My Autism Insights

  image by John Haslam/foxypar4 on Creative Commons

The clocks are ’springing forward’ tomorrow - brighter days ahead.  It’s a strange time right now: I hear birds signing outside, but the early mornings are still cold and uncomfortable.  All around the ground is a muddy quagmire topped with greenery.  We’re expecting temperatures near 60 today, but since there’s still snow on the ground, many of us parents are still dressing the kids in snowsuits so they don’t get soaked and chilled.  Even the geese have made a couple of cameos, but have decided against signing any contracts just yet; they’re gone again.  It’s the messy ‘in-between’ stage.

It has seemed lately that in some ways Gus has been going backwards; regressing.  In other ways, he has merely stagnated.  He’s still having difficulty with doing independent work in school.  And he’s been wandering the school halls or doing dangerous things like climbing on school furniture.  Why?

Nearly eight years of observation provides a hopeful answer - I try not to worry about these setbacks any more.  It seems that before he can jump forward, he’s got to take a few steps back.  The progress always outweighs the regressions.  I don’t know why exactly this happens. But when I look at nature, it seems that many transitions are less than pretty.  If you’ve ever seen a baby bird hatch, at first they’re all twisted, discombobulated, upside down…and quite unattractive (in a cute, my-mom-just-sat-on-my-head kind of way).

Baby Robin Hatching video by Youtube user JSitube

Gus woke up this morning (at a reasonable hour), dressed himself (in matching clothes even), went downstairs and set his Pokemon game up until everyone else got out of bed.  Clearly, he’s gaining independence.  He’s already gone through a physical growth spurt, and now his mind is following along with a developmental surge.  The regressive behaviors are already starting to fade along with the dark days.  He’s almost squelched through all the transitional muck.  I see sunnier skies in Gus’s near future.

Do you notice any regression in your child just before a developmental leap forward?

Today my thankfulness will center mostly around our visit to the neurologist and to see a classroom.

First, I am thankful that we found a neurologist who actually spent time talking with us and listening to us about Gus.  He spent a good deal of time asking questions and observing.  He talked to Gus, was not condescending to any of us, and actually seemed pleasantly surprised by some of the comments I made to him.  (”How do you know all this?” I explained about my blogging.)  He was very patient (unlike the last doctor) when Gus was climbing and touching things he shouldn’t have been.  This guy didn’t even get annoyed when Gus turned the lights off in the room.  I don’t think I’ll have to worry about him shouting at me if we disagree.  It seems we’ve found a keeper!  Gus will go in for an EEG, and we spoke about medication, but I’m not feeling pressured.  Win!

Next, I am thankful that I decided to take Gus to visit the class I saw last week. I still think he’s better off in his current program, but it showed me that he does have options and also that he has the ability to function better than I was aware of.  Watching her interact with him gave me a slightly different perspective than I had during our first meeting - I liked her.  I’m also glad that the teacher saw the unmedicated version of Gus - she seemed to enjoy his presence.  That’s important in a teacher, at least to my way of thinking.  It was a good experience.

Finally, I’m thankful that my husband took the day off to come to the doctor with us and that my neighbor picked up MM so that we could both go.  As I was telling her, it seems to make a big difference when service providers see both parents taking an active role in their special needs child’s care.  I could read a lot into that, but I think it might be a post for another day. For now, I’m just glad that I don’t have to handle everything on my own.

What are you thankful for today?

Do audio books help individuals with auditory processing disorders to strengthen their listening and processing skills?  It would seem that they do.  According to Christie Berry, Ed. D., in her essay “Reading with your Ears ,” “Listening to unabridged audio books while following along in the book improves language skills, auditory processing, and contributes to an increase in overall cognitive abilities.” This was heartening to find as it validated 2 things I’ve been thinking about.  First, I’m noticing that Gus has a greater ability to focus on something auditory when he’s being read a story and following along (as opposed to listening if I’m asking him or giving an instruction).  So I started wondering if audio books might start to increase the length of time that he can sustain listening. This question was brought about by a second observation I recently made,  this one about myself.

I have terrible listening skills - always have.  Unless I’m very interested in what someone is saying, I zone out pretty quickly.  You can see how that might have been a problem in school since I often didn’t pay attention to what my teachers were saying (except the especially interesting one).  Fortunately, I’m a much more visual learner and a combination of reading and writing things down allowed me to excel, at least through high school.  College was a different story.  I had one teacher, my accounting professor, who droned on so badly that I could not stay awake in his class no matter how many coffees I had beforehand.  Only class I ever flunked.  When I became a teacher years later, there was always a running joke between my co-teacher and myself because neither of us was ever able to listen in the professional development meetings. We’d always say, “we don’t do extended listening.”

Then a few years ago, something incredible and completely unexpected happened.  Harry Potter on CD.  I was already a crazy obsessed fan, so I figured I could listen to them while driving and even if I missed a bunch of stuff, I knew them almost verbatim anyway.  What a surprise to learn that Jim Dale is a wonderful narrator and that I actually did have the capacity to listen to something for a long stretch - if it was interesting.

