written, the artsy, the dramatic, the popular and not-so-popular. I have had lots of fun getting started and fine-tuning the features of my blog. I absolutely love the freedom we are given to make our own forums by blogging!
Six weeks ago I was just about at my wits end over my son's situation at school . I started looking up some things about neurodiversity and ended up coming across numerous blogs composed by people who do respect their autistic children by accepting them for who they are. I initially had no intention of setting up my own blog, but after a few days of wanting to comment and feeling inspired to tell my own family's story, I did just that! I shared the fact that I had a blog with a very few friends and family members after I had it for a month. It's kind of scary for me to share some of these thoughts with people that I know.
In these six weeks I have become much more settled regarding Samuel. I have met with his special education teacher two times. His learning requirements have been relaxed in his subjects. His teacher is also using a token board to provide small reinforcements for Samuel as he does his work at school. The incidence of behavioral outbursts has dropped since these changes were made. I think his overall stress level has gone down too. He seems more eager to get to school in the morning. His test scores have improved. The exercise I have put myself through in making up homework assignments has been exhausting, but it's nice to know that it is paying off. I better understand what Samuel is capable of and not capable of. Samuel's teacher has been attentive to my questions and requests, and our regular meetings, e-mails, and phone calls to each other are helping me to feel better about Samuel being at school. This has been a tough year of adjustment for both me and Samuel, but now, almost 3/4 of the way through the school year, we're both quite settled.
On the lighter side of things, we had another weather surprise today, about 5 inches of snow! It started as rain Thursday night, which continued Friday morning and started mixing with sleet. School was closed at noon and shortly after we got home it changed to snow. Samuel was happy to have the afternoon free. The only work I gave him the rest of the day was some tidying up in his bedroom. Friday is cleaning day around here!
I love all the different kinds of blogs that are out there... the creative, the plain, the well-written and not-so-well-written, the artsy, the dramatic, the popular and not-so-popular. I have had lots of fun getting started and fine-tuning the features of my blog. I absolutely love the freedom we are given to make our own forums by blogging!
Six weeks ago I was just about at my wits end over my son's situation at school . I started looking up some things about neurodiversity and ended up coming across numerous blogs composed by people who do respect their autistic children by accepting them for who they are. I initially had no intention of setting up my own blog, but after a few days of wanting to comment and feeling inspired to tell my own family's story, I did just that! I shared the fact that I had a blog with a very few friends and family members after I had it for a month. It's kind of scary for me to share some of these thoughts with people that I know.
In these six weeks I have become much more settled regarding Samuel. I have met with his special education teacher two times. His learning requirements have been relaxed in his subjects. His teacher is also using a token board to provide small reinforcements for Samuel as he does his work at school. The incidence of behavioral outbursts has dropped since these changes were made. I think his overall stress level has gone down too. He seems more eager to get to school in the morning. His test scores have improved. The exercise I have put myself through in making up homework assignments has been exhausting, but it's nice to know that it is paying off. I better understand what Samuel is capable of and not capable of. Samuel's teacher has been attentive to my questions and requests, and our regular meetings, e-mails, and phone calls to each other are helping me to feel better about Samuel being at school. This has been a tough year of adjustment for both me and Samuel, but now, almost 3/4 of the way through the school year, we're both quite settled.
On the lighter side of things, we had another weather surprise today, about 5 inches of snow! It started as rain Thursday night, which continued Friday morning and started mixing with sleet. School was closed at noon and shortly after we got home it changed to snow. Samuel was happy to have the afternoon free. The only work I gave him the rest of the day was some tidying up in his bedroom. Friday is cleaning day around here!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Successful Afternoon Out
We were back and forth from our house 3 times yesterday! I get absolutely worn out on these kinds of days; making sure I have everything I need (diapers, snacks, etc..)gathering the children up, getting them in the car, getting them out of the car and safely into wherever we are going. I have scaled back our participation in activities this winter and spring because I find just getting out to be exhausting.
Our morning consisted of getting Samuel to school and then going to our pediatrician's office (20 miles away) for the baby's 15 month check up and an ear infection follow up for my youngest son. We do have to travel a bit to get to the doctor, but it's worth it. Our pediatrician and his staff run a very efficient office and the waiting time is short. Sometimes there is almost no wait at all! This makes it very helpful for Samuel. There is no way that he could have waited as long as we used to have to at our former doctor's office. I can take Samuel to our present doctor for appointments and can take him along for other children's appointments quite easily. In the past year and a half my husband has worked close to this office as well, so sometimes he meets me there to help out.
My youngest son then had a birthday party to go to early in the afternoon. We didn't have Samuel with us when we dropped him off but I knew he would be with us when we picked him up. That can be a problem. Samuel (naturally) would want to go into the house. Once in there he would probably get into things he shouldn't and it would be very difficult to get him out. I determined ahead of time that NOONE but my youngest son would go in.
We also had about an hour to kill after we picked up Samuel from school before it was time to get his younger brother. What to do? The library was a possibility, but after all the activity I endured earlier in the day I just didn't know if I would be up for that. I decided to go to the grocery store instead. Samuel can endure short trips there because he knows that there are videos and DVDs for sale and he can look at them.
I did not have a visual schedule for our afternoon and I had not made Samuel aware earlier in the day that we wouldn't be going directly home. However, after we left the school I pulled to the side of the road and we took a few minutes to talk about what we would be doing before going home.
We got through the aisles of the grocery store without too much difficulty, except that he kept trying to "Scottish Irish Dance" (from "The Upside Down Show"). He got to look at DVDs for a few minutes and nicely accepted finishing that. Then, on the way out of the store there were 2 more unexpected DVD displays! It was quite difficult getting him to pass those by, but we were able to do so because of the promise of a trip to McDonalds for a snack. We spent the second half of our hour there. I have to admit part of the reason it was easier to get around was because my youngest son wasn't there, he can be rather ornery and feisty!
As we pulled up to the house to pick up my youngest son, Samuel really wanted to go inside, but he was able to accept "not this time." I think it helped that my oldest son voiced that to Samuel as well (impressive because my oldest son has friends at that house too and I'm sure he wanted to go in as much as Samuel did!). Even my youngest son nicely accepted that it was time to go home.
I was so happy to get home! We went through the usual evening madness of dinner and homework, and I ended up falling asleep before the boys did!
Our morning consisted of getting Samuel to school and then going to our pediatrician's office (20 miles away) for the baby's 15 month check up and an ear infection follow up for my youngest son. We do have to travel a bit to get to the doctor, but it's worth it. Our pediatrician and his staff run a very efficient office and the waiting time is short. Sometimes there is almost no wait at all! This makes it very helpful for Samuel. There is no way that he could have waited as long as we used to have to at our former doctor's office. I can take Samuel to our present doctor for appointments and can take him along for other children's appointments quite easily. In the past year and a half my husband has worked close to this office as well, so sometimes he meets me there to help out.
My youngest son then had a birthday party to go to early in the afternoon. We didn't have Samuel with us when we dropped him off but I knew he would be with us when we picked him up. That can be a problem. Samuel (naturally) would want to go into the house. Once in there he would probably get into things he shouldn't and it would be very difficult to get him out. I determined ahead of time that NOONE but my youngest son would go in.
We also had about an hour to kill after we picked up Samuel from school before it was time to get his younger brother. What to do? The library was a possibility, but after all the activity I endured earlier in the day I just didn't know if I would be up for that. I decided to go to the grocery store instead. Samuel can endure short trips there because he knows that there are videos and DVDs for sale and he can look at them.
I did not have a visual schedule for our afternoon and I had not made Samuel aware earlier in the day that we wouldn't be going directly home. However, after we left the school I pulled to the side of the road and we took a few minutes to talk about what we would be doing before going home.
We got through the aisles of the grocery store without too much difficulty, except that he kept trying to "Scottish Irish Dance" (from "The Upside Down Show"). He got to look at DVDs for a few minutes and nicely accepted finishing that. Then, on the way out of the store there were 2 more unexpected DVD displays! It was quite difficult getting him to pass those by, but we were able to do so because of the promise of a trip to McDonalds for a snack. We spent the second half of our hour there. I have to admit part of the reason it was easier to get around was because my youngest son wasn't there, he can be rather ornery and feisty!
As we pulled up to the house to pick up my youngest son, Samuel really wanted to go inside, but he was able to accept "not this time." I think it helped that my oldest son voiced that to Samuel as well (impressive because my oldest son has friends at that house too and I'm sure he wanted to go in as much as Samuel did!). Even my youngest son nicely accepted that it was time to go home.
I was so happy to get home! We went through the usual evening madness of dinner and homework, and I ended up falling asleep before the boys did!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Welcome Break from the Afternoon Grumpies
Early yesterday afternoon a friend called me and said that a group of people was going to meet at the park. I told her that we wouldn't be going because I thought it was going to be too wet. I knew that it had gotten quite warm outside but I honestly didn't realize just how nice it really was until we left the house to get Samuel. Of course I didn't tell the other boys about the invitation that I had declined because they would have been beyond disappointed!
After we picked Samuel up and were on the way home my car just decided that it was going to steer itself over towards the park! My oldest son had his nose in a book so he didn't notice the different route we were driving, but my youngest son picked right up on it and started saying "where are we going?" "let's go to the park!" Sometimes I do drive that route so we can see how high a particular creek is running, so I'm sure the boys wondered what I was up to. At the last second I said "okay, let's see who might be at the park" and I turned in. Our friends were there and my boys were very happy to know we would be staying a while.
A group of us has gathered together, as weather has permitted, at this park for 5 1/2 years now. We call it "play group", and it has been fun to have the kids get together. This is also vital gathering time for the moms too! Our families have grown considerably over the years and the ages of the children playing are from the early teen years down to newborns. Sometimes just one or two families are there and other times there can be as many as maybe 8 - 10 or even more families (usually in the summertime when we gather more regularly).
Our ability to go to play group has been limited the past year and a half because of Samuel's uncooperativeness. He started wandering off from the field where we gather. There is a creek nearby that Samuel is attracted to and I don't like to take any chances. We did not go very much last spring between that and our baby being so young. This summer and fall we had an in-home helper on the day we go to the park so we were able to attend regularly. I took a big chance by going to the park yesterday without an in-home helper. I put my oldest son on notice that I may need his help and I spent the entire time watching Samuel like a hawk. I also told them we would only stay for 45 minutes.
It didn't even hit me until we got back home, but Samuel did better than I could have even imagined! He did walk around the edges of the play area most of the time (he told me later that he was playing "Daytona 500") but he kind of hung out for a short while with the other children who were having races. Never once did he wander from the play area and best of all he did not expect to take a walk over to another area of the park as he usually does with our helper. I took a few minutes to help Samuel jump on something in the playground area, and I was able to help my youngest son on the swing for a few minutes too. It was great to talk with my friends for a few minutes too, the bad weather has kept us from getting together as regularly as we had been last fall and early winter.
We ended up staying for an hour and a half, the boys all accepted leaving nicely (I "counted down" before time to leave), and Samuel's good mood lasted most of the evening!
A great day all around for the boys!
After we picked Samuel up and were on the way home my car just decided that it was going to steer itself over towards the park! My oldest son had his nose in a book so he didn't notice the different route we were driving, but my youngest son picked right up on it and started saying "where are we going?" "let's go to the park!" Sometimes I do drive that route so we can see how high a particular creek is running, so I'm sure the boys wondered what I was up to. At the last second I said "okay, let's see who might be at the park" and I turned in. Our friends were there and my boys were very happy to know we would be staying a while.
A group of us has gathered together, as weather has permitted, at this park for 5 1/2 years now. We call it "play group", and it has been fun to have the kids get together. This is also vital gathering time for the moms too! Our families have grown considerably over the years and the ages of the children playing are from the early teen years down to newborns. Sometimes just one or two families are there and other times there can be as many as maybe 8 - 10 or even more families (usually in the summertime when we gather more regularly).
Our ability to go to play group has been limited the past year and a half because of Samuel's uncooperativeness. He started wandering off from the field where we gather. There is a creek nearby that Samuel is attracted to and I don't like to take any chances. We did not go very much last spring between that and our baby being so young. This summer and fall we had an in-home helper on the day we go to the park so we were able to attend regularly. I took a big chance by going to the park yesterday without an in-home helper. I put my oldest son on notice that I may need his help and I spent the entire time watching Samuel like a hawk. I also told them we would only stay for 45 minutes.
It didn't even hit me until we got back home, but Samuel did better than I could have even imagined! He did walk around the edges of the play area most of the time (he told me later that he was playing "Daytona 500") but he kind of hung out for a short while with the other children who were having races. Never once did he wander from the play area and best of all he did not expect to take a walk over to another area of the park as he usually does with our helper. I took a few minutes to help Samuel jump on something in the playground area, and I was able to help my youngest son on the swing for a few minutes too. It was great to talk with my friends for a few minutes too, the bad weather has kept us from getting together as regularly as we had been last fall and early winter.
We ended up staying for an hour and a half, the boys all accepted leaving nicely (I "counted down" before time to leave), and Samuel's good mood lasted most of the evening!
A great day all around for the boys!
Friday, February 16, 2007
A New Routine
Wow, I couldn't be this consistent if I tried! My posting times the past 3 mornings have been just about the same! Yes, it's another snow day and I just finished typing Samuel's lessons AGAIN! This probably means that the boys will wake up any moment and I had better get in the shower!
What are we going to do when school reopens? Samuel is liking the life we have had this week very very much!
Samuel is amazing me with the work he is doing. Not just the work either, his cooperativeness! I guess it's just a testament to the importance of routine and an incentive system that is meaningful. These past 3 days are probably the best routine I have had with Samuel since the baby was born. I'll try to post some pictures of Samuel's work soon. It always takes me a while to figure these things out!
What are we going to do when school reopens? Samuel is liking the life we have had this week very very much!
Samuel is amazing me with the work he is doing. Not just the work either, his cooperativeness! I guess it's just a testament to the importance of routine and an incentive system that is meaningful. These past 3 days are probably the best routine I have had with Samuel since the baby was born. I'll try to post some pictures of Samuel's work soon. It always takes me a while to figure these things out!
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