the first week of school...

Today is Friday and Jack is finishing up his first week of school.  We have had a little bit of a rocky start.  Jack did ok the first day but Tuesday was when he started to have a few issues.  Jack has had a decrease in his outward aggression (trying to hit us when he is upset) and started having more self inflicted aggression.  This started a out a few months back with slapping/hitting his legs, then moved on to his hips and now has graduated to slapping/hitting himself in the face.  When he gets upset in a situation or starts to have a meltdown that is when the hitting will start.  This has been one of the hardest autism behaviors we have had to deal with yet.  Watching our little man get so upset and not be able to tell us why or what is wrong and getting so upset (for sometimes what seems like no reason) is heartbreaking.  We do our best to interrupt/stop this behavior, but the key is to stop him from hitting without drawing to much attention to it at the same time (not the easiest thing in the world to do since the first natural reaction is to say "Jack don't hit yourself") 

The behavior at school has been happening when it's time for the class to go to recess.  I know that playgrounds have never been Jack's favorite activity, but I don't know why he is having such a violent reaction to this particular activity.  I have talked with his teacher and we think it might be that the weather has been really hot and maybe he doesn't like being outside in the heat?  I also found out that recess comes just before lunch so maybe he has been hungry?  I don't know, today I mentioned that when he is hungry he tends to get upset much quicker.  So, I send him more choices for his snack and suggested that they try to make sure he eats well at snack time, or if its possible to feed him before taking him out on the playground.  I am not sure if this will help or not, but its worth trying.  I hope that once he gets more use to the new school routine some of these undesirable behaviors will become less frequent. 

On a much happier note, my sister is going to be coming into town for the weekend!  She is flying in tonight and staying till Monday.  I am very excited to see her and I know she is excited to see the kids.  I have been telling Peyton that Aunt Stacey is coming to visit and showing her Stacey's picture.  She points to her and says "Stayee" its really cute.  She has become quite the little talker and will try and repeat everything she hears.  I can't believe how big she is getting and that she will be 18 months in just about two weeks. 

I am started to hear her wake up from her nap so I will end my post here.  I will be sure and post again soon.  I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

School Home Visit

We just got home from dropping Justin off at work.  He stayed home this morning because we had our in home visit to meet Jack's teachers for the new school year.  He has the same teacher as last year Mr. Tyler and the two assistant teachers will be Ms. Lynn, who was also there last year, and Ms. Stacey who the new addition.  Jack was very excited to see both Tyler and Lynn this morning and gave them a big smile, but still continued to run around and play outside while we talked.  We discussed what Jack had been up to this summer and some of the new things that have been happening.  I know that Jack will enjoy getting back into his school routine, but that the first few weeks will be an adjustment.  He will have a much bigger work load placed on him this year.  He will have school 5 days a week from 7:45-2:00, Mon. and Wed. he will have one-on-one in home ABA therapy from 3:00-5:00, Thurs. he will attend an ABA social group also from 3:00-5:00, and on Tues. see his OT therapist after school for a 30 minute session.  Fridays will be his one free day without any additional outside therapy :-) 

Since summer has started to come to an end and we have gotten back to a more normal routine after all the summer school and traveling, we have started to see a decline in some of the aggressive behavior he was starting to have back at the end of the school year and the beginning of summer.  He has been doing really well working with Jessi and we have started to hear more spontaneous language from him.  It has been mostly in the form of labeling, but more language is always good.  We are still waiting for that break though moment when he realises if I ask for something I will get it, but change doesn't happen over night.  I look forward to seeing what gains Jack has this school year.  This will be Jack's last year at Lawson and next year will be his big transition to Kindergarten.  I am of course already worried about that transition but I know it is an entire year away so for now I will do my best to keep those feeling in check.

I hope that everyone else who is starting or will be starting school soon, have a great year!  I wish all my fellow teachers back at Gordon Bush Elementary in East St. Louis a great school year and want to let them know I thinking about you.  I will be sure and post again and let you know how Jack's first day goes and hopefully have some cute new pictures to share.

Have a great week!

Waiting for school to start...

We are just about two and a half weeks away from school being back in session.  Jack is all finished with summer school but will continue with OT and seeing his ABA therapist three days a week, which should help the next three weeks not feel so terribly long :-) The kids and I survived the week Justin was in New York, but the kids and I especially was very happy to have him back.  We will spend our last few weeks of summer hopefully going to or having play dates and we will  have to start doing a little back to school shopping.    

I am doing my best to keep the kids active despite the lovely heat wave we have been enjoying.  I got the kids a new sprinkler on an outing we took to The Home Depot one afternoon, and one of their new favorite activity is playing with ice cubes outside on the porch.  This past Monday we went to an in-home play date and things went pretty good.  Jack of course found the toys and was perfectly happy playing and enjoying the new toys.  Peyton, on the other hand, still needs a little more time adjusting to the whole play date experience.  She does not like it when I leave the room or get to far away, and so far doesn't really enjoy playing with other kids.  This morning we went to Burger King and met a few friends to have a little breakfast and play on the equipment.  Jack decided it was more fun to play in one of the booths climbing back and forth from one bench to another by walking over the table.  Peyton did a little better and liked the giant tiger toy, but still got scared when any of the other kids would get close to her or try and play on the same equipment.  I know she will get better with her social skills especially when we can start attending play dates more regularly again once Jack is back at school. 