I’ve since become very fond of audio books and listen to segments of books almost every day.  Even the books I find less engaging to read (Jane Austen) hold my interest with the help of a good reader.  I’m fairly certain I’ve increased my capacity to pay attention to auditory information.  I’m thinking of trying some audio books for Gus (not Harry Potter - my kids don’t share my enthusiasm).  Perhaps they might help him to be able to focus in the classroom a little better over time.

For additional information on how audio books can help with auditory processing disorders, check out “Improving Auditory Processing - Listening to Language” by Sharon Hensley.

Have you had any success with using audio books to develop auditory processing skills?

Tomorrow: guest post from the author of General Hysteria on art projects for special needs children.  Don’t miss it!

As I promised the district, I went to visit the class they’ve been trying to convince me to transfer Gus to.  I had spoken to the teacher at length last week.  On the positive side, she is very knowledgeable, has a diverse background, and we see eye to eye on many important topics like mainstreaming and homework.  But we also have some core philosophical differences, which could become a problem like the use of candy as a reinforcer.

I spent a good hour in the in the class.  At the moment, the class is quite small.  Next year it is expected to more than double in size.  Class size was always a concern of mine since it would be bigger than what Gus is accustomed to.  The room is set up to be very open, which I think would be very distracting for Gus, but she has a primarily behavioral outlook (Applied Behavioral Analysis background) and believes that his behavior would just have to be modified.  I don’t know that it is a) possible or b) totally desirable to do that in all instances.  There would be less sensory support for Gus as well, and there would be no internet capability.  So the learning program he’s using now would be out the window.

Academically, this class focuses on much more basic skills than what Gus needs, and there is very little emphasis on Social Studies or Science - his two favorite subjects.  She does have a very interesting take on Math instruction, which I plan to do some looking into.  Overall, I doubt his academic needs would be met, and he’d be bored stiff.

As much as I like the teacher, despite our differing opinions, I can’t see Gus succeeding or being happy in that class.  I’m going to bring him in next week (he’ll be out of school anyway) just to see what he thinks of the room.  But I’m about 99% sure that I’ll be fighting for him to stay in his current school next year.  Either that, or I become a home-schooler.

Since Gus has been doing a good deal of sensory seeking lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to get him sensory input at home.  At school, they’ve got loads of equipment so that he can choose what he needs: giant bean bag, body sock, jumping, and now sugarless gum to provide oral sensory stimulation.  He liked it - yay!  So much better than Starburst! Even better, I found it locally, so I may be able to use it at home as well.  (Don’t laugh - I’ve been looked for a certain flavor of gum on several occasions and haven’t been able to find it.) I’ll let the school work it into his routine first.

One other thing that often does well for him is to be able to utilize his gross motor muscles.  But at this cold time of year, opportunities are limited.  We have a trampoline (and a couch, which is the jumping apparatus of choice) but he doesn’t always want to jump.  He’s got a bean bag chair and a big exercise mat that he likes to roll up in for squishing.  We also have a pedaling thing (if it has a name, I’m unaware of it), which is basically bike pedals without the bike.  They work all right, but they’re a little awkward, and he spends as much time swinging it overhead as he does pedaling.

We wanted to get a small stationary bike, but even the small ones were either too big or too expensive or both.  Well, we finally (completely by accident of course) came across one on craigslist that is not only well within our budget, but within driving distance.  Win!

Hopefully we can pick it up this weekend and we can let Gus ride while he’s watching TV.  I can’t wait!

What sensory support do you use for your sensory seeking child?

Prompt by Mo of Manic Monday .

I haven’t been able to come up with anything for the last couple of Manic Monday prompts, but finally, I’m back in the game.  Today’s word is candy.

We managed to get through Valentine’s Day with a minimum of candy incursions into Gus’s diet.  MM came home with a dragon’s hoard of candy, which I quickly had to confiscate.  So much for the ‘healthy’ drive at her school.  She ate more candy last Thursday than she, cumulatively, in several months.

We learned something interesting when we went to Gus’s school though.  While he wasn’t bombarded with Valentine’s candy (because he was home sick) it has been suggested to his teacher that he be given Starburst as a motivator.  This came from the behaviorist.  Because of his oral sensory issues, chewing on something helps him to focus.  He likes Starburst.  So that seemed like the best choice on short notice.  Carrots were another option, but since he tends to hum when he’s eating them (maybe the crunchiness is a factor?) it’s distracting to the other students.  Since the Starburst is working, I don’t really want to step on the teacher’s toes, but at the same time, I don’t want him eating candy.  He doesn’t process sugar well.

We came to the agreement that she will try to get him to chew fruit flavored sugarless gum (Wrigley’s Extra recently came out with a line) to see if that can replace the candy.  If not, I may allow the Starburst, although I will dislike it.

Any thoughts on what he can chew (he likes fruity flavors) that won’t wreck his teeth and send him into overdrive in the afternoons?  Ideas would be much appreciated, and I’ll thank you in advance if you leave a comment!

P.S. A word on comments: all comments are moderated, so if they don’t show up right away, don’t fret.  They will as soon as I approve them!

