Scott telecommuted today. I was able to leave Willow at home while I took the boys to school. I dropped Sebastian at school. Then I drove out of the parking lot onto the road. Judah suddenly says, "That way!!", while pointing in the direction we would go to get to McDonald's. This is something he does on a nearly daily basis when we drive out of the school parking lot. I say, "Sorry, Judah." While I'm approaching our next turn, he points straight ahead yelling, "That way!!" That one was odd, we never go that way. I ask him, "What's up that hill Judah??" As we are driving down our usual path home, I tell him, "Judah I'm sorry. We have to go straight home this morning." And then it hits me.. he has school today!! He was trying to direct me back to school! haha.
We made it back to school on time. I ran into the mother of one of his classmates while we were walking up to the building. Her son is fairly new in Judah's classroom. She is the only other parent that brings her kid to school & picks him up. So I see her quite often. I asked her if she knew what was going on with the teacher & she told me that the only time she had seen her was on her son's first day of class, the day that she met her! Judah isn't as carefree & excited as he used to be when walking into class. He doesn't seem quite sure of things. He still does his arrival routine well though. His cubby location is different nearly every single day - the cubby name tags & photos are velcroed on & get moved around a lot. But he still finds his every single time! Velcro is used everywhere in the world of special needs.. in an autism classroom you'll find more Velcro than you would in a toddler tennis shoe aisle.
Next week WESD has classes only 2 days - Monday & Tuesday.
Rachel & I talked after Judah's class. Willow & Sebastian were in the van. Sebastian wasn't listening well on the playground - going into the mud after being asked not to, not coming with me when asked to, etc. So we headed back to the van early & they had to wait there while I got Judah. This worked out incredibly well - Sebastian started taking me seriously for a while and I was able to have a conversation with Rachel with no interruptions, rushing or sprinting! Eventually Sebastian did open the van door & yelled out for me. It's not a perfect world.
Rachel said Judah wasn't responding to his name much. I told her he is at home, mostly. We talked about the Star Program work - they are doing "hold my hand" and "walk with me". He did "hold my hand" pretty well - but that included a gesture from her. The next step is no gesture. "Walk with me" I don't think had a lot of success. For "hands down" he was hitting his head?? He's probably so sick of doing that one - we do it a lot here. We haven't done the other two yet though.
Rachel is trying to change up the "I want chip", probably since I told her that he sounded like a caveman. She is trying to get him to say "more chips please.. I want more chips", stuff like that. She had no success today. But tonight he really wanted chips & he told me right away, "I want more." and followed that with, "More please." He was in the tub - getting to the chips would not be a comfortable task.
Judah also said, "No, no, bad" very clearly, out of nowhere this evening. He said "cup" again, but this time saying "Pete" as well. I finally put that together - Piston Cup! I'm not sure completely - his reaction wasn't ecstatic, but that definitely could have been what he was saying. He suddenly had more confidence to try other new words on me directly following that - I don't think I understood any of those.
Judah was getting ready for a bath and I asked Willow if she wanted a bath. She was standing near me in the bathroom. She made it very clear that she did not want a bath & walked out of the bathroom. Judah then said, "Bye, bye baby." haha! He calls her "baby". I think maybe separating their baths might be what Judah wants.
That little "baby" played a lot of guitar this morning! I have an old guitar with 2 strings - one string dangling from it and one string still attached correctly. I gave it to Sebastian years ago. He got it out this morning & played it while singing, "The Farmer In The Dell". That attached string happened to hit one of the correct notes in the song from time to time! When he was at school Willow sat in the time-out chair and played the one-string guitar for a long time. She had one song that she would do repeatedly, even after she wandered away for a while, she would come back & still remember it. It wasn't really words, but more just sounds (to me anyway, to her it was words I'm sure). Scott came out to hear her play. We became her audience. Finally he told her that he had to go back to work. As soon as he left she began singing, "Daddy go back to work... Daddy go back to work... Daddy go back to work.." after every line she would bend her elbow & throw her thumb back in the direction Daddy had gone. It was hilarious.
Sebastian did LOTS of sock matching today. I hope he is beginning to see the connection between not listening & doing things he doesn't enjoy. His sock matching skill has definitely improved - added bonus for Scott & I!
When we played bubbles outside, Judah was the only one who could figure out how to use one of the more unique wands. And he did it on the first try - he knew exactly what to do. I thought that was interesting. The other 2 never got it.
While in the bathroom today, Judah wasn't responding when I told him to pull his pants up. He usually doesn't - I think he is just doing it when he realizes on his own that he needs to pull his pants up. He may not be understanding that request? I don't know. So I got out the bathroom picture chart & pointed to the picture of the guy pulling up his pants. Judah pulled up his pants right away! I pointed at the picture of hands being washed & he studied it. Once I said, "wash hands" he understood. So it works both ways for sure. We tend to forget the visual aids though - obviously those can be really important & helpful.
We made it back to school on time. I ran into the mother of one of his classmates while we were walking up to the building. Her son is fairly new in Judah's classroom. She is the only other parent that brings her kid to school & picks him up. So I see her quite often. I asked her if she knew what was going on with the teacher & she told me that the only time she had seen her was on her son's first day of class, the day that she met her! Judah isn't as carefree & excited as he used to be when walking into class. He doesn't seem quite sure of things. He still does his arrival routine well though. His cubby location is different nearly every single day - the cubby name tags & photos are velcroed on & get moved around a lot. But he still finds his every single time! Velcro is used everywhere in the world of special needs.. in an autism classroom you'll find more Velcro than you would in a toddler tennis shoe aisle.
Next week WESD has classes only 2 days - Monday & Tuesday.
