Ryan's Homework, Progress, and Issues



Today seemed a good day to do an update, as I had Ryan's monthly meeting with his senior therapist yesterday, and he did some amazing things today, but we've also got some problematic behaviours to sort through right now. All in all, there's lots going on in Mama's head today.

 

Let's start with the positives:

 

This morning, Ryan had some pleasant surprises for me during his homework time. First, when we were working on tracking a preferred object, I noticed his accuracy has improved drastically over the past month. What we were doing before was having him pick a reinforcement (he almost always chooses his Ritz Bits). Then, I would place 3 clear cups out, and put the item under one of the cups, clearly showing him which one. Next, I would move the cup one time and say, "Find the cracker." He was usually accurate with the clear cups, so we'd start with those, and if he got it right a few times in a row, we'd move on to the same thing but with solid (opaque) cups. Now, the solid cups have a sticker on one to help him identify which is the correct cup.  Even with the sticker, his accuracy was usually hit and miss. Here's a video from a few weeks ago of him tracking the cracker.

 

 

He's been doing so well with this the past week or so that I decided to skip the clear cups, and go straight to the opaque ones. Then, he was doing so well (not a single error in all of his trials) that I decided to turn the cup with the sticker, so he couldn't identify it by the sticker as I moved it.  He was simply tracking where I had put the cracker (remember which cup it was under, and follow it, then choose the proper cup when asked).  I was amazed that when I removed the visual prompt, he only had one incorrect choice the rest of the time we did the program!  I was so thrilled.  Only two weeks ago, his responses were inconsistent even at the clear-cup level. [I don't think I'm supposed to increase the difficulty of his programs like that, but when he's doing well, I can't wait to test him a little more. Sometimes, like today, I get pleasantly surprised!]

 

 

 

But what really floored me today was what happened when I was setting up his PECS program. For PECS, he is at Stage 2-3, where he is taking a picture and showing persistence in bringing it across a distance and handing it to someone to request the item in the picture.  Normally, we do a preference survey where I take things out of his reinforcement basket to see what he's interested in, and when he picks an item, we use only the picture for that one item on his Velcro PECS board.  I give him the card, then take the item and go across the room. If he wants the item, he has to pick up the PECS picture, bring it to me, and give it to me (again, he almost always picks Ritz Bits). Here's a video of PECS homework from a few weeks ago.

 

This morning was different because Ryan took the initiative, literally, into his own hands.  I was setting up the program. I hadn't even done the preference survey yet. I had several PECS on the PECS board which was sitting on Ryan's work table. I was over by my bed.  Ryan picked up the PECS board and pulled off each of the pictures, one by one, until he was holding "bubbles." Then he walked over to me by the bed, and he handed me the "bubbles" card.  It was so exciting! A spontaneous request! Of course, I immediately ran across the room and got the bubbles from his basket, blew him a bunch, and went crazy with descriptive praise. ("Ryan wanted bubbles! What a wonderful job you did asking for bubbles!")

But there's more.  When I did the preference survey, I had put three of the PECS back on the board. I asked Ryan, "Which one do you want to work for?" and instead of reaching into his basket, Ryan tapped the Ritz Bits picture on his PECS board. He has never done that.  We usually only work with one picture on the board. And here he was, clearly making a choice and request from one of three items.  Holy smokes!

He wasn't done surprising me yet.  In the middle of our PECS program, I was across the room with the crackers.  He had the crackers picture in his hand, and as he walked by the place where I had put some other random PECS on the floor (out of the way, I thought), he stopped.  He put down the crackers picture, picked up the "bubbles" picture, and brought THAT one to me.  He clearly stopped, changed his mind, and made a spontaneous decision that he wanted "bubbles" instead. Wow. Just wow.

On the other hand, we've had some challenges, lately, too:

You may have seen my Facebook posts lately about struggles regulating Ryan's sleep habits, or how he's had some pretty rough home therapy days over the past few months.  Well, it isn't just at home.  Ryan's been having a lot of rough days at Summit Centre, too.  The main problem is crying.  It is very loud, very angry, uncontrollable crying.  The odd thing about it is that it doesn't seem to be negatively affecting his programs.  He is still making progress, and his data shows he is doing consistently well on all his programs. This video I got of him at the Centre this week is a good example of that.  He is upset for an unknown reason, and crying, but he still pedals his little tricycle down the hallway with the effort and accuracy expected from him at this point in the program. [By the way, I was thrilled to see this; it's the first time I saw him ride a tricycle!]

