As I sat quietly today, taking a few minutes to relax and do nothing (except listen - a constant activity if there are other people in the house), I realized he’s making some HUGE gains in the social arena. I’m not sure why I didn’t notice before. Maybe I was just needing to mentally note progress today. And I did!

Picasso: doing something to infuriate his sister.
Princess: “I’m telling Mom!”
Picasso: “Ok, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. Please don’t tell!”
Princess: “Ok, but if you hit me again, I’ll tell.”
Picasso: “Ok, I won’t. I’m sorry (pause) for hitting you.”
Princess: “I forgive you, but it hurt. Please don’t do it again.”

Me: Hey, do you want music for the drive to therapy?
Him: Yes!
Me: What kind?
Him: Charlie Brown Christmas music.
(oh boy…2 days in a row.)

Me: Check out the great color on those trees.
Him: Wow - that orange color is so cool!

Him: If I had a motorcycle that I bought for 1 penny, and all the traffic lights were green, it would be like they were all bowing down to me. (think - Joseph’s dreams in Genesis 37, of the grain, sun, moon & stars bowing down to him.)
Me: Yes, sort of.
Him: I mean, the lights would be green, letting me do what I want so it would be like they were bowing down to me.
Me: Sort of, yes.
Him: Can’t you answer with something other than ‘sort of’?
Me: Can I say ‘kind of’?
Him: Yes, but all you’re saying is ‘sort of’; you need to use different words. You can’t just say ‘sort of’ all the time.
(This from a kid who doesn’t seem to care, half the time, if I even answer him at all! And he’s never been picky about my words before.)

Eye contact. Full sentences. Original thoughts. Engaging. Initiating.
CONVERSATION - back and forth, several times.
Asking for a variety of language, asking for clarification when he didn’t understand, expressing opinions.

Wow, Wow, WOW!!! I told a friend last night that I don’t know if this type of interaction will continue or not but that we are definitely celebrating a huge day yesterday!

Yesterday I began working on October’s schedule, and while I listed everything out yesterday, I didn’t really give much thought to it until today. I’ve already lined up necessary childcare for October dates, but now that October’s here, the calendar is becoming our reality.

See, we just got him through about 10 days of some tough stuff. I’m not yet prepared to go through another 10-day tough spot that will produce about a month of issues afterwards. To give some perspective, it will be close to Thanksgiving before we’re back to the projected “normalcy” of life. After the last intensive, they told us to expect about 4 weeks of emotional ups & downs following each occupational therapy intensive.

This one may be particularly tough because it’s following a lot of new things in his life: new school year, new schedule, new therapy schedule, new school set up at home, new Sunday school class, new(-ish) children’s church class, new group in the Wednesday night program at church.

He’s been asking ME for the rules in a lot of different areas. See, he knows - internally - that this is new; he knows that he can’t handle it; he knows that he needs boundaries. A HUGE thank you to those in his life that have been able to provide him with the boundaries that he’s looking for. Every kid needs boundaries and functions better with them. A kid like our guy needs them even more than a typically-developing child does. The reality is that there are rules in all of life. However, for our son, the connection between “home rules” and “school rules” and “therapy rules” gets lost. He’s not able to understand that rules for school apply to church, or that rules for therapy apply for home. That connection is just NOT there. That’s part of why he goes to therapy - to learn about social situations. The therapy for that is actually called “Social Skills Training” - he needs training to learn how to act in social situations.

I’m not trying to borrow worry from the situation that is ahead of us. However, when you have a kid who needs preparation for nearly every situation in his life, you begin to look at even the most minute deal of everyday life. Will he be ok if he doesn’t have his orange juice for breakfast? What if he is having a particularly “sensory” day: will he be able to find something to wear? Or, remember the issues surrounding that meltdown last time - how will that come back to effect the next similar situation? What if we go to the store for something he needs for a class, but we can’t find it - will that result in a tough day, or will it roll off his back and be quickly forgotten?

He looks so normal - so typical - and yet, he’s not.

And that’s what we love about him!

So while we certainly don’t try to borrow worry, we plan. We plan a lot. For example: a trip to church requires lots of planning and preparation and discussion through the week. People think we just show up and that life is dandy because Picasso looks so good. Sadly, that’s not accurate at all.

And so we begin preparation for this next intensive. We’re hopeful, but we’re also realistic. We’re not worrying, but we’re prepared. There’s uncertainty ahead, but there is peace.

I was prepared to hear all the usual “we still need to work on this” at the post-therapy summary. I know we have a long way to go still, but I also know we’re seeing a lot of good changes and I’m encouraged by that, and am hopeful!

The post-therapy summary went something like this:
1. GREAT attitude!
2. Remember how he was resistant to the tactile stimulation (meaning body brushing, massage, deep muscle stimulation)? Well, today he had no problem with it. (That’s HUGE for someone with sensory issues!)
3. He met an IEP goal!
4. His behavior, when needing redirected, was fine - no real probelms whatsoever. How is the home behavior? (SO much better than it used to be!)
5. He’s doing well in so many areas, is close to hitting another IEP goal, but we’ll monitor over the 10-day period, and of course continue working on this at the next therapy intensive as well.

and - my favorite:
6. He’s a COMPLETELY different kid, even since the last therapy intensive at the end of May, and certainly different than the boy I spent hours evaluating in January!

They were right - these therapy intensives make a HUGE difference in terms of regulating his systems and helping his mind to process in a new and different way! This is some great progress for our family! I’m hoping that since we’ve already had one therapy intensive, the emotional swing that comes from all of this input will be a little less than it was the last time. Additionally, because we already have one of these intensives under our belts, we know what to watch for in terms of things that will make it harder for him during these two weeks. We’re all learning!

I realize this is not the best picture - wish I’d been a few seats farther away from him. However, in my mind (as Mom), this is such a great picture! Middle of the baseball game, not at all bothered by what anyone might think - he’s just loving life!