Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Fast Friends

Very recently, a boy moved in just down the road, not far, a couple of houses away. He and Austin (both the same age) have become instant friends, Kaleigh too!  They run and play together everyday.  His parents set up an egg hunt on Easter for all three of kids, very sweet.  The boys really do stick together, Kaleigh sometimes ends up on the outside but she is feisty and hangs tough, and finds her way right back into the middle!  It is so nice to see Austin having fun and so excited to see his new friend.

Friendships seem to come so much more easily to Kaleigh and she is a little social butterfly.  It is nice to see her in the mix since sometimes, Austin's words still do not come out in a typical fashion.  When I told Austin he had 10 more minutes to play with his friend, he went out the door and had calculated the minutes into seconds, and gave the time left to play in seconds.  The look on the boy's face, he thought it was a bit odd, but didn't give it more a few seconds thought and was off again playing.  (I intend to speak to the boy's parents and I have met the father briefly.  He seems like a very nice man.  I will explain that Austin is on the spectrum.  I always feel more comfortable when people are aware of Austin's autism.)  So far, this boy has not said or questioned anything, to me anyway and with Kaleigh there to intervene all the time I am not sure it is as apparent as if Austin was on his own.

I encourage and support Austin and Kaleigh's friendships.  It is so important to have friends and the bonds you have when you are little can last a lifetime.  I get such a giggle out of my brother, he met his best friend when he was 5 years old and he just spent Easter weekend with him at his place out of town.  They both have families of their own but the bond has not changed in all that time.  I think it is really wonderful!  I have a few friends from when I was little who still hold the same place in my heart.  They may only be one or two, but that piece will always belong to them and how wonderful is that?

I look forward to and hope my children will make at least one great friend who will be there for a long, long time.  It is so wonderful to see the beginnings of friendships when they are so young and uncomplicated.  Sheer happiness, excitement and fun! What more could you ask for?

All the best! *HUGS*

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Strides and Struggles

Yesterday, I met with the Psychologist to find out the results of Austin's recent testing.  There were so many positive things to celebrate. :)  YAY!  Austin has achieved a lot and progressed very well.  He is so different than he was just a few years ago.  We are so proud of him!  He has worked very hard to overcome some of his most difficult challenges.  He has struggled and put forth such an effort, he is quite a remarkable boy.  GREAT JOB AUSTIN! :)

There are still things Austin struggles with and we continue to work with him on these issues.  His social skills and multi-tasking skills are still a challenge.  He also may not respond to a question in a way that you or I might.  We are returning to the speech therapist and OT for some strategies to help Austin.  He is growing so fast and changing rapidly.  Sometimes, the way he verbalizes things is still a bit vague.  Examples of what I mean will be coming up in another post soon! :)

*HUGS* All the best!


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Difficulty Dressing

It has been a while but here is a time warp post.

Yesterday, I was waiting for Kaleigh to get dressed.  She has been able to get herself dressed for a long time now.  It made me think of Austin, and how at 6, he still struggled with dressing.  He needed help here and there still, but when he was around 3 to 5, it was a terrible ordeal for him to even attempt.  Prior to that, I always dressed him, he didn't seem to be interested in trying and I did not put much into the fact that he didn't.  That was, until it was brought to my attention that it was not typical for a 4 year old to not be able to get dressed independently.

People ask me, from time to time, what was your first indication that Austin may be on the autism spectrum, for me, it was his speech and his behaviours could be a bit unpredictable.  I also had someone close to me saying to get him checked but I did not listen to her at the time.  Once Austin started preschool, the teacher there brought many things to my attention, as I have blogged about previously.  Things he could not do included buttons and his zipper, putting on his snow pants.  I told her, "Well, I dress him all the time, so he just does not have to do it."  She, did not take that as a valid reason.  Sure enough, when I let him try, he could not do it.  It has only been within the last 2 years he has managed to do zippers and he does still struggle with buttons.  We tried to teach him to tie his shoes but he just cried and cried.  We found these wonderful snaps that just click the laces together.  We will try again to tie laces but his motor skills are still not up for the task.  )We always got him velcro shoes, so it was not an issue, until he grew out of that stage and now everything is pretty much laces.)  Thank goodness for the little snaps, for now.

When I look back and think of things that Austin struggled with, I feel like I need to document it.  It might help someone else and it is important to me that Austin see how much he progressed in such a short time.

*HUGS* All the best!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Bloglovin

You can follow my blog at Bloglovin, if you would like.

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/6470635/?claim=xwhfzdd3gts">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

*HUGS* All the best!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Light It Up Blue for April 2!

A sweet treat for Austin and Kaleigh for this special day!  They both went to school dressed in blue today too.  Have a great day everyone!



*HUGS*  All the best!