At Summit Centre, they've been tracking Ryan's crying to see if they can find a pattern. There are none. They have tried every ABA and calming technique they can think of, but nothing seems to help him on a consistent basis. Something might work or a while, but then it suddenly stops working.  They've adjusted his programs, reinforcements, work locations, expectations, and the amount of demands placed on him; they've tried the Snoezelen room, rest breaks, more frequent play breaks, quiet rooms, pleasant sensory input, etc.  There simply seems to be no rhyme or reason behind these outbursts, and unfortunately, we've been going through the same thing at home. Even when he's had enough sleep, he still has these days, so sleep issues clearly aren't the only factor.

As I said, our main concern about this is not its effect on his programs (which appears to be minimal).  We're concerned about RYAN.  What is bothering him so much? Why is he so upset? We don't want him to be unhappy. :( They also acknowledged that it has to be very overwhelming and stressful for me and the family (it is), and they want to help us, too.

Since we've exhausted all the therapy/behavioural/relaxation angles in this situation, Ryan's senior therapist made a good suggestion: it's time to investigate the medical.  We've got a sweet little non-verbal guy here. He can't tell us what's wrong.  What if it's something that we can't see? It's time to get him in for a thorough check-up by a good doctor.

Of course, nothing is that simple in our lives! I called Ryan's pediatrician as soon as I got home from the meeting and asked for an appointment. Their response: "Oh, it's been over a year since we've seen him. That means he's like a new referral. So, we're booking in September . . ." WHAT?!  I'm sorry my kid is generally healthy (besides the autism), so we haven't had to grace your office! I was not happy, but the receptionist was an "it's official policy" type.  I gnashed my teeth for awhile, then fired off an email to Ryan's senior therapist with this unwelcome news.  She was stunned, but made the suggestion that I call back and ask if we can be put on a cancellation list or something. I'm doing that on Monday, now that I've had time to collect my thoughts. Oh, and here's more irony: I might have been able to bring him into our family doctor, but SHE referred him to this pediatrician when she found out he was severely autistic because "his case was too complicated" for her.  Lord, help me.

Anyway, moving forward:

Good things that came out of my monthly meeting with the senior therapist: 1) Ryan continues to do well and make progress in his programs.  2) We're going to try and get another transition-to-school meeting together in August to iron out the final details. 3) We are seriously considering starting some potty training! Yes, you read that right.  They tracked his wet diapers for 2 weeks and did see a pattern, showing he seems to hold it sometimes, and we can work with that! They also noticed (and I have at home, too) that he is more aware of his diaper (grabbing at it if it's wet, that kind of thing). We've also now got him removing his shorts/pants by himself when prompted. Like everything else, this will start out simply. We will probably just get him used to sitting on the potty for short periods of time with no expectations simply to get him used to the action and surroundings.

Finally, Ryan was having a bit of a rough day today. Again, it was the angry crying for no apparent reason. :( I had been lax in my exercise this week, and it's such a beautiful afternoon out, that I decided to take Ryan out for a long buggy ride (well, as long as he would tolerate it). Pfft, no worries there!  We were out for an hour and 20 minutes!  I walked down to the Forest Glade baseball diamonds, past his future elementary school (to refamiliarize him), and back through the trails through the parks there. At the baseball diamonds, we stopped for 5 minutes to chat with one of Andrea's friends' parents. Later, we stopped at the park by the Forest Glade library for about 10 minutes.  Ryan and I climbed up the climber together and went down the twisty slide together (he liked that), played a little music on the piano keys on the climber, and went over to check out the swings.  Here, Ryan had another first: he was swatting at the baby swings like he wanted up, but I thought, no way, you don't fit in those anymore! You always get stuck! So, I took him over to the big kid swings and said, "Ryan, let's give this a try!"

 

He did great! I thought he would be scared, but he let me lift him and securely park his bum on the seat. Then, I helped him hold on and stood behind him. I supported his back and elbows and gave him some tiny pushes.  He liked it!  I felt that was enough for a first time, so then I let him just sit and get used to the feel of the swing. I would say he felt pretty secure because his toes were touching the ground, and he decided he only wanted to hold on with one hand (as you can see above). He let go with both hands just once, and startled himself into quickly grabbing hold again.  Don't worry; Mommy was right there to make sure he was safe. :)

 

He was ready to move on, so we headed back to the stroller. He paused mid-walk in front of this hippo, and I had to laugh at the angle. It looks like the beast is about to devour him, and he's oblivious! ;)  

We walked back home.  We'd been out for about 55 minutes.  I asked him if he was "all done" or wanted "more"? He just got mad so I figured, okay, he's done.  We got in the garage, I took him out of the stroller, and started to unload a few items from the stroller.  What does Ryan do? He climbs right past me, back into the stroller, parks his butt, and clearly signs, "More!" What could I do? I couldn't deny that clear request! So, I buckled him back in, and off we went again, for another 25 minute walk. Oh, that boy. I love him to pieces. <3

Ryan Visits "Big-Kid" School

At the end of April, when we had the transition-to-school meeting for Ryan, the principal had suggested I bring him in one morning to check out the school and get a little familiarity with what will become part of his new routine in the fall.  On Tuesday morning, I took Ryan to H.J. Lassaline Elementary School for a visit. Lassaline is the school that Andrea and Kevin attend, and Ryan will be going there two days a week next year for JK. [The plan for September looks like Monday and Wednesday at Lassaline, Tuesday and Friday at Summit, and Thursdays are still home therapy days.]

