With the loss of my sons teacher he has regressed back to having a matchbox car with him in class. He will not leave the house unless he has the car in his pocket to take to school with him. He needs it during class to focus on what the new teacher talks about during her lesson.
This was the way it was with my sons last teacher. He can pay attention and listen to his teacher, but, he has to be spinning the wheels of the small car during the class. Even though he isn't watching her teach, he is listening. I don't know if he can't watch and understand what she is saying at the same time or its part of his autism in the way he learns.
My son took quite an attachment to his last teacher. Her up and leaving as fast as she did set him back to a regressed stage in his life. He was out of the routine of having the car in class. Maybe he needs to get to know his new teacher a bit and then he won't need the car anymore. With his teacher he knows leaving has really affected his routine of going to school.
I have read the new teachers note about herself. She graduated in 2008 with a special education degree. After graduation she was a long term substitute for a middle school autism program. Then she taught the last year and a half as the multi-categorical special education teacher for student's grades 1-8.
I hope in time that my son accepts this teacher like the old one. I'm very happy to know that his new teacher has experience in the autism expertise of her special education.
This is my online diary about my son diagnosed with autism at age 2. His progress and regressions. His behavior and his sensory overloads. Therapy and picture schedules. Drama and humor to figure out how his mind works.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Over Tired
The over tired mind of my son sets him into overdrive. It is complicated for him and for me to get him to rest. This is not only for nap time. Most days, there is no nap. By bed time he is really tired. One would think that being up all day would be no trouble at night going to bed.
With darkened eye lids and a screaming chuckle I know he is tired. He is running around the house and not stopping unless it's for water. Then he runs and laughs more. Hopefully his sister stays clear from him or he will hit her thinking it's part of the game.
His little sister thinks this is a game and joins in the fun. For me, it's trying to unwind him to get him ready for bed. Trying to separate the two so one can rest is a quite a task at hand. I literally have to let him run until he runs out of energy. I wish to stop this and settle him down. How to go about this?
I turn off the television, dim the lights and read them a book. Rocking them in my chair usually will help settle his nervous system. He calms down with the sound of my voice and having a blanket tightly wrapped around him. This goes well, unless, his sister and him start to push away at each other. They fight over me all the time. Giving them individual attention at this age while my wife and I work opposite shifts can't be done unless one falls asleep.
I would like to try and keep a set routine for bed time. Sometimes that routine gets broken mostly because I am over worked and very tired from my day job. This is when I let the t.v. on a cartoon that is turned down low for my daughter. She will lay on the couch and watch Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Bear or Wubbzy. This gives me a little one on one with my son to help get him to sleep.
He does not like to lay down by himself. He needs me to lay by him until he falls asleep. Then I sneak away and get his sister ready for bed. Usually she isn't very hard to get to sleep on her own. Some nights I end up playing musical chairs with our bedrooms trying to keep Dane asleep in his own bed. He wakes up a lot during the night. I think he sleep walks. I get out of my bed and lay back by his side to get him to sleep. I want this routine broken. He is old enough where he needs to sleep in his own bed.
Our family doctor recommended melatonin, a natural vitamin, to help with his sleeplessness. 3 milligrams 1/2 hour before bedtime. It helps to release serotonin in the brain and helps him get sleepy. I have seen some positive effects of this. It does help unwind him and get him ready faster for bed time. He still seems to wake up during the night several times.
My wife and I work opposite shifts and hardly see each other. I know she is going though tough times dealing with the kids when I am not around. Then we switch. She goes to sleep and I get to raise them. It's like were two single parents.
With darkened eye lids and a screaming chuckle I know he is tired. He is running around the house and not stopping unless it's for water. Then he runs and laughs more. Hopefully his sister stays clear from him or he will hit her thinking it's part of the game.
His little sister thinks this is a game and joins in the fun. For me, it's trying to unwind him to get him ready for bed. Trying to separate the two so one can rest is a quite a task at hand. I literally have to let him run until he runs out of energy. I wish to stop this and settle him down. How to go about this?
I turn off the television, dim the lights and read them a book. Rocking them in my chair usually will help settle his nervous system. He calms down with the sound of my voice and having a blanket tightly wrapped around him. This goes well, unless, his sister and him start to push away at each other. They fight over me all the time. Giving them individual attention at this age while my wife and I work opposite shifts can't be done unless one falls asleep.
I would like to try and keep a set routine for bed time. Sometimes that routine gets broken mostly because I am over worked and very tired from my day job. This is when I let the t.v. on a cartoon that is turned down low for my daughter. She will lay on the couch and watch Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Bear or Wubbzy. This gives me a little one on one with my son to help get him to sleep.
He does not like to lay down by himself. He needs me to lay by him until he falls asleep. Then I sneak away and get his sister ready for bed. Usually she isn't very hard to get to sleep on her own. Some nights I end up playing musical chairs with our bedrooms trying to keep Dane asleep in his own bed. He wakes up a lot during the night. I think he sleep walks. I get out of my bed and lay back by his side to get him to sleep. I want this routine broken. He is old enough where he needs to sleep in his own bed.
Our family doctor recommended melatonin, a natural vitamin, to help with his sleeplessness. 3 milligrams 1/2 hour before bedtime. It helps to release serotonin in the brain and helps him get sleepy. I have seen some positive effects of this. It does help unwind him and get him ready faster for bed time. He still seems to wake up during the night several times.
My wife and I work opposite shifts and hardly see each other. I know she is going though tough times dealing with the kids when I am not around. Then we switch. She goes to sleep and I get to raise them. It's like were two single parents.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
"MIRRORING"
Mirroring is a term used when a person copies another while in a social interaction. This includes body language, tones of voice, gestures, attitude and other aspects of communication. My daughter has taken on some of these mirroring situations. She copy's gestures and attitude of my sons autistic traits.
