Life in the fast lane

Well, I knew we were busy, but I hadn't realized that I hadn't posted in over 3 weeks. Our weeks have been extremely full and a lot happened, but I think we're finally coming out the other side.

School: Bug has now has a few weeks of school under his belt. This week he only went one day because he was sick, but I think he's gone a total of 8 or so days. On the surface, it seems things are going pretty well. He enjoys riding the bus (even telling me that that's what he did at school when I asked) to and from school. I love seeing what he brings home and it gives me a small opportunity to try to talk about his day. We do get weekly newsletters, but it's still hard to know what they do on a daily basis.

We had a parent-teacher conference last week and his teacher did mention some behavioral concerns to us. Apparently Bug lashes out physically and with verbal protests a lot during the day. While we might expect this at first, and at transitions, she said that he does it even when he's heading to a desired activity and throughout the activity. I've also noticed a resistance at OT and speech, as well as getting on the bus,  that hasn't been there previously. We're not really sure what his reasoning is. I think it could just be a (not good) routine he's gotten himself into, or it could be a protest. We're not really sure how to handle it. So it'll have to be monitored closely to see if we can find effective strategies. It's particularly hard for me because I can't see what happens.

Speech:  Bug has pretty successfully transitioned back to working with Laura. Lately he has been asking me to go back in the room with him, which if I don't have Wiggle, I do. It's like he just needs to know I'm there. One huge speech thing (that didn't occur in speech actually) is that he can now ask, appropriately and unprompted "Where is it?"!!! I've heard him now in several different situations and places. :D Bug's first question! We've also been very focused on re-establishing "yes" as the answer to a question.

Our PRT session was very speech oriented too. We got a lot of good feedback and a lot of things to work on. One of the biggest things was that Adam and I ask a lot of questions rhetorically. Instead, we should try to only ask questions when we require a response--and stick to it to get the response. Courtney, our trainer, also suggested that rather than trying to set up situations for Bug, that we allow Bug to float around and then just try to insert ourselves into whatever he's doing. While this makes sense to me, my hang up is that much of what Bug does isn't really focused or "play". It's hard to insert yourself into the running, flapping, etc. that occupies a lot of his day. That being said, there are always opportunities, and it's up to us to capitalize on them!

OT: The biggie. We received word this weekend that our OT, Geri, passed away unexpectedly. We had just seen her on Thursday, so it came to a huge shock to us. I really debated on how to bring up death to Bug, but after talking to a friend, I opted just to tell him that Geri isn't there anymore. Any time he asks for her, I remind him and then say that we're going to see Frances instead. We had our first session with her and Jenna (the supervising OT) today and it went extremely well. Bug was calm about Frances leading the session and even requested that she play trains with him in the waiting room and he also tried going through the barrel into the ball pit. Jenna suggested that Bug may not have liked the ballpit previously because if he was wearing shorts and short sleeves, it would be kind of cold. She also suggested some different ways to get deep pressure to Bug.

I am so sad that Geri is gone, we have lost such a wonderful resource and guide. But I'm grateful for the groundwork she laid for us and that we can stay at the office we're at to continue on. If we can't have Geri, I think her co-workers are the next best thing!

I'm still working to find a good balance in the day for us all. I would still like to get Bug into some activities with his "neurotypical" peers. Especially as the days get colder and shorter, it's difficult for us to get out to parks, so we'll definitely have to figure out some way to supplement.