Ryan and I went into the school when we dropped Andrea and Kevin off on Tuesday morning.  He was a little hesitant as we walked up to the building, but stopped to watch the JKs playing in the Kindergarten area at the front of the building.  He smiled at them a bit, and I thought that was a good sign.  I told him, "That is one of the places where the JKs play. Maybe you will play there next year!"

Then we headed into the building.  As we came up the doors, he whined for a second, and I thought, "Uh oh . . ." But as we headed in, his curiosity overcame his confusion/anxiety.  The principal was waiting for us as soon as we came in the doors and greeted him with a cheerful, "Hi, Ryan!" She got down on his level, and explained to him that she was going to show him around some places in the school he would be seeing next year. She offered him her hand; he touched it, but wasn't quite ready to hold her hand yet. Instead, he held Mommy's hand, but followed Mrs. E. willingly.

First, we walked down the hallway to one of the JK rooms. It was pretty quiet because the kids were just lining up to come in for the morning.  We let Ryan walk in and look around a bit. One of the EAs and another little boy were in there. The boy was very excited because he thought Mrs. E. was bringing them a new student for their class, and he kept chatting to Ryan and asking his name. Ryan just smiled, but it was cute.

Next we headed back down the hallway into the gym.  Mrs. E. explained this was where they had lots of room to run around and play games. Ryan seemed kind of overwhelmed by this big, empty space. He just stood there, looking around with big eyes, and clinging to my hand.

Next, we headed into the open concept area to see the computer area.  Kevin was lined up with his class, so we stopped to say hi.  Ryan seemed pleased to see Kevin, but Kevin was kind of thrown-off by our presence. Having Mommy and Ryan at school is not part of Kevin's routine!  Anyway, we also saw Kevin's teacher, and she wanted to come and meet Ryan. So, we chatted with her for a minute or two.  Everyone was commenting on how much the two boys look alike, and how cute Ryan is.

I was pleased that Ryan was so calm and content, and even smiling at people, as we wandered around. It was a busy time, with the kids just getting settled in for the morning, in an open-concept school.  We only went a few steps further and encountered Andrea and her teacher. Andrea's teacher was also eager to be introduced to Ryan because she'd heard so much about him. Andrea later told me that her teacher thought Ryan was "so cute!"

Another great thing was Ryan's response to greetings. At Summit, they've been working lately to get him to wave hello and good-bye to different people when they greet him verbally (no waving).  At Lassaline, he amazed me by how many times he waved hello and good-bye to complete strangers who greeted him. Talk about excellent generalization of a skill! I was thrilled! [So were the people at Summit when I told them about it. ;) ]

Finally, we went down the hallway to the other Kindergarten area (the Kindergarten classes are not part of the open concept Lassaline). In there, we met the teacher, Mrs. C., at the door.  She invited Ryan in and we stood still for a moment or two for O Canada and prayers.  I had to chuckle when Ryan got noisy/excited during prayers, so I hushed him, and Mrs. C. said, "Oh, don't worry about that! These guys can't even be quiet right now!" (motioning to the many restless JK/SKs, who were, in fact, talking and moving around). Then, she got down on Ryan's level and asked me, "How are his sensory issues?" before she offered him her hand.  Now THAT is a teacher who knows her autism stuff!  Ryan took a liking to her; he smiled, made some chatty noises, took her hand, and even leaned against her for some cuddles!  The principal was impressed. She kept saying, "Wow, look how he's bonding with you already!" And of course, I'm thinking, "Mmmhmm . . . I know which teacher I want him to have next year! I hope the principal keeps this in mind (although I have no real say in the matter)!" Now, I could be mistaken, but through all the JK/SK hubbub I think I heard Mrs. C. (the teacher) say, "I have a son with autism."  If she does, that would explain why she totally seemed to get it right. :)

As we were leaving, we passed by Kevin's classroom again, and his teacher asked us if we could stop by for a second.  The class was intrigued when they heard Ryan was visiting, and they all wanted to meet Kevin's brother.  They were SO cute.  They were saying things like, "Aww, he's cute!" and "He looks just like a small Kevin!" By the time we left, they had officially nicknamed him "Kevin Jr."  Kevin, meanwhile, was sitting at his desk frowning and diligently writing the day's notes in his agenda.  As I mentioned before, Mom and Ryan invading his school space is NOT part of his routine, so it was uncomfortable for him. I said hi and gave Kevin a little hug, but we didn't stay too long because I didn't want to upset him. When we left, the kids said good-bye and Ryan smiled and waved at them!

