Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: Pensive

School has started, and what a lot of changes we've rolled with: physical location, expectations, classroom environment, different classmates, rules (lots of those), hours ... I know James has a lot to process. How I wish I could really talk with him, to find out what he's thinking.

Glad for the quiet moments, and some free time outside.

For more images from the heart and to share some of yours,
visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.






               and ... Wordless Wednesday

Happiness Is ...

Joining in song with your dancing son to Chicken Soup With Rice when he exclaims "Sing it with me, Mommy!" at the first chorus.

He and Carole King just made this rainy afternoon fun.

A Love Note Most Precious

He was diagnosed with ASD. He was 2, almost 3.

Take time to mourn the loss of a dream, I was told.

They said our son might never speak verbally.

They said he was probably retarded, and might never be able to accomplish many things, including writing.

Look what our sunny kid did today in his mainstream class, along with his peers:

And you know what else? He looked me right in the eye and gave me a huge bear hug when he gave this to me. My heart is singing.

James Has Named You

Meet Mona Lee-see-ya!

James sometimes enjoys his own names for things.

















P.S. "15" = Fiveteen. Just try to correct him. He'll laugh like crazy.

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: James

I love you, buddy. Truly. Always.

A tug on the arm, a hand on my shoulder, a pat on my back ... I turn around and then see this. Every day.

For more images from the heart and to share some of yours,
visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.






               and ... Wordless Wednesday

The Back-to-School Cheat Sheet

Tomorrow James starts school as a first grader. First, I take a moment (or maybe a week) to pause and reflect -- it seems like yesterday that it was his Big Sister who was starting first grade. How little I knew then and how far we've come.

For his second year as a full-inclusion student, I worked on a cheat sheet for James. I don't know what else to call it -- I basically take one piece of paper and fill it with information to introduce our son to his team at school. I did this last year after months of freaking out about our son moving from 2.5 years of Special Day Preschool to a mainstream Kindergarten. I tell you, I can still feel my anxiety now, recalling it.

I wanted to make sure the same information was available to his teacher, full-inclusion aide, speech & language teacher, O/T, Adaptive PE coach, and Services Coordinator. I thought something written would be nice to be able to reference, should the need arise.

For both years, I put his name at the top, followed by the names of his family team and our phone numbers plus my email. Then I wrote a 1-3 quick paragraph summary of what our son has done over the summer.

I used bullet points to talk about what he likes, does not like, and needs help with (such as he needs help with focusing, he loves music and the colour red, but is sensitive to noises like blenders and non-service/companion dogs make him very anxious).

Bullet points are also good ways to lay out James' strengths and challenges. I try not to go into too much detail because what I am trying to do is make an introduction from a parent's POV, not write a case study for someone who's worked with kids for longer than I have.

If there were allergies or daily meds to report, I'd have listed them here too. I touched briefly on how we discipline our son (time outs) and some key strategies that have worked to keep him on track. I made sure to say that the teacher can call or email me if needed.

His team has told me that they found this to be helpful, so it seems to have been a good idea. I wonder how many other parents have done this for their kids?

Blue Day

Have you heard about Light it up Blue?

It's one of the activities being highlighted for World Autism Awareness Day (today, April 2) and Autism Awareness Month (April) to shine a light on the subject of Autism. To get into the spirit of the event, here is James, lighting it up Blue, showing that kids with autism want to explore the world and share the love.

Baby James, boy in Blue!

Blues Clues shirt, his fav; he loves this show -- the clues, the paw prints ... the mail box ...

Playing with other kids and persisting in learning to climb up & down the net to the crow's nest at the Bay Area Discovery Museum ...

Texting, making, resting ...

Birthday boy, kicking boy, blue-eyed boy, laughing boy

Walking for answers, raising awareness ...

Our home is lighting up blue. For James.

Special Exp. / Wordless Weds: The Classic Game

We never seem to tire of Peek-a-Boo. This was poolside, while waiting for big sister's swim lesson to be over.
(Yes, he needs a hair trim. I am gearing up mentally to deal with that ordeal.)

For more great images or to join in the fun, Visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.


and ... Wordless Wednesday

SOOC: Wishes, Birthday & Others

First, Happy 55th birthday to Disneyland -- a place that really understands wishes ...


... bright colours & fun ...



... and how to treat kids with special needs like every other special and loved child who comes through their gates:



I've loved it before my first visit in '77. James' big sister had her first visit when she was 18 months old and we were expecting him. James' father had many childhood visits, and shares a birthday with the Haunted Mansion. James' first trip where he could see everything was when he was 6 months old. He was such a cutie that I came off a ride with my daughter and found a crowd of picture-snapping tourists around him. My husband said he thought it was a group from China.



I have found that one either gets the Disneyland warm fuzzies or ... they don't. I'm in the first group. Add to that:

• Watching my kids grow up, meeting family and friends, smiling wonderful smiles.
• Being in a place where I am temporarily trade in wishes for effective IEPs, helpful services for James, and hopes for a verbal son who isn't stigmatized for wishes to share good memories, rides and laughter with those I love.
• Remembering my still largely non-verbal son saying an unexpected early sentence from the back of the van "We're going to Dis-nee-lan' -- Yayyyyyy!!" as we headed to the parks.
• Watching the characters interact patiently with the small cute boy who doesn't seem to respond to their greetings and social questions, but who afterward treasures the memories they helped create.

And yeah, Disneyland is a magic place to me. I really like these photos, which are hardly Kodak-worthy, but capture for me the feeling of what it was really like to be there with the kids:




James' ability to tolerate certain rides fluctuates, but his big loves remain constant: Mickey Mouse and ... the Small World ride:





So thank you, Disneyland -- for being a great place to visit and to feel like we have more in common with other parents and families than not. Thanks for understanding the kinds of wishes children and grownups have, and helping them come true.

The Slurping Life is taking a trip down Memory Lane too. Visit Melