writing name & understanding emotions

Danes therapist that he sees 3 hours twice a week has noticed that Dane can recognize emotions and facial expressions.  That is only when someone is really sad and crying.  Happy and laughing.  Angry and yelling.  Only when it is to the extreme emotion that Dane understands what the other is feeling.  She will be working with him more on this to make him understand emotions more clearly.  There is no in-between with emotions that Dane can relate to.  If I say to him with a stern voice, he cannot understand that I am getting upset.  If I turn that into yelling, he will understand that I am getting mad.  That goes for happy and not laughing and sad without crying.  He cannot read between the lines on how people feel.

Dane needs to work hard on his fine motor skills.  When the therapist worked with him on writing his name, the longer they worked at it the better he got.  After they switched around to play therapy and then back to writing his name it was back to where he started.  He has troubles doing a tripod grasp around a crayon.  His teachers would break his crayons in half to help teach him the proper way to write.  He also lacks control when coloring.  By now, he should be able to stay in the lines when coloring a picture.  He scribbles all over with no control.  Also, his darker and harder pressed scribbles are turning into light strokes that are barely visible.

Dane knows and can recognize the letters of the alphabet.  When he writes his name, it is not horizontal. The therapist hopes to have this corrected because he is now in Kindergarten.  The letters seem to be all over with no control. 

Seizures

When my son was little, we used to notice him clench and shake like he suddenly got the chills. It would only last a few seconds and we weren't sure what to think of it. As he got older it is not as noticeable but it still happens at times.

His teacher noticed this. During class he gets little tremors and goes into a daze. The teacher will wave her hand in front of his face to try to get his attention back. What is this about?

When we got the diagnosis of autism last year we had mentioned this symptom that we were witnessing. The doctor and Occupational Therapist didn't mention anything about it. We were referred to have intensive therapy to treat autism in my son. It was up to us to look into centers to find one that would be best for him. Luckily we live in a center part of the state where we live within a 40 minute drive one way.

A few weeks ago was my sons first day of intensive therapy for autism services. They took him into a separate room and did play therapy with him for about an hour. After the session the therapist told us what she had witnessed. "He's having seizures."

We brought up what we seen when he was little and what the teacher had told us what happens in class. Some time during his therapy they will include a neurologist and will hook him up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) and find out what triggers these seizures. 1 in 4 children on the spectrum disorder have seizures.

Day 1 of Intensive Therapy

My sons first day of therapy went very well. The therapist came in and asked my son if he wanted to play. He took her by the hand and went into a room where we watched from the other side through a 2 way mirror. This was mostly "play therapy" on his first day. The therapists do not want any disturbances from the parents or other siblings. This is intensive one one one focus working with my son.

We got some interesting observations and learned something about them. When my son is moaning he is crying for sensory stimulation. He also has little seizures which I have noticed when he was still a baby starting to sit up on his own. Soon he will have to have an electroencephalogram (EEG) scan done on his brain. They want to trigger a seizure to find out what causes them. I think they do this by flashing lights at him while monitoring his brain waves. I'm not sure though what they will do. I pray it's not epilepsy. 1 in 4 autistic children have seizures from what I have read.

The therapists ordered us a weighted vest to help with his sensory issues. We tried a weighted blanket in the past when he was being observed through the Birth to Three program. At the time we didn't know how to use it. The same with that little brush they gave us to brush him when he was having sensory-overload. We were supposed to brush his arms to stimulate his nervous system every couple hours. I don't know what ever happened to that brush. I know we gave the blanket back and shrugged our shoulders because we were new parents. A baby doesn't come with directions and what were we supposed to know about autism at the time?

As parents of a child with special needs you learn as you go. I am trying to document what therapy does for my son as to help my readers new to autism learn more about what they may expect. Parenting autism is hard work. Keep faith and hope that the future is bright filled with happiness.