Thus, our first visit to "big kid" school was a huge success. It left me feeling happy and confident that the staff and students at Lassaline are going to treasure Ryan as we do.

We are planning to do another visit in August, once we find out for sure who Ryan's teacher is going to be. Then we'll be able to take him to get to know his teacher and familiarize him with his classroom. The plan is to take Kevin, too, to meet his new teacher and see his new classroom. Kevin has gotten very attached to his teacher over the course of the year. Mrs. B. has been great with him, and he's going to miss her. She's been trying to prepare him for the changes in September, but he said, "Why can't you be my teacher next year, and the next, and the next?" She said, "Well, I teach Grade 1, and you're going to Grade 2.  You'll still see me, and besides, what happens when you get to grade 8?" Kevin responded, with a big sigh, "Well, I guess I'll just have to move on." LOL! :)  

The Road Less Traveled . . . Part II

About 10 months ago, I wrote a blog post about big changes ahead in my life, especially in terms of my teaching career. I decided to take a year's leave of absence to focus on my health and my family with the possibility of it being a permanent move. I suggest you read that post again to refresh your memory regarding my motivations and concerns at that time: "Big Changes Ahead: Taking the Road Less Traveled." Really, my motivations and concerns are the same now as they were then, leading me to make a final decision.

On Monday, June 2, 2014, I submitted my official letter of resignation to the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board. Effective June 30, 2014, my formal teaching career is done.

It has been an amazing year. This has truly been one of the happiest years of my life.  My gastric bypass surgery went well, and I've achieved my health and weight-loss goals.  I'm down 115 pounds, and running 5K almost every other day. I'm much more relaxed. I don't feel guilty anymore about not being there enough for my children, especially not dedicating enough time and energy to Ryan's therapies.

Still, not everyone understands this choice. Andrea and Kevin are too young to fully appreciate the benefits of having mom at home.  Andrea sometimes hurts my feelings when she says things like, "It's not fair! You get to stay home all day and do nothing!" She also doesn't like that we don't have as much money as we used to, so we're not getting that in-ground pool anymore.  :p

My principal and union president don't understand, either. They've both very kindly presented me with several options that might lead to staying on with the school board.  I think they're just unsure how to handle my situation since there's very little precedent for it.  It's kind of like retiring at age 36. I get it. It's weird. But it's what I need to do for me and my family.

Admittedly, in one of my early emails to the principal indicating I'd like to resign, I vented a little about my unhappiness with the continuing end-of-year-staffing struggles at St. Michael's and a few other staffing choices made by the Board this year that were questionable (I won't get into the details of those).  My goal was simply to make it clear that I care what is happening at that school, and although I'm leaving, I want what's best for our students and original/core group of staff. Both my principal and the union president were concerned that was my major motivation for resigning.  No, it's not; it just makes my decision so much easier and satisfying, putting that stress and negativity behind me. Again, I would probably be a supernumerary teacher; if I had a position, I was offered only a half-time schedule at St. Michael's and a half-time schedule at another school to make a full day. Ugh.

How on earth could I work that crazy schedule with Ryan's new, complex schedule which starts in September?  He's going to Summit two days a week, Lassaline (integration at Andrea and Kevin's school) two days a week, and there will still be home day on Thursdays. Plus, all of the time and parent involvement commitments at Summit (and home) continue.

People ask me, "So, what are your plans?" Um, I think it's pretty clear.  I'm a full-time Autism Momma. That's my plan. Trust me, with 2 little guys on the spectrum (one on the more severe end), I'm not sitting here twiddling my thumbs or looking for things to occupy my time. Do I need to list it all for you?

And you know what? Maybe I do have a little more ME time. But I need that. Desperately.  I think it's the number one reason why Rod offered this choice to me last year. I was suffering from caregiver burnout. Now, I certainly can't claim I never get stressed out,  but it's manageable. I don't feel hopeless and overwhelmed.  I'm so much healthier than I was at this time last year. And I need to be mentally, emotionally, and physically strong for the long haul because my children, my boys especially, are going to need me to be around to advocate for them and take care of them as long as I possibly can.

