Samuel has overall had a good couple of weeks. April and I have noticed that his vocabulary is expanding quite significantly. One of the developments is his interest in singing song lyrics. In the past he would dance to music, but now he seems to be singing along while he dances. Not only is he singing, but he is saying the words to the song in a very understandable way. Recently he has been especially enjoying "Thomas and his Friends." While he has always taken a liking to Thomas, in the past he has shown more interest for Lightning McQueen and Mickey Mouse. Right now any time we allow him to watch TV, he is wanting to see Thomas episodes on Netflix. At the same time he has a few tiny Thomas toy trains that he has grown especially attached to. He plays with them before, during, and after watching Thomas. It is a joy to see Samuel singing along to Thomas and getting the words right. "They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight, shunting trucks and hauling freight, red and green and brown and blue, they're the really useful crew...." April noticed today while he was playing outside with the tiny toy trains that he was repeating some of the sayings which he hears on Thomas such as "flatten my funnel." Although not every word is especially clear, he is attempting to talk more and the vocabulary is expanding. We consider this a very positive step!
Things appear to be going fairly well at school right now. On Thursday, the teacher wrote on his conduct sheet that he had a "fantastic day". However, the Tuesday before he had a couple of meltdowns. One was because he insisted on carrying a book into school with him. When April dropped him off with his class, she took the book back. He did not like this. Later during the morning he spilled milk on himself. The teachers had to change his clothes and that did not sit well with him. Fortunately, once he calmed down from these tantrums everything ran smoothly. That is a positive sign that overall his meltdowns seem to not be lasting quite as long as they once did (although April experienced an hour long one while I was out of town on business shortly after the last post). He also seems to be understanding which mornings are school days and is quite receptive to attending. Hopefully all of these "baby steps" are positive and are indicating improvements.
Today we went to church for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Our wonderful youth committee also had a bouncy house for the children to play on. Samuel thoroughly enjoyed it. I bet he climbed in and out, up and down, at least 20 times. Unlike many autistic children, Samuel appears to be fine with other kids around. He doesn't necessarily socialize with the others, but he does not appear intimidated being around them. Later this afternoon, one of our neighbors and her 3 year old son came over while we were outside. Although the neighbor's boy is the same age as Samuel, Cameron was the one that entertained their friend. Samuel was among them, but he really did not interact with the other two. These are the times that I recognize the autism most. Instead of joining two other boys playing in the yard, he would rather keep to himself. This is part of the process and I have to remind myself that although he thinks differently, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
As always, thanks to everyone for taking time out to read the blog. I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter and I give praise to our Savior Jesus Christ for his death and resurrection for my sins.
Till next time,
Brian
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Classroom Visit
First of all, please accept my apologies for the lack of posts recently. Life has been quite busy lately and I have not taken the time to write like I had hoped to. Thank you to everyone for your loyalty in reading these posts. It is incredibly uplifting to hear people talk about the blog and I am thrilled that it promotes conversations. Please continue to encourage me to write on a frequent basis.
Life with Samuel continues to be an absolute joy. On Tuesday of this week, I was able to take some Child Involvement Leave and participate in Samuel's Pre-K block building project. A special invitation was given for daddy's to attend and to help their child build objects out of blocks. It also gave me a chance to see Samuel inside the classroom. There were three fathers that attended and the other children joined the daddy's in building objects. Samuel seemed a bit confused about what I was doing there. However, he did not act out. We went to the "block center" and began playing with the blocks. He would take a few and play with them a little, but never really grasped the concept that we were trying to build something. The other children joined in and immediately contributed to building a "parking garage." Samuel started placing objects inside the "garage", but spent very little time trying to build. The other children were absolutely wonderful. They were friendly toward him and participated in the activity. When it was time to clean up, the room became noisier as blocks were placed back unto the shelf. I tried to get Samuel to help clean with the other children, but he ran to another part of the classroom and eventually sat down in a chair on the other side. His teacher has shared previously that when things become too much for him, he has learned to go sit down in the "reading corner" for a few minutes. I was able to witness this and honestly I did not know how to feel. My initial reaction was that he was trying to get out of doing his part in cleaning up. Then I remembered the teacher's comments on how he has learned to cope with over stimulation this way. I'm not 100% sure if he does this as a coping mechanism or if he is just getting out of cleaning-up, but either way you have to be impressed with his intelligence on this matter!
