Compliments of the Grandparents, we took the kids to the beach this weekend. We had a great time, and although out of his element DS had a hard time during parts, he really did have a great time. We'll never forget 10,000 requests for a ride in the elevator....but he also enjoyed rides in the wagon, holding hands up and down the hall, rides on Papa's belly in the lazy river, playing in the sand with Memaw, and the pool.
She came in and asked DS to sit under a little lap table. Game #1 was a peg board. His job was to choose which color peg he wanted, say 'Push In' as he puts the peg in, say 'On Top' as he puts the peg on top, and then follow her directions for 'in' and 'on top' as directed. She got a good feel of his hesitancy to answer choice questions with new objects. He also struggled to say the phrases and required prompting each time. When she asked him to 'push in right here' in a specific hole, it took a LONG time for him to follow the direction, but he finally got it. He was very good to look at her each time he knew he wanted help, but never asked for help. He reverted back to echolalia in his speech as she asked various questions today, but it seemed more as a coping skill to the hesitancy of doing something wrong for the new person. She said part of her strategy (this is different than the way we do speech) is to NOT repeat a task over and over and over. She wants him to LEARN not to REPEAT when possible. She said once he got the in and ontop correct she would stop, play something else for a minute, let the brain rest, and then do it again. She said this would facilitate her knowing when he actually learned something instead of him just repeating what she was doing.
Second, we did a puzzle with firetrucks and dump trucks. What she did with this goes so far past anything I've ever tried, I was impressed!! She really got a good feel for where he struggles today. She said she wanted to see him match up the puzzle, but more importantly she wanted him to identify with different parts by her prompting. So, she let him assemble the puzzle and then asked him to hand her different pieces. 'Can I have the dump truck? What color is it? What kind of sound does a truck make?' 'May I have the yellow truck? No, the other one.' 'May I have the truck with blue windows, the ladder' She really pushed him to LOOK at what he was doing before just jumping at the first command. She allowed him to take his time and think. She allowed him to make a mistake and then corrected him. She was very graceful with him, and at the same time VERY firm and didn't back down once she asked him for something.
We let him play free play while we chatted a bit. She noticed that he had taken the piggy bank toy over to the side. She engaged with him and told me that she sees that he is at risk to isolate himself while playing. At his developmental age, she wants to see him coming in between our conversation to interrupt us because he wants to play WITH us. She wants to see him improve on choice questions - yes/no for accuracy - more abstract choices with more language. She wants us to move the toy bins up out of his reach so he has to ask for them SPONTANEOUSLY. I think that is a KEY for him. Jen has gotten him to the point where he can say 'Mommy, I want juice please.', but he does it VERY choppy and it is 90% prompted - 100% prompted when the object is out of site. Suzanne wants to take him the step further where he KNOWS he wants something and he finds his OWN language to get it. This is another example of taking his language from 'repeated' to 'learned'. THIS is what he needs!!!!
She said that our major challenge with a High Functioning child is to help him to NOT stand out in a crowd. She said that already, he fits in very well... but she NEVER made me feel like that meant he DOESN'T have a form of autism. She said that he will do really well in a classroom, she doesn't see any real behavioral issues, and he is very social. She caught onto him really quick. Before she left, her observation had told her that his eye contact was great, but not used the same way as typical children. She knew that his jumping/gross motor skills are lagging some. She knew that he is very social but he needs to learn more appropriate communication. She even knew that the little 'marching dance' that he sings to in the same pattern around the house was one of his coping skills... she said 'awwww' when she saw it and immediately knew...
Every single motion, word, etc.. that she made was for a purpose. She made me feel like a great mom. She made me feel like we're going to get A LOT of work done. This is an awesome day!!!
Yes, Mommy was in charge of dinner last night. Had Daddy been home, this game would not have carried this far, guaranteed. However, it was QUITE entertaining. He spelled multiple words and then ate them letter by letter. This is the only one I got a picture of: 2+2=4 (that's what he told us it said anyway). I can imagine 2's would be quite hard to make out of Lo Mein for anyone...... WOW!
No translation needed for 2 of the names here, but the one at the bottom is 'Daddy'.
Work = A table + chair, bookcase to the left with all the tasks, and a bucket to the right for 'all-done' tasks. The tasks are either 'shoebox tasks' or 'folder tasks'. Basically, each shoebox has a specific job that has to be done. In my example picture, the child must remove the papers from the clips, drop the papers in the paper slot and drop the clips into the can. Then, the child is all-done. The folder tasks are very similar, the ones I have seen have velcro and require some sort of matching.
This morning, Jen used the 'Parents Animal Hospital' (one of my all-time favorites) to show us how to tap into this new concept. She would ask him 'What do we need', because he already knew he wanted the animals out. Then we would say 'We need the key. The key opens the door.' 
I have to admit that in my frustration at the rest of the day falling apart I am quietly sitting here contemplating on scripture & my role as a parent. Really, these kids and all the therapists are children of God. My children aren't even MY children. I am here - given a job from God - to raise these gifts the way HE would have me to. I am in no way in CONTROL of anything that happens, but I am responsible for my reaction and my job. I struggle, as does everyone else.... but I also hold onto the HOPE that God has promised - For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. The chubby little fingers, the heartbeats, the smiles and the tantrums. It is all embodied inside the growing little children in my house. God put them together.. piece by piece. How awesome is that? He knew who they were - who they are - who they will be. That really does make it all better. The daily happenings around here are just a 'by-product' of the bigger picture. I'm going to sit back and try to enjoy the bigger picture instead of nitpicking on tiny details that get me off track into the world of negativity.