I am content with my decision. I am taking it day-by-day. I no longer have a "big plan" for where my life is going. I'm just going with it, doing the best that I can for my family. On to the next chapter! :)

January Summit Meeting/Update

This morning I went in for my monthly meeting with Ryan's senior therapist and team therapist. I'm happy to report that I left with a big grin on my face. They had nothing but good news for me.

Ryan is doing great on all his programs. In fact, he is currently expanding several programs (meaning they are getting more advanced). They are moving several of his old programs to incidentals (meaning they aren't in formal therapy anymore; they just come up in natural situations). 

They are doing baselines (figuring out where he's at) with a bunch of new skills, especially focusing on daily living/self-help skills. For example, at home we're working on getting him to take off his socks by himself, and drying his hands on a towel after washing them. 

I was so pleased to hear that, despite a crazy December of illness and holidays, Ryan experienced zero regression.  In fact, he's gotten back into programming and homework like a champ.  He did not lose any skills over the last three weeks of December.  This is a HUGE achievement for Ryan.  In the past, whenever we were lax on his therapy/routines, he would regress and lose skills.  Now he's showing skill retention. That is AWESOME.

However, what I'm most excited about is that they are finally planning to start PECS with him next week! They think he's ready to give the Picture Exchange Communication System a try.  When they were listing what new skills they planned to work on, my ears perked right up when I heard "PECS."  Me: "Really? We're gonna try PECS now? That is so exciting!"   They agree with me that Ryan's made so much progress in other areas, and that it's time to get him some functional communication.  He gets frustrated sometimes, and it's time to find a way for him to express his needs/wants more clearly.

I am trying not to get too hopeful, but I can't help it. :) I have to keep in mind that, like everything else, Ryan's skills develop very slowly.  If PECS do work for him, it will probably be months before we see anything for certain.  In the meantime, we're taking pictures of things Ryan will be really motivated to request.  Because of Ryan's developmental level, pictures of the actual items will make the most sense to him. For example, a cartoon picture of a jug of milk would be meaningless to him; a picture of his bottle filled with milk would be clearer for him to make the connection. So, they are photographing items around the Centre that Ryan really likes, and I'm going to send them photos of things from home like his rocking chair and his bubbles, so they can make up the PECS cards.

I also asked about music therapy.  I mentioned on a recent Facebook share, of an article about the benefits of music therapy for kids with special needs, that I hoped music therapy might be available at Summit again. Ryan had a music therapy student working with him, but that student's placement finished in December. I was pleased to find out that another music therapy student is coming in this semester.  I made sure that Ryan's senior therapist knew I wanted him to participate in this again, and she said she'd mention it to the executive director.  I don't know if only so many students can participate, or how it works, but I made it clear how much Ryan enjoyed and benefited from the music therapy before, and I want him to be involved in it again!

Oh, another little thing they mentioned that surprised me:  Ryan goes up their indoor climber and slides down the slide, completely independently.  I said, "WHAT?!" Last year, when we were in Unity, he liked the slide, but I had to put him on it, and he couldn't do the climber at all.  I have also never seen him use the little climber in our backyard. Now, I'm looking forward to the weather getting nicer, so I can get him out there and see that new skill!

Anyway, it was a great meeting, and I hope to have lots more good news to share next month. PECS will be started, we'll be signing Ryan up for Junior Kindergarten . . . big things in the works . . . :)

Ryan's Christmas Concert at Summit Centre

This afternoon, the Summit Centre for Preschool Children with Autism held their first ever Christmas Concert!  Thanks to the hard work, creativity, and determination of the staff, placement students, and Summit students, it was a great success!

 

the program we were given before the performance

 

set designed by staff and students



"Jingle Bells": Ryan did a great job shaking his bells!



"Must Be Santa": Ryan had a ". . . beard that's white" to hold up.

 

What I love about this video are all the smiles Ryan has. It shows me that he enjoys this song.  I also think it's funny that he starts petting/pulling on the cotton balls of his beard. Textures are fun!


Look at that smile! :)

"10 Little Elves"

 

Ryan is the cutest Christmas tree ever! 
(seen here with the Music Therapy student he loves)

"Frosty the Snowman"

 The twin brothers who played "Frosty" and "the Traffic Cop" are too cute!

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"

ready to do "The Reindeer Pokey"

 Ryan liked the part where "you turn yourself around" (although Cristal had to guide him a bit). ;)

 

Cristal helping Ryan put his "right hoof in"

Ryan was "C" for Christmas in "A Christmas Poem"

The final "S" was a total surprise for the kids: Santa!



