The Bread Bag

Austin was recently re-assessed by his Psychologist, Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist.  I have met with all of them.  They discussed Austin's progress and his challenges.  I will continue to document them here so we can keep tract of both.

The other day I met with Austin's OT, she explained that he still struggles with his fine motor skills.  She suggested that I encourage him to do more things for himself.  (Alright so he is still my baby and yes, I say all the time that I am too protective and cater a lot to my children.  I was reminded of how that can be counterproductive for Austin, thank you, I got it!)  Butter his own toast, fold his own laundry, learn to tie his shoes (I have tried numerous times, he just starts to cry; we use a special snap instead, but I really want him to learn to do it), on and on I could go, the list is long.

Yesterday, Austin wanted raisin toast.  I told him he could make it himself and I would watch or help.  He did pretty well overall but it took me 15 minutes to show him how to open the bread bag instead of ripping it apart.  He does not look either, he looks away as he pulls until the little tag breaks or rips the bag.  He still struggles to open the bag and to close it (that took another 5 minutes), I gave up because he was just too frustrated.  It is difficult to see him struggle with something you or I would take for granted.  It is something that when dealing with autism seems very small in the overall spectrum, but in Austin's world, it is a very big thing.

One of the challenging things is Kaleigh can get up, make herself a PB & J sandwich, put everything away and you would never know she was in the kitchen.  Austin sees this and questions why she can do it and he can't?  He could do it if he wanted, but he just gets discouraged at this point and calls for help.  I explained to him, that we will help him get there and he will, it just takes a little time and patience. We are working hard to make sure that he will be able to do all the things he wants for himself.

All the best! *HUGS*