I was reading through a journal I started when Riley was born.
I jotted a little note about the day's events -- it's so fun to
look through, I wish I still did it. You think you're going to
remember every sweet, funny thing your child does, but you don't.
Now I get to it once a month, but hey, I don't have time to
vacuum the stairs, so what do you expect. But one entry stopped
me cold. "Today Jack said 'Mommy share Coke!' It's his first new
verb!" This entry was a little over a year ago and I can't
believe I've forgotten how far we've come. Jack and I have
conversations now -- about picking up seashells on the beach when
we go to Cape Cod, or wondering where the baby birds went who
suddenly weren't in their little nest anymore.
A year ago, most of our communication was him telling me what he wanted or things he saw. "I want cookie, please." Each of these words took much work with his therapists to coax out. And when he did talk, he often growled his words. It's part of the sensory issues we have to work on, and thankfully that quirk is gone. It was very freaky to hear this deep growl come from a 10 month old baby the first time I heard it! He got some leary looks from strangers, at times. He also had trouble making eye contact, and playing with toys appropriately. He did not have some of the stereotypical head-banging, rocking or hand flapping you sometimes see, but there was a lot to work on.
Jack and his teachers would file down to the basement playroom each day for a couple hours of therapy. A number of therapists -- speech, special ed, occupational therapist, social worker, physical therapist and even a music teacher -- would work with him. Much of the work was done across the table from him, where they would prompt him to say the word, or complete a task, and reward him with an M&M or the chance to play with a favorite
Lots of Jack's therapy is fun!
toy. This is the gist of one of the therapies available for
kids on the autistic spectrum known as ABA -- Applied Behavioral
Analysis. We're so lucky to have gotten Jack help early and with
a fantastic group of teachers.
Now one year later, he's moved out of ABA because he was flying through the programs and running out of things they could teach him this way. He's in two different pre-schools and ready to move on to mainstream kindergarten. He needs to work on his social skills, and lately he's been easily melting down over the smallest things, but he's virtually indistinguishable from other 'typical' kids. When I stop to think about it, it takes my breath away. It's so easy, as the days tumble by and blend into each other, to forget where we've come from: a cold and scary place where we didn't know what to expect from Jack. At one point we were told that he would need support the rest of his life.
Initially, we thought he just had a speech delay and wanted an evaluation to "rule out" autism. We were stunned by the diagnosis, and by the lack of information on what to do. There is no one person you can go to map out an education, bio-medical and therapeutic plan. Educators don't know much about the bio-medical aspects, special DAN! doctors (who believe autism can be treated bio-medically) won't advise you on the educational aspect. Many traditional doctors will tell you there's nothing you can do medically. So you become your child's greatest advocate, and it can be a full-time job.
Jack needs deep sensory input each
day from wrestling, pillow squishing,
and big hugs! It calms him down.
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