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 22, 2014
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!
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!
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
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*HUGS* All the best!
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*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!
*HUGS* All the best!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
The Autism Question
Today, Austin asked me "How much autism do I have?" I was a little surprised that he asked me but I knew the day would come when he would. I was reading an article on my computer in my room about the autism rates increasing to 1 in 68. He saw was I was reading and this is what he asked me. I asked him what he thought autism meant and he said it is "someone who is very smart, like Einstein" and I told him that is true but that there is a spectrum and not everyone on the spectrum is Einstein. I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
We asked the Psychologist a while back, should we tell Austin he is on the autism spectrum. She said to wait until he brought it up or asked. Not to make a big deal out of it. So I did my best to stick to her instructions. She gave an example of having red hair, I am the same as everyone, I just have red hair; different. I gave this example to Austin and he seemed to get it. I explained to Austin that people that have high functioning autism like him, just think differently. I gave him a few examples of what he excels at and what challenges he may face. I also told him, we all have strengths and challenges. (We did speak briefly with Dad too but Austin and I discussed mostly between ourselves.) He just discussed back and forth like we were discussing how to make a cake. He did tell me he has thought he was born on the spectrum. I did tell him that indeed, he is on the autism spectrum and it is not a big deal. I asked him if he knew anyone else on the spectrum and he said "no". I explained to him that he does have a friend on the spectrum and he got very excited at how much they have in common. He thought that it was "cool".
Interestingly enough, Austin has just gone through some testing and we are waiting the results of the assessment from the Psychologist. She seemed very pleased with how much he has progressed. He is doing very well. :)
I answered as many questions as he had and he really did not seemed too phased.
Light It Up Blue on April 2!
All the best! *HUGS*
We asked the Psychologist a while back, should we tell Austin he is on the autism spectrum. She said to wait until he brought it up or asked. Not to make a big deal out of it. So I did my best to stick to her instructions. She gave an example of having red hair, I am the same as everyone, I just have red hair; different. I gave this example to Austin and he seemed to get it. I explained to Austin that people that have high functioning autism like him, just think differently. I gave him a few examples of what he excels at and what challenges he may face. I also told him, we all have strengths and challenges. (We did speak briefly with Dad too but Austin and I discussed mostly between ourselves.) He just discussed back and forth like we were discussing how to make a cake. He did tell me he has thought he was born on the spectrum. I did tell him that indeed, he is on the autism spectrum and it is not a big deal. I asked him if he knew anyone else on the spectrum and he said "no". I explained to him that he does have a friend on the spectrum and he got very excited at how much they have in common. He thought that it was "cool".
Interestingly enough, Austin has just gone through some testing and we are waiting the results of the assessment from the Psychologist. She seemed very pleased with how much he has progressed. He is doing very well. :)
I answered as many questions as he had and he really did not seemed too phased.
Light It Up Blue on April 2!
All the best! *HUGS*
Monday, March 24, 2014
No Filter
Sometimes people hurt Austin's feelings but he hurts peoples' feelings as well but really does not understand why. The answer, no filter.
Austin says whatever comes into his head. He really speaks his mind about everything. It is nice to know that he will tell you pretty much anything but sometimes it really can be inappropriate. Try going shopping and when there is a line he always blurts out "OH COME ON!!!" "We are going to be here FOREVER!" You should see the look on peoples faces. The first time it happened, I actually laughed because it caught me so off guard. I always turn to Austin and say "That is not very polite and not appropriate, we must have patience." He will say he is sorry but pout for a minute or two. He eventually gets over it, but he will do it again the next time we go and the next ...
At school, there is a girl he does not like at all. She has done somethings to upset him and well, he does not like her. This is really new for Austin because he has always been very easy going and played with whoever would want to play. Now, he is starting to get the social dynamic. Oh my, it has not been an easy year but he has progressed and learnt so much! He is doing so well! Very proud of him! The problem is, if he is put together with this girl he protests and says "I do not like her!" He does not want to be paired up with her and has no problem saying this right to this poor girl. I have been notified that he protests when he does not want to work with someone or in a group. I have told Austin, when someone does something to hurt his feelings, he does not like it, then he should be careful not to hurt someone else's feelings too. It takes a bit to get him to understand and I hope that he will choose his words more carefully. He does not think there is anything wrong with expressing how he feels about someone. It is a challenge to convince him otherwise and explain that he should try putting himself in that person's shoes. I still have to be careful how I phrase things since he wants to know how it will help to wear their shoes! Never a dull moment!
*HUGS* All the best!
Austin says whatever comes into his head. He really speaks his mind about everything. It is nice to know that he will tell you pretty much anything but sometimes it really can be inappropriate. Try going shopping and when there is a line he always blurts out "OH COME ON!!!" "We are going to be here FOREVER!" You should see the look on peoples faces. The first time it happened, I actually laughed because it caught me so off guard. I always turn to Austin and say "That is not very polite and not appropriate, we must have patience." He will say he is sorry but pout for a minute or two. He eventually gets over it, but he will do it again the next time we go and the next ...
At school, there is a girl he does not like at all. She has done somethings to upset him and well, he does not like her. This is really new for Austin because he has always been very easy going and played with whoever would want to play. Now, he is starting to get the social dynamic. Oh my, it has not been an easy year but he has progressed and learnt so much! He is doing so well! Very proud of him! The problem is, if he is put together with this girl he protests and says "I do not like her!" He does not want to be paired up with her and has no problem saying this right to this poor girl. I have been notified that he protests when he does not want to work with someone or in a group. I have told Austin, when someone does something to hurt his feelings, he does not like it, then he should be careful not to hurt someone else's feelings too. It takes a bit to get him to understand and I hope that he will choose his words more carefully. He does not think there is anything wrong with expressing how he feels about someone. It is a challenge to convince him otherwise and explain that he should try putting himself in that person's shoes. I still have to be careful how I phrase things since he wants to know how it will help to wear their shoes! Never a dull moment!
*HUGS* All the best!
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