Rachel & I talked after Judah's class. Willow & Sebastian were in the van. Sebastian wasn't listening well on the playground - going into the mud after being asked not to, not coming with me when asked to, etc. So we headed back to the van early & they had to wait there while I got Judah. This worked out incredibly well - Sebastian started taking me seriously for a while and I was able to have a conversation with Rachel with no interruptions, rushing or sprinting! Eventually Sebastian did open the van door & yelled out for me. It's not a perfect world.
Rachel said Judah wasn't responding to his name much. I told her he is at home, mostly. We talked about the Star Program work - they are doing "hold my hand" and "walk with me". He did "hold my hand" pretty well - but that included a gesture from her. The next step is no gesture. "Walk with me" I don't think had a lot of success. For "hands down" he was hitting his head?? He's probably so sick of doing that one - we do it a lot here. We haven't done the other two yet though.
Rachel is trying to change up the "I want chip", probably since I told her that he sounded like a caveman. She is trying to get him to say "more chips please.. I want more chips", stuff like that. She had no success today. But tonight he really wanted chips & he told me right away, "I want more." and followed that with, "More please." He was in the tub - getting to the chips would not be a comfortable task.
Judah also said, "No, no, bad" very clearly, out of nowhere this evening. He said "cup" again, but this time saying "Pete" as well. I finally put that together - Piston Cup! I'm not sure completely - his reaction wasn't ecstatic, but that definitely could have been what he was saying. He suddenly had more confidence to try other new words on me directly following that - I don't think I understood any of those.
Judah was getting ready for a bath and I asked Willow if she wanted a bath. She was standing near me in the bathroom. She made it very clear that she did not want a bath & walked out of the bathroom. Judah then said, "Bye, bye baby." haha! He calls her "baby". I think maybe separating their baths might be what Judah wants.
That little "baby" played a lot of guitar this morning! I have an old guitar with 2 strings - one string dangling from it and one string still attached correctly. I gave it to Sebastian years ago. He got it out this morning & played it while singing, "The Farmer In The Dell". That attached string happened to hit one of the correct notes in the song from time to time! When he was at school Willow sat in the time-out chair and played the one-string guitar for a long time. She had one song that she would do repeatedly, even after she wandered away for a while, she would come back & still remember it. It wasn't really words, but more just sounds (to me anyway, to her it was words I'm sure). Scott came out to hear her play. We became her audience. Finally he told her that he had to go back to work. As soon as he left she began singing, "Daddy go back to work... Daddy go back to work... Daddy go back to work.." after every line she would bend her elbow & throw her thumb back in the direction Daddy had gone. It was hilarious.
Sebastian did LOTS of sock matching today. I hope he is beginning to see the connection between not listening & doing things he doesn't enjoy. His sock matching skill has definitely improved - added bonus for Scott & I!
When we played bubbles outside, Judah was the only one who could figure out how to use one of the more unique wands. And he did it on the first try - he knew exactly what to do. I thought that was interesting. The other 2 never got it.
While in the bathroom today, Judah wasn't responding when I told him to pull his pants up. He usually doesn't - I think he is just doing it when he realizes on his own that he needs to pull his pants up. He may not be understanding that request? I don't know. So I got out the bathroom picture chart & pointed to the picture of the guy pulling up his pants. Judah pulled up his pants right away! I pointed at the picture of hands being washed & he studied it. Once I said, "wash hands" he understood. So it works both ways for sure. We tend to forget the visual aids though - obviously those can be really important & helpful.
Sebastian finished up his Star of the Week paper & we practiced his poster presentation. He came up with some fun stuff to say! I loved it. Tomorrow he will present that to his class. I'm so happy that I get to be there to watch this! And to experience Fiesta Friday! And to go to the little party they are setting up for the people who have been volunteering. :) (free breakfast)
Scott did the Star Program work with Judah this evening. I'm not sure how it went, but they stayed in Judah's bedroom for over five minutes - which is good!
Judah took the new med, Oxymag today, one teaspoon in his almond milk concoction. Judah had 1 tablespoon (one dose) of his prescribed L-carnitine. He had 2 doses of Docusate Sodium, 2000 i.u. vitamin d, three tablets 125 mg folinic acid with b-12, 1 tsp. fish oil, no probiotic & no nose drops (preparing for lab). He had 2 doses of Miralax. He had 2 of his sleep pills - Magnesium Citramate 135 mg. That was crushed & mixed into his nightly applesauce dessert. I walked up to him while he was eating that, only to find blobs of applesauce on the table in at least five different places. I had walked in just in time to see him tossing applesauce from his spoon straight into the air, landing on his head. And I looked down at the floor to see Pixie licking all over the floor, at least SHE will sleep good tonight. Judah had 1/2 Bethanechol 2 times today.
Judah took the new med, Oxymag today, one teaspoon in his almond milk concoction. Judah had 1 tablespoon (one dose) of his prescribed L-carnitine. He had 2 doses of Docusate Sodium, 2000 i.u. vitamin d, three tablets 125 mg folinic acid with b-12, 1 tsp. fish oil, no probiotic & no nose drops (preparing for lab). He had 2 doses of Miralax. He had 2 of his sleep pills - Magnesium Citramate 135 mg. That was crushed & mixed into his nightly applesauce dessert. I walked up to him while he was eating that, only to find blobs of applesauce on the table in at least five different places. I had walked in just in time to see him tossing applesauce from his spoon straight into the air, landing on his head. And I looked down at the floor to see Pixie licking all over the floor, at least SHE will sleep good tonight. Judah had 1/2 Bethanechol 2 times today.
No comments:
Post a Comment