Ryan liked Santa's beard (he kept trying to pull on it), but he was pretty tired after that exciting performance. :) 

A special thank you to senior therapist, Tara, who has been encouraging Summit Centre to do a Holiday Concert for a while now.  As a mom, I can say it warmed my heart to see my little guy involved in this festive activity.  It was wonderful. It was adorable.  I'm sure it was lots of work, but I hope this turns into an annual event! :)

Considering School Registration for Ryan . . . !

First of all, I just noticed that it's been almost 2 months since my last post. Wow.  I guess life at home has been busier than I imagined it would be! I can't even fathom being at work right now! Overall, it's been a great experience so far. I am so much more happy, healthy, relaxed, and focused on the needs of myself and my family.

But anyways, on to the main reason for this post.

Plans to Register Ryan for Junior Kindergarten

So, on Thursday afternoon, Ryan's senior therapist from Summit Centre, Tara, asked if I had a few moments to chat.  (Thursdays are now therapy-at-home-days, so of course I was available.)  She then proceeded to ask what my thoughts/plans were about enrolling Ryan in school.  I told her quite honestly that I'd been thinking about it a lot, was generally uncertain as to the best course, and had been planning to ask her advice at our monthly parent-therapist meeting. 

Now, in my thoughts, I did not see Ryan as being anywhere near ready to be enrolled in school.  I fully expected him to be full-time at Summit Centre for another year, skip JK, and enter his SK year (which would be September 2015).  You see, my concern is how much assistance he needs for even the most basic skills.  He is just learning to feed himself with a spoon, just beginning programs to learn drinking from a cup, has no real functional mode of communicating his needs/wants/thoughts, we haven't even begun potty training, and we have no clear idea of where he is cognitively.  We just know he has moderate-to-severe autism with global developmental delays. How could he possibly survive in the barely structured chaos of a JK/SK classroom?

But Tara (and other senior staff at Summit Centre) believe we should get ready to enrol Ryan for JK classes this coming year (Fall 2014).  Here's why, and I think once I saw her reasoning, I'm pretty convinced now:

• Ryan will be over four and a half by the Fall. Chronological age-wise, he'll be at a good age to enter JK.
• Ryan is making steady gains at Summit Centre. His progress is in small steps, but continually moving forward, and at a rate that has surprised them.
• They suggest we enrol him part-time for the first year (JK). We're not sure what this will look like yet. It might involve starting in October or November, when school routines have settled more; it may be for only a few days a week; it may be only mornings or only afternoons. The key reason they want to start him in 2014, and do it part-time, is so that he can still get the intensive therapy and support from Summit Centre. It also gives them a year-long transition period for everyone (Summit Centre, the school, and us) to figure out what needs to be done to best meet Ryan's needs.  It will give everyone plenty of time to ease into the situation and plan together for Ryan's future.

Looking at it from that perspective, then, I agree that part-time enrolment for Fall 2014 is the way to go.  Otherwise, if we wait till 2015, Ryan will age out of Summit Centre's program within about 3 months of starting school, and we'd lose that support.  Doing it the way we're planning now, he'll get this full year of full-time at Summit, a full-year of part-time Summit and school next year, and then a few months of Summit support as he moves into SK in 2015.

So, why are we talking about this now? Well, if you have little ones, then you know school registration for the next year is in February.  That's only 3 months away, and with the holidays in between, it will be here before we know it! 

In fact, I am glad I went with my gut instincts and attended or signed up for some school-related information sessions this year.  About a month ago, I went to one about IPRC and IEPs.  I had wanted to understand why they haven't done these for Kevin (I do now--it was very informative), and to prepare for when the times comes for Ryan. He will definitely be needing these. I also recently signed up for a school-entry information session, specifically for parents of children with special needs, which is taking place in January. 

I am going in informed this time! Unfortunately, we didn't get Kevin's formal diagnosis until he was 4 and a half, and already a month into school.  This means I've been struggling to understand how to get the services he needs and the best ways to approach any issues that arise.  I am learning now.  I will be ready and armed with knowledge to ensure that Ryan gets everything he needs in his school experience! I will also have Summit Centre's transition support behind us for over a year, which is awesome.

Like I said, I do have fears and concerns.  My main concern is how much one-on-one care Ryan will need. With all the cutbacks to EAs (Educational Assistants) and how they are generally one to a group of children in a classroom, how well will Ryan's extensive needs be met? Tara agrees with me, there is no question: Ryan must have one-on-one support. 

So, when the time for paperwork arrives in February, I'm going to be very explicit and contacting the school immediately to discuss planning.  I know they will do a formal meeting in May (that's the time of year they do all the special-needs meetings for next year, including Kevin's).  However, I'm going to be in their ear constantly until I get things set up the way I want them! I need to learn to be more assertive and proactive. 

So, what's Ryan been up to?