Peyton is getting so big and talking more and more each day, its hard to believe she will be 17 months old this month.  Her favorite activities still include chasing her big brother and the cat around, and despite her resistance to playgroups she is very easy going kid.  This has been very helpful this summer with the new school schedule and therapy.  She always make the best of our time spent waiting for Jack to finish therapy and when we do find ourselves waiting in the waiting room she will spend the majority of her time telling people "Hi" and "bye- bye"  She is our little trooper!

Right now Jack is working with Jessi,  his ABA therapist, and Peyton is still taking her nap so I decided to do a quick update.  We will be leaving for Jack's OT appointment once his session with Jessi ends so I am going to go and pack snacks and water for the drive.  I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer and having a good week.  I will post again soon.

Back from CA

It has been a while since I have posted, but with all our traveling it took me a while to get back our normal routine.  Justin and I got back from our anniversary trip last Monday.  We had wonderful time in San Francisco and Napa.  We are very lucky that my parents were able to come down and stay with the kids.  We did some site seeing in San Francisco that included Fishermans Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and Alcatraz.  Then we spend three nights in Napa and had so much fun exploring downtown Napa, visiting and touring a couple wineries.  The best part of the trip was getting to enjoy the beautiful and cool weather.  When we got off the plane in San Francisco it was actually cold, or at least cold to us :-)  Napa during the day was warm, but the morning and evenings were perfect, and since we are now entering the weeks of it just being HOT that is the part that I will miss the most...and the wine, of course ;-)

This week is Jack's last week of summer school.  He has only four more weeks to go before school starts up again.  As a former teacher I know how hard it is when back to school comes, but as the mother of a child with autism who desperately craves the structure and support school gives him I am very excited for school to start.  Jack has been seeing an ABA therapist three day's a week and still sees his OT twice a week.  When school starts Jack will continue seeing the ABA therapist three times a week after school but we will go down to once a week with the OT. 

Justin is leaving for New York this afternoon for work so it will be just me and the kids till he gets back on Thursday night.  I will try and post again soon, but am going to sign off for now so I can get a few minutes to just relax before Peyton wakes up from her nap.  Hope everyone has a great week!    

Back from Springfield...

The kids and I returned on Friday from Springfield.  We spend the week with my parents and had a fun week of swimming, playing and seeing friends.  We spend a lot of time at the pool but also got to visited the Springfield Discovery Center (which is basically a science center), went to a bounce house with my friend Haley and her two sons, and drove down to Branson to spend the morning swimming and playing with my friend Susan and her daughters.  We had a very busy week full of activity and both kids did a great job during our stay and on the drive down which was one of the things I was most nervous about.  This was the frist trip I made with just me and the kids.  I am very happy that there were no major issues during the drive and our stop to eat went smoothly.  The drive back was made easier because my mom came back with us.

Since we have been home we are getting the kids back into their normal routine and I have been getting ready for our next trip.  Justin and I will be leaving for our 10 year anniversary trip to San Francisco/ Napa.  We will be gone for 4 nights and the kids will be staying with my parents here in Texas. 

I was able to get some cute pictures and videos.  I will update more once we get back from our trip. Hope everyone has a wonder week!

Jack's newest therapy

Yesterday, Jack had his first session with his new in home ABA therapist Jessi. ABA therapy is short for Applied Behavior Analysis.  Below is a brief description about what ABA is and I also included a link for anyone who is interested in reading more.

What is Applied Behavior Analysis?

Behavior analysis focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place. Positive reinforcement is one such principle. When a behavior is followed by some sort of reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. Through decades of research, the field of behavior analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviors and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the use of these techniques and principles to bring about meaningful and positive change in behavior.

As mentioned, behavior analysts began working with young children with autism and related disorders in the 1960s. Early techniques often involved adults directing most of the instruction. Some allowed the child to take the lead. Since that time, a wide variety of ABA techniques have been developed for building useful skills in learners with autism – from toddlers through adulthood.

These techniques can be used in structured situations such as a classroom lesson as well as in "everyday" situations such as family dinnertime or the neighborhood playground. Some ABA therapy sessions involve one-on-one interaction between the behavior analyst and the participant. Group instruction can likewise prove useful.
ABA Therapy

Jack's first session was a "get to know you session" both for her and him.  She spent her time yesterday observing and playing with Jack working on getting him to engage with her in play, encouraging verbal imitation and eye contact.  She is going to use the assessments and skills he has been working on in school to design a program for him that will focus on increasing his verbal manding.  Most of Jack's undesirable behaviors come from his inability to communicate what he is feeling and what he wants.  We are going to have her come three days a week.  This summer the sessions will be taking place in the early afternoon, but once school is back in session the session will get pushed back and take place after Jack gets home from school.  I will keep everyone posted on how his sessions are going. 

Jack has two weeks off from ESY so I am going to take the kids to see my parents in Springfield, we will be leaving to head down there Thursday morning.  We are going to stay with them for a week.  I am looking forward to the kids having a fun filled week with their grandparents which will include a lot of swimming, but am a little nervous about the drive down.  Hopefully both kids will do well and it will be an easy trip....I hope :-)

Hope everyone has a great Independence Day tomorrow and I am sure I will have some fun pictures to share when we get back from Springfield.

Below are two videos Justin took of Jack playing in the backyard and wearing his new Cardinal hat:

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