This is hard to deal with when I am teaching my son not to do something. I have to show him something like a social story to explain why he shouldn't do that, like hit his sister. My daughter understands why she should not do something wrong. Since my son has a harder time to understand these situations, my daughter thinks it is okay to keep wrong doing. She thinks, if he can do that so can I.
What really grinds my gears is when one tells the other to do something they know is wrong. They think that by telling the other that they won't get into trouble because the other one did it. That's actually smart thinking but they are both in trouble.
Some days I have to lock myself in the bathroom to shave or shower and I can hear both kids outside the door telling one another to "Kick the door." I have real trouble getting away for just a couple minutes to get something done myself. They are always fighting over me.
We used to have this really loud flushing toilet. When Dane was very little he would scream, even in a dead sleep it would wake him, and come to the bathroom door and do a bicycle kick. He has kicked doors so hard that he broke the trim off one of them. This was way before he was diagnosed with autism and we didn't know what to think. He taught his sister how to do this. I am in the bathroom and they are outside kicking it down.
We changed the toilet a while later. I sort of broke the insides trying to fix the loud noise. I was trying to make it quieter by replacing the insides of the old tank. I guess it was a blessing because our new toilet uses a lot less water and Dane doesn't freak out over the sound of the flush he once did. Sometimes he misses out on flushing it and throws a tantrum trying to flush it over and over while the tank is refilling. I wish he could understand that some things he misses out on and other things he is too little to do himself. Either way, he needs to control his emotions and get over something he wasn't involved in. He needs to understand that is the way life is. Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't. Get over it already and move on.
This is hard to deal with when I am teaching my son not to do something. I have to show him something like a social story to explain why he shouldn't do that, like hit his sister. My daughter understands why she should not do something wrong. Since my son has a harder time to understand these situations, my daughter thinks it is okay to keep wrong doing. She thinks, if he can do that so can I.
What really grinds my gears is when one tells the other to do something they know is wrong. They think that by telling the other that they won't get into trouble because the other one did it. That's actually smart thinking but they are both in trouble.
Some days I have to lock myself in the bathroom to shave or shower and I can hear both kids outside the door telling one another to "Kick the door." I have real trouble getting away for just a couple minutes to get something done myself. They are always fighting over me.
We used to have this really loud flushing toilet. When Dane was very little he would scream, even in a dead sleep it would wake him, and come to the bathroom door and do a bicycle kick. He has kicked doors so hard that he broke the trim off one of them. This was way before he was diagnosed with autism and we didn't know what to think. He taught his sister how to do this. I am in the bathroom and they are outside kicking it down.
We changed the toilet a while later. I sort of broke the insides trying to fix the loud noise. I was trying to make it quieter by replacing the insides of the old tank. I guess it was a blessing because our new toilet uses a lot less water and Dane doesn't freak out over the sound of the flush he once did. Sometimes he misses out on flushing it and throws a tantrum trying to flush it over and over while the tank is refilling. I wish he could understand that some things he misses out on and other things he is too little to do himself. Either way, he needs to control his emotions and get over something he wasn't involved in. He needs to understand that is the way life is. Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't. Get over it already and move on.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Paying Attention in Class
My son used to always have a matchbox car with him when he went to school. It helped him focus and pay attention during class. While the teacher was doing her scheduled class, Dane would take out his matchbox car and spin the wheels.
We had a discussion about this at Danes Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting . His teacher said that having the little car was no trouble in class as long as he is paying attention and not playing with it.
To make sure he was paying attention and not spacing off was she would kneel down after she had her classroom talk and ask him what she was talking about. At this age he's learning mostly colors, numbers and letters in early education. He would tell her the letter she was talking about. Even though he wasn't watching her, he was listening intently. Spinning the wheels is his way of focusing on her words.
During nap-time, Dane would lay down and take out his car and spin the wheels while the other children napped. His mind is so over active that it is hard for him to relax and close his eyes.
From matchbox cars to pennies. Dane needs exactly 3 pennies in his pocket before he goes to school. He doesn't take them out of his pocket like the matchbox car. Every so often he takes his hand and pats his pocket to hear them clink against each other. He still doesn't make much eye contact with his teacher but he is still focusing by patting his pocket. In time I am guessing he will get sick of the pennies and advert to something else.
An autistic child receives information differently then the normal mind. By looking like their not paying attention and listening to you, they are, in a different way. My son doesn't always understand what were saying to him. Showing him pictures and speaking slow has helped him understand better. As his brain grows I think he will be able to process information faster and not always need several explanations to explain something.
We had a discussion about this at Danes Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting . His teacher said that having the little car was no trouble in class as long as he is paying attention and not playing with it.
To make sure he was paying attention and not spacing off was she would kneel down after she had her classroom talk and ask him what she was talking about. At this age he's learning mostly colors, numbers and letters in early education. He would tell her the letter she was talking about. Even though he wasn't watching her, he was listening intently. Spinning the wheels is his way of focusing on her words.
During nap-time, Dane would lay down and take out his car and spin the wheels while the other children napped. His mind is so over active that it is hard for him to relax and close his eyes.
From matchbox cars to pennies. Dane needs exactly 3 pennies in his pocket before he goes to school. He doesn't take them out of his pocket like the matchbox car. Every so often he takes his hand and pats his pocket to hear them clink against each other. He still doesn't make much eye contact with his teacher but he is still focusing by patting his pocket. In time I am guessing he will get sick of the pennies and advert to something else.
An autistic child receives information differently then the normal mind. By looking like their not paying attention and listening to you, they are, in a different way. My son doesn't always understand what were saying to him. Showing him pictures and speaking slow has helped him understand better. As his brain grows I think he will be able to process information faster and not always need several explanations to explain something.
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