Where do I begin? I've had the opportunity to observe Ryan at Summit Centre 3 times in October and once so far in November.  Plus, this month we started Thursday home-therapy days, so every Thursday he's doing therapy here at home with the people from Summit.  This has given me plenty of opportunities to observe the work they do with Ryan, and also see how he's progressed in these programs.  Maybe I'll go point-form to get as many of my thoughts down as quickly as I can remember them:

• Music Therapy: Every Monday afternoon, Ryan has music therapy.  Last month, I got an opportunity to go and observe this because I'd been hearing how much Ryan enjoys it. There is a wonderful young man who is a Music Therapy student from the University of Windsor. He comes in and works one-on-one for about 20 minutes with some of the children.  He's made a connection with Ryan in particular, and in fact, even asked if he could do a project based on the work he's doing with Ryan. I agreed, of course! Ryan loves music therapy.  The day I was there, Ryan had a rough afternoon, but he got very excited when the student strummed his guitar and sang.  He signed for "more." He wanted to strum the guitar. He was shaking shakers, tambourines, and bells after someone modeled it and gave him the instructions.  He tapped on a drum when shown and instructed. He even tried some "singing" (imitating vowel and consonant sounds), and they got a few good attempts. And that was on a rough day! 
• Eating:  Some of you may have seen my recent videos on Facebook. Ryan is doing really well using his spoon to feed himself.  Yes, it can get messy. He also needs reminders to put his spoon back in the bowl to get more.  But he's basically feeding himself independently, and enjoying it!  In terms of types of foods, he is starting to enjoy crunchy foods now.  He chows down on the Heinz toddler biscuits.  We also discovered, this week, that he likes Ritz Bitz snacks! Whenever he shows an interest in someone's snack, I've given Summit permission to let him try some.  Thankfully, the Summit Staff is quite glad to share. ;)
• Drinking: One of Ryan's programs this month has been drinking his milk from a cup.  In just a few weeks, he's gone from refusing the cup, to a tiny cup, to letting them put it to his lips, to a bigger cup, and now taking sips from a cup with help. The biggest change is, he wants it!  On Thursday, his therapist was trying to reinforce him between sips, but he kept reaching for the cup! He wanted more milk from the cup! So, I just got the okay to start this program with him at home. Exciting! He is also, occasionally, accepting water from a bottle or cup.
• Homework: Some parts of his homework, he loves. For example, brushing his teeth: a month ago, we could barely put the brush to his teeth. Now, he holds it, chews on it, lets me brush around a bit, and sips water from a cup (with help). Of course, this is because of the natural reinforcement of the running water in the sink. ;) Similarly, we've discovered a natural reinforcement for "walking down stairs."  For this, Ryan puts one hand on the banister, holds another person's hand on the other side, and walks smoothly down the stairs.  He's doing great! The natural reinforcement is that he gets to go downstairs all the time now, and he never used to go down there, so it's new and exciting to him.  Plus, we have the big train table down there and a few glider chairs that he likes.  He also stops at the top of the stairs now (showing safety awareness!) which is a big relief.
• Waving Hello and Bye-Bye:  He's getting good at this. It helps that at pick up and drop off every day, he's waving to me and his therapists. Get his attention and say the words and wave, and he usually gives you a good wave back.  I noticed he's generalized this well with Daddy and his Gram and Papa, too. He often waves hello and bye-bye for them in response to their greetings and farewells.
• Imitations:  A key to Ryan's learning is doing imitations.  And wow, he's doing great. Admittedly, I've seen the most progress in his structured programs when we're doing homework or he's working with his therapists. Just say, "Ryan, do this!" and raise your arms up high, clap, wave, pat the table, etc., and he'll do it.  I had to laugh, though, because the other day, I was clapping a pair of shoes together the dirt off, and he started clapping his hands!
• Pointing to Request: Well, this one continues to be a challenge, but I bring it up because there has been progress (and an unexpected generalization last night!).  The idea is to hold an object Ryan wants close to him, ask, "What do you want?" and he has to point or touch, but not grab.  At school, they just moved from them holding the object and him pointing to it (which he was doing great at) to putting it on the table and having him point to it.  Well, now that he's got free access, he just grabs it most times. As this program expanded only a few days ago, it's not a concern yet.  The good news is, at home, I got a few good points recently. One night, I was blowing bubbles, and after a few grab-corrections, I got about 4 good point requests in a row!  The best was last night though. I got a totally spontaneous point request! It was bedtime, and I was cleaning up toys in the living room. Ryan was sitting on the rocking chair.  I walked by with his ball (to put it in the bin), and he reached out and pointed to it--extended index finger and all! I was so excited, he immediately got that ball and extra playtime! :)
• Reading: I've only seen him do this with the therapists, but he will sit in their lap and listen to them read a book.  Moreover, he will sometimes point to an object when asked, i.e., "Ryan, point to the boy!" Um, at home he likes to pull out books, but chew on them. LOL
• Puzzles/Shape Sorters/Stacking Rings: These are things we did during Unity, but he kind of lost the skills. Now, they're back. :) He's doing a three-piece chunky puzzle, putting shapes into their holes, and removing and replacing stacking rings.  He isn't generalizing yet--it has to be the specific puzzle/sorter/stacker they use for his program, but that's okay. It's all about building those skills.  Generalization comes later.
• Looking/Eye Contact:  Ryan is doing really well responding to his name when we/they call it. He has to make eye contact with the person saying his name.  He is also starting to look at different objects when directed.  The other day when I went to observe, they had a scavenger hunt outside at recess, and I was pleased to see Ryan looking in the direction his therapist was pointing, at trees, cars, flowers, etc.
• Give it to me/Put it in/Clean up: These are some things Ryan is working on in his programs, and I've seen it start to carry over to home.  They will put an object on the table and say, "Ryan, give it to me," and he will pick up the object and hand it to them.  A few times, Ryan's had something he shouldn't, and I've held out my hand and said, "Ryan, give it to me," and he has!  "Put in" is an interesting one.  The therapists have two small bins and a small object on the table.  They tell Ryan to "put in" while pointing specifically to one of the two baskets.  A lot of the times, he puts the object in the correct basket now. My favourite, though, is "clean up" . . . LOL Of course, I like that he's starting to learn to put toys into bins and pieces in their holders/boxes.  We usually have to model a few times and do a little hand-over-hand helping, but he'll start putting pieces away independently after a few tries.  This is a new one at home, though.  I look forward to training another child to clean up after himself. 2 out of 3 is not bad. (I've given up hope on Kevin . . . just kidding. But getting him to clean up is painful!)