In addition to seeing his teacher, I was also able to speak with each of his therapists that day. He is getting Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapy on a regular basis. Each of the therapists had positive things to say about Samuel. He gets to spend time with them either on a one-on-one basis or with just a couple of kids together. They all discussed about the progress that he is making and each really seemed to enjoy working with him. We are noticing how he is getting much stronger physically by the way he can comfortably climb on playground equipment. He is also saying more words in sentences. We are still a long ways before he can carry on a conversation, but the speech is making progress.
Many of you have seen on social media that we are participating this spring in the 6th Annual Coastal NC Run/Walk For Autism on April 23 in Wilmington. If you would like to run/walk or contribute on behalf of Samuel below are the links to how you can participate. It should be a wonderful occasion and I am excited about being a part of the event (although I am now forced to start training for a 5K!).
http://support.autismsociety-nc.org/site/TR?fr_id=1121&pg=entry#.Vt1vLjFDwPU.gmail
http://support.autismsociety-nc.org/site/TR/RunWalk/General?px=1030011&pg=personal&fr_id=1121
Thank you again for taking time to read. I will try to not take so long between posts from now on (hold me to it!)
Till next time,
Brian
Life with Samuel continues to be an absolute joy. On Tuesday of this week, I was able to take some Child Involvement Leave and participate in Samuel's Pre-K block building project. A special invitation was given for daddy's to attend and to help their child build objects out of blocks. It also gave me a chance to see Samuel inside the classroom. There were three fathers that attended and the other children joined the daddy's in building objects. Samuel seemed a bit confused about what I was doing there. However, he did not act out. We went to the "block center" and began playing with the blocks. He would take a few and play with them a little, but never really grasped the concept that we were trying to build something. The other children joined in and immediately contributed to building a "parking garage." Samuel started placing objects inside the "garage", but spent very little time trying to build. The other children were absolutely wonderful. They were friendly toward him and participated in the activity. When it was time to clean up, the room became noisier as blocks were placed back unto the shelf. I tried to get Samuel to help clean with the other children, but he ran to another part of the classroom and eventually sat down in a chair on the other side. His teacher has shared previously that when things become too much for him, he has learned to go sit down in the "reading corner" for a few minutes. I was able to witness this and honestly I did not know how to feel. My initial reaction was that he was trying to get out of doing his part in cleaning up. Then I remembered the teacher's comments on how he has learned to cope with over stimulation this way. I'm not 100% sure if he does this as a coping mechanism or if he is just getting out of cleaning-up, but either way you have to be impressed with his intelligence on this matter!
In addition to seeing his teacher, I was also able to speak with each of his therapists that day. He is getting Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapy on a regular basis. Each of the therapists had positive things to say about Samuel. He gets to spend time with them either on a one-on-one basis or with just a couple of kids together. They all discussed about the progress that he is making and each really seemed to enjoy working with him. We are noticing how he is getting much stronger physically by the way he can comfortably climb on playground equipment. He is also saying more words in sentences. We are still a long ways before he can carry on a conversation, but the speech is making progress.
Many of you have seen on social media that we are participating this spring in the 6th Annual Coastal NC Run/Walk For Autism on April 23 in Wilmington. If you would like to run/walk or contribute on behalf of Samuel below are the links to how you can participate. It should be a wonderful occasion and I am excited about being a part of the event (although I am now forced to start training for a 5K!).
http://support.autismsociety-nc.org/site/TR?fr_id=1121&pg=entry#.Vt1vLjFDwPU.gmail
http://support.autismsociety-nc.org/site/TR/RunWalk/General?px=1030011&pg=personal&fr_id=1121
Thank you again for taking time to read. I will try to not take so long between posts from now on (hold me to it!)
Till next time,
Brian
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