OT today. Leap Frog Book - went well. Theraputty - went great. Fingerpaints - tenative, but successful. Back to Leap Frog Book - doesn't want to give it up. Lunch - meltdown - won't try the new food of the week 'carrots'. Total meltdown over wanting APPLES which aren't at the table and mommy can't give in. Back to Leap Frog Book - more meltdowns as Mitzi tries to escape without causing further damage. (not that it was her fault, he is just in a mood today).
*Sigh*
We clapped and he looked a mix of startled and satisfied at that. He started putting more apple and more apple in his mouth.
I was trying my best to hold back tears, but he was eating APPLE!!!
I've tried that a gazillion times. What worked? We don't know. I'm just happy.
While we were still playing the 'put bears in train' game, he did several things that he doesn't typically do. He kept taking all the bears out of the train and throwing them on the floor, so I pretended that the bears wanted to jump. Jen pretended the bears wanted to sleep. DS decided that ALL the bears were sleeping, and as I would stand them up, he would lay them down and pretend they were snoring. That makes Mommy smile.
During our session, Jen was telling us that he is mastering things Light Years faster than she ever imagined he would. She said that she never thought he would catch on to the concepts she is throwing at him so fast. She said that she wants to just keep going as far as he'll let her take him and keep adding new concepts. Jen wants to add as many different scenarios as possible, since he catches on quick but still has a hard time translating a skill over to everyday life scenarios.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that while he'll answer 'want green truck' during a game where we've shown him the only acceptable answer to get what he wants is 'want green truck', he doesn't say 'want red block' or 'want orange juice' to prompt me to come get those things for him. Now, I will say that he DOES ask for more and more things on his own. If we've repeated it enough times, he knows to say 'Mommy, I want Juice Please' - but if not - he usually comes barelling in the room going - Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo, Elmo..... It's all a bit confusing... it still feels like a lot of this is just normal 2 year old stuff - but I get new confirmation of the reason he's 'on the spectrum' on a daily basis. I guess when you COMBINE all the issues... it = Autism.
Nasty little A word.
Why do you have to be so confusing little A word?
No matter how great he is doing - I still see the importance of having the Speech Therapy. I hope Jen doesn't say 'ok, he's done' - I dont know why I fear that.... But, if we didn't have her to teach us what helps bring language out, we wouldn't know what to work on. It is only through DS's sheer Genious, repitition, and of course God's Grace that he is doing so well. He really really does need to be taught things that other children pick up on their own. Good for us, he's a QUICK STUDY! I feel for those mom's who don't get to see improvements so often.... I find myself thinking on that often... and I take a quick moment to be thankful for all of this. It will make me a better person.
Jen commented that he's picking up on things that are well above his level of development. She said that 2 year olds will usually pretend play putting a baby to bed or feeding...but they dont pretend conversations between toys - and he's doing that more and more now.
He has mastered questions with a one word answer:
Want Truck or Car? Truck
Jen wants us to move on to multiple word answers:
Want Green Truck or Red Car? Want Green Truck
As Jen was leaving... he MADE HER DAY!
'Bye Jen'
He said it! Finally! Without anyone telling him to!
Week after week, we walk outside to watch Jen leave, as I tell Jen Bye and tell him to say the same thing..... and sometimes he will give in to my request, but never on his own.
The book I got from Mitsy (OT) has some good insight. I have only made it a couple chapters in, but it sparked some ideas that I HAVEN'T tried on getting DS to eat.
Evidently he is somewhere between a Picky Eater and a Resistant 
Eater. I will not jump to put him in the latter category, but it is definitely an issue that deserves to be revisited once I've read more of the book.
Anyway.... I bought two containers of fruit that DS has not really been exposed to very many times. I decided that for a week, I will put Blueberries and Strawberries on his plate at every single meal.
I will not focus on them. I will not force him to eat them. I will not make it stressful. They are the 2 items on his plate that he is allowed to do whatever he wants to do - as long as it's not hazerdous. If he wants to squish them, lick them, stick them in his ears.... I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I want to see if the presentation of food and his confidence/stress level will affect whether or not he will eat something new.
Day#1, Meal #1: Placed items on his plate. We named everything & he identified both berries. I got one of his books and showed him the blueberries, which he proceeded to spell from. I asked him what strawberries smelled like? He sniffed it. I asked him if he wanted to lick them. He did. Then, he tried to feed me. I took the bites he offered and then left the table. He counted the blueberries, but no bites. He seems MUCH more resistant to the strawberry than the blueberries.
Day#2, Meals 2, 3, 4: Licked, Smelled, Fed Mommy. No bites
Day #3, Meals 5, 6: Licked, Smelled, Counted, Held, Rolled around, Fed Mommy. No bites
Days 4,5,6 - Lots of meals later... same stuff... never ate them. However, he ate Apple during our OT appointment (detailed above)