There is so much more, but I can't think of it all right now!

Speaking of "more," I'll add that sign is firmly established now.  It's his go-to when he wants anything.  We see spontaneous "more" consistently now. He uses more for food, for toys, for interactions, for playing . . . He signs "more" to Andrea and Kevin when they're running around being silly, and he thinks it's funny, and he wants them to keep going!

The only other sign I've seen him use a few times at home is "milk," and it's always when the bottle is already in sight. They say he uses it a lot more at Summit. Still, it's neat to see him spontaneously (and correctly!) generalizing a sign.

Looking Ahead

What's next for Ryan? Well, like I mentioned earlier, we are starting the drink-from-a-cup program at home.  We've also discussed beginning some skill-building eventually leading to potty training, like him beginning to help with removing his clothes, and showing indications his diaper's uncomfortable, or seeing how long he can "hold it" (for an hour, at least?). 

We're still not sure where we're going with communication.  In Music Therapy and Play Therapy, they are trying to get him to imitate some vowel and consonant sounds.  There haven't been any amazing breakthroughs, but we do see he's trying. You can see him moving his lips, playing with breath sounds, etc. Also, having him point to and pick up objects, those programs can eventually lead to some kind of augmentative communication system, whether electronic or a picture exchange systems (PECS). It's still early in the year, but he's making steady progress, so who knows what he'll do next? :)

One thing that I think is kind of fun is that the Summit Centre is having their first ever Christmas Concert this year! It will only be about 20 minutes long, but they are planning to do some songs and skits, have music and props, and costumes.  I caught a glimpse of some of the things they're practicing when I was in for observation the other day.  I'm not sure how well they'll tolerate costumes and use props, and my non-verbal guy won't be singing, but it doesn't matter.  They deserve to have a concert like other preschool kids, and most of them enjoy music like Ryan does. It should be cute! :)

My Answer to the "Slogan" Challenge

I wanted to use the idea of unity. But we also come with many different experiences and perspectives.  However, we all have the common goal of wanting the best for people who  have Autism. Therefore, we need to find a way to stay connected despite our unique viewpoints and situations.

Then, I also wanted it to be clearly related to Autism.  There are powerful, conflicting responses to discussions in any community that is so personally and emotionally invested in a cause.  The well-known symbol related to Autism is the puzzle pieces.

I think puzzle pieces work as an excellent symbol on many levels here.  A puzzle is made up of many different pieces, and each one is unique.  If you want to complete the puzzle, all the pieces must join together. If any piece does not connect properly with the others, something is missing, and the overall picture is lost.

Just so in the Autism community. Everyone involved is allowed to have their unique perceptions. But we must respect them all equally and work together, or else all of our goals for enhancing the lives of those touched by Autism will not be achieved.