An Autism Recovery

Alligator Beach

Logan tells about his trip to the zoo and the alligators!

Encouraging Report from our Miss Jennifer

Good morning!
 
Well, we had an awesome day last thursday!  We had Lunch Bunch with Miles and Abbie the new little girl in the class.  He really likes her!  He made me scoot over during Lunch Bunch so he could sit by her, he wanted her to go first in both games we played and walked out to the playground chatting it up with her!  Oh, and one more thing... I called her Abbie and Logan corrected me by saying "She likes to be called Abigail."  During Lunch Bunch he shared interesting things with the group about his trip to the beach.  I made sure the info was different from the info he shared with the entire class!  I must say my favorite has to be "We got a new car at the airport because ours was at the car hotel!"
 
Outside we worked on joining groups...just getting in the door!  A group of boys where looking for caterpillars and naming them, a group of boys and girls played on the monkey bars, a group of boys and girls raced on the tall slides...  Once he was excepted he did well for one exchange.  For example, one race down the slide, one look around for a caterpillar...and then he would hit the road block.  Typically, he didn't know what to say to stay in the group rather or he didn't read the social clues of the children playing the activity.  I would like to contrive the situations on the playground and decrease the demands on him.  Basically, bring the friends to him!  We would play outdoor games I bring and Logan chooses who will play.  This way we can work on the social ques and language without worrying about doing exactly what the group wants to do.  Logan controls what the group is doing but needs to read the social ques and expressively keep them engaged.  What do you think?  I would like to try it again this week. 
 
Also, I am working with another child out your way and thought he would be a great match for Logan socially.  I see him at school; however, this summer I think he would be a great play date! 
 
Jennifer     

Reflection After A Year

Marathon

We had a great time in Arkansas a few weekends ago. You see, I was running a marathon and as one of my girls from PNP put it, “I bet you were more nervous about Logan’s first trip out of town.” She couldn’t have been more right.

It’s funny, the nerves to run a full marathon never really set in and I have Logan to thank for that.

He made my marathon journey so special. He traveled so well and showed off how much he’s blooming. Six months ago we would never have taken him with us. He wouldn’t have had a good time. But, man oh man, he was social, talking, playing, and eating great! Just like his momma he enjoyed the food and ran his mouth A LOT. He enjoyed the kids even though he still doesn’t “play with” them as much. He sure is getting there, though.

The other reason I was thrilled this weekend is he told me he loved me for the first time WITHOUT A PROMPT! It’s a funny story and I wish I had it on video. I did get some video of me trying to “recreate a moment” but here’s what happened beforehand.

I was eating at the table by myself in Mary’s kitchen while everyone was socializing. Logan sits beside me and says, “Momma, I love you.” I said, “Well, Logan I love you too.” I’m trying to keep my cool here since he has never just said it. I really didn’t want to ruin our moment.

Then he looks at me seriously and says, “And, we’re going to talk about it.” I said, “OK.” He goes on and says, “I just started loving you two or three weeks ago.” I just about fell out laughing but kept my cool and said, “Well, I’ve always loved you.” He started to walk off and that’s where this video picks up. At the end his says, “I love you twenty time two.” Don’t ask me why but I’ll take it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pi_PkaYDnQ

All I can say is that this was a weekend I will never forget for many reasons AND probably one of the best ones of my life.

How To Interrupt

One thing that we're very inconsistent with is teaching Logan the right way to wait for an opening in conversation an to interrupt appropriately. He's had great moments in doing this right, but I think it will  take both of us really being in tune with this on a very consistent basis for him to totally get it.

It's harder than I thought it would be to do this because when he's trying to interrupt at an inappropriate juncture, we have to studiously remain engaged in *our* conversation while simultaneously giving him a signal that he should wait for a better opportunity.

Second nature often takes over and I will just turn toward him and acknowledge what he's saying automatically, breaking my existing conversation in so doing, but more importantly failing Logan in teaching him at that moment the socially acceptable and appropriate way to inject himself into the mix.

I have to find some way to keep this top of mind in the moment...

Sequencing

In speech we reviewed sequencing to make sure he was truly understanding the order of events. This is a big step for him. I remember in April of 08 that Logan couldn’t put things in order. It was all jumbled. He didn’t look at the pictures closely, he would just line the cards up (2 back then) in the order he was given, and he didn’t have the communication skills to even describe a picture. We were lucky if he could identify the objects in a picture with one word.

 

In less than a year he has come a long way. You’ll see in the video (it isn’t as audible as I would like), he puts a 4 picture scene in order, checks is work, TELLS the therapist when he’s ready, understands two different scenarios could’ve happened, describes what’s going on, and a little surprise in the middle. I was all too proud of this moment and I just love watching my baby show his SKILLZ!

 

I can’t tell you how many things are falling into place with Logan. Day by day we see new things opening up for him. I encourage you if you are reading this blog to invest in the therapies. It’s so worth it. By him getting OT work, ABA, and basic speech and language development we are seeing huge changes in him. Each one is different and yet they all help the other discipline get a little easier. I’m just such a proud mommy. Our baby works so hard, rarely complains, and loves to show off in his sessions all the cool things he’s learning.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlpzoNpuU2c

A Short Story With Breakfast

Logan told us a story this morning about how he woke up last night, got out of his bed, looked for Nonna first (she sleeps in the upstairs guest bedroom when she visits) and then came downstairs to look for Momma/Daddy, and then went to sleep with Carmel.

It wasn’t true at all—he slept all night in his own bed as he did the previous night, but I thought it was a sweet story. He told us he missed his Nonna, too, so regardless of anything else, his ability to express these things is improving.

An Update...It's been too long

Did you think little Logan fell off the face of the earth?

We've had a lot happen the past few months so I'll just update where we are today for everyone.

OT Therapy
He's doing so good and I think he's got a crush on Ms. Katie. Logan is writing much better, cutting with scissors, doing more and more things on his own, dressing himself most of the time and undressing himself A LOT (LOL), and getting stronger and stronger. Before winter set in he could climb monkey bars all day long back and forth so I'll be anxious to see "his conditioning" when we get some decent weather for our backyard.

Here's his report for his at school OT session from today. He has OT on Monday's and Friday's (at Speechpath)...

After circle time, Ms. Guinn passed out front/back worksheets that were stapled together and when she said turn to page 3 he was able to look at his neighbor and find the correct page. He was able to follow along and cut out four pieces of a flower and glue them together with assistance only to orient them and color staying inside the lines! When he was unsure of the directions, he asked the teacher's aid!! He also was able to copy a sentence from the board and stay within the two lines, and had legible handwriting!! I am so proud of him!!

Speech Therapy
Logan's lauguage is really coming along. We're into the 'why' stage that a lot of kids go through at a younger age but what is amazing to me is his questions aren't just automatic why anymore. He asked me the other day while we were talking about husbands and wives, "Why did you not know Daddy when you were a little girl?" And, this made me cry, he asked me, "Will I have a wife?"

 

If you follow our story our mission, if you will, is for Logan to have a normal life. We want people to see him just like everyone else without knowing he has Autism. Part of a normal life and a parent's dream is for their kid to grow up, move away, get married, and have kids. Honestly for awhile Chris and I didn't know if Logan would ever be able to live on his own. We still don't know this, but we are feeling confident that at the rate of his progress that he will one day.

 

So, I looked at Logan and said, "Of course you will have a wife and she will love you like I love Daddy." Then he asked if Carmel (our new dog) would live with him and his wife and I said ABSOLUTELY! You can definitely take Carmel with you. ;)

 

Logan's language at the moment is complex and we work on the finer aspects. It's so nice to see things unravelling for him and him finding it easier to get what he obviously thinks about out of his head and into our ears. I love that you can tell he's seeing the world in more grey than just black and white. It makes me feel good.

 

ABA
This is the area we work hard on and that Logan will probably need the most work on from now on. His social skills and peer interactions are just tough for the little guy. He doesn't quite know how to "mix" with people, join a group appropriately, and such. BUT, he's learning a lot. I work a lot with him not interrupting because only through doing it at home will he know how to approach a couple of kids on the playground. If we always stop what we are doing when he starts talking (even if it's cute and witty), he'll never understand what a natural pause/flow in conversation is all about.

 

Ms. Jennifer is doing a wonderful job with him and working with him at home with his friend Trace and at school once a week with kids in class. She's assured me that he is loved at school. I don't want to sound stupid but my biggest fear with my child is that he will suffer ridicule like I did through school. I was fat and he's just odd. He does strange things even though it's no fault of his own. It's so unnerving to me to think he is made fun of or picked on because he is different.

 

I always thought having an overweight child would be my worst nightmare. It isn't. For all you mommies out there...you can help your child if they have a weight problem by feeding them healthy. Get out the backbone and start making your kids live a healthy lifestyle...not a diet but get out of the fastfood lines and the middle of the grocery store. I can't just make Logan healthy. This is the nightmare. I could help him if it were anything else but I can't help this...at least not quickly.

 

Anyway, the social side of his disease is what I worry most about. It's what keeps me up at night and so we're working hard on it.

 

School
We are so blessed to have a wonderful school...St. Edward's is EXCELLENT and I can't tell you the things they do and work around for our baby. We practically have a parade of therapists coming in and such and they still shock us when they want to do more. Ms. Guinn and Ms. Flannigan have been so supportive and loving to Logan.

 

He's doing good and in a week we are getting together all the therapists and teachers for an "IEP" type meeting. Basically we're all getting on the same page so that he can get ready for first grade. I expect nothing other than a lot of support from a group of women who have all made such a positive impact on our little boy's life. I don't know where we would be without Jennifer, Courtney, Katie, and Ms. Guinn and Ms. Flannigan.

 

Being Cute to Cope

I’ve talked before about how Logan is pretty clever about avoiding situations where he doesn’t know exactly what to do. One of the things he is great at is coming up with something cute to distract us. It works often enough that he keeps trying it, but we’re trying to get him to just say “I don’t know” if he’s in that situation so that people can help him when he needs it.

He is saying “I don’t know” *much* more comfortably than we were started this journey, and that’s a big thing for him. Logan can be pretty demanding of himself, and I think he almost expect to be super-competent in every area of his life.

Well, we all know what kind of life that would be if we held ourselves to that standard. You would tend to limit your areas of interest and experience accordingly. I *definitely* have this tendency and it’s hard for me to just be an amateur at something; I tend to want to master it or else ignore it completely.

So there’s nothing wrong with *striving* for competence in many areas, and nothing wrong with limiting your attention to a few primary areas at a time along the way.

I just want him to also be able to ‘float’ along on some things and not have to feel 100% competent in every situation along the way. For some of the most important things in life happen before you can ever be ready for them. A lot of life you can never actually be ready for.

He learns pretty quickly, so we just want to get him to where he trusts that he can be thrust into any situation and figure out what to do to come out of it no worse for wear.

Describing

We’ve been working with Logan on getting him to exercise his vocabulary to describe things. He can do it, he just needs to come up with more descriptive terms more quickly and not be so intent on selecting just the right term.

Perfectionism is fine if you’re writing a poem, but when speaking in normal conversation, delays during word-selection can make it awkward for Logan and for the other person.

I don’t want to teach him not to choose his words carefully and just blather on about whatever without thinking. But I do want him to be fluent in a conversation about nothing, in smalltalk and just what-have-you everyday encounters.