It seems there have been quite a few things to be thankful about this week, but I’ll stick to my usual 3:

1. I am thankful for the amazing weather we’ve had.  It’s been like springtime and I can see the difference in mood and energy level for all of us.  The fact that he just caught a cold will not dampen my glee and having a whole week of not having to wear 20 layers inside the house.

2. I am thankful that Gus received a People Respecting Others award at his quarterly assembly yesterday.  I thought it was an academic award, but I really like the fact that he got a reward for something more related to social skills.  It’s an awesome positive reinforcer.

3. I am thankful for the great conversation I had with the teacher of the class our district has been trying to get me to agree to send Gus to.  I’ll be visiting the class next week even though I doubt I’ll want him to move.  But I’m going in with an open mind.

I am also thankful that giving up sugar hasn’t killed me in the…one day I’ve been off it, but that’s a story for another blog!  Please share your gratitude below and have a great weekend!

  image by Andre Koehne

An illuminating conversation this evening reminded me that ‘the system,’ in other words, the school system, is really not to be trusted when it comes to what’s best for your special needs child.  Many parents either believe that their school district has their child’s best interest in mind, or they believe that they can’t reject whatever the district is trying to push at them.  Neither is true as I was reminded tonight.

I called to schedule a visit to the local school’s special needs class (the one I said no to last year) and the teacher called me back to set up a time.  We got into a very interesting dialog.  Actually, I quite liked her and if Gus ended up with her, it would probably be okay.  But I’m glad I spoke with her directly.  For one thing, last year after she’d evaluated Gus, she felt that he would not be a good fit for her class (she has since changed her opinion since the makeup of the group changed).  The district at last year’s annual review told me that the teacher did think he was a good fit.

You’re probably thinking, “That must have been an oversight or a misunderstanding.”  Perhaps, but it gets better.

When they emailed the teacher that I may be calling about paying a visit, they told the teacher that I was unhappy with his current program.  Now, it’s possible that they could have inferred that from, “I don’t want him to change schools,” but I’m not quite sure how.

They also neglected to tell the teacher how often he’s been bounced around over the past 3 years - she said that even if he is a good fit, he should stay put or he would just lose another year in re-adjusting to yet another change.  Did I mention I liked her?

So the moral of the story is: whenever possible, communicate with teachers and service providers directly because school districts might say whatever they have to in order to get you to go along with their agenda.

Despite the fact that it hasn’t gone above 65 in our house yet today, I am still in a surprisingly good mood.  Thankfulness for today:

I am thankful that both my kids did well on their second quarter report cards.  Gus is doing a little better with his IEP goals; out of 27 goals, he’s progressing in about 19 of them.  Last quarter that progress number was much lower.  His academic report is good, especially in Reading, Social Studies and Science.  MM showed great improvement in her writing and is doing really well in math and reading.  Her teacher also called her a “delight” and a “good example” in the class.  Sorry for the bragging, but I allow myself a proud mommy moment once in a while.

I am thankful that Gus is also being given a Principal’s award next week (alright, two proud mommy moments).  Now, he was given an Outstanding Effort award last year and there was an interesting incident with a microphone…hopefully, we won’t see a repeat.  And if we do, I am resolved to just laugh about it.  Those assemblies are often way to serious anyway.

I am thankful that my sister’s friend, who had asked me for an impromptu Reiki healing a few weeks ago, apparently decided to pay me.  She asked at the time and I told her that I didn’t want any money.  But she sent some anyway.  A nice compliment, and always useful!  That was an awesome surprise!

This all goes to show that even in the coldest and bleakest of times, good things can still happen.  Please share your gratitude below and have a great week!

I noticed a couple of new things about using music to help Gus focus when he’s doing his homework.  Typically, we use headphones and some sort of quiet, relaxation music while he’s working to help block out distractions. Monday we tried something different.

He hasn’t been using his headphones consistently, but I offered them to him Monday, and he accepted.  I showed him again how to work his MP3, and as I was scrolling through the albums to get to the one he usually likes, he stopped me.  He wanted to listen to Earth, Wind and Fire.  I wasn’t really surprised, but a little skeptical that he’d be able to work with disco pumping into his ears.  I decided to give it a try - he should be allowed to choose what he listens to - but I made the stipulation that if he didn’t pay attention to his work, we were going back to softer stuff.

Homework was completed in record time with minimal redirection or intervention from me.  Wow.

Yesterday I tried an experiment.  Instead of the headphones, I let him have his Earth, Wind and Fire playing from the computer, out loud.  What a disaster!  He didn’t even stay in his seat half the time.

So, apparently, headphones make a big difference, but so does the ability to choose what music is playing.  It stands to reason.  Adults don’t listen to the same thing all the time; we listen to what we’re in the mood for.  And for as much as Gus needs certain routines to remain fixed, the strategies that tend to work, particularly to help with his lack of focus, on any given day are always changing.  A true enigma, that one.  I’m curious to see what he’ll choose today: the Beatles or Mozart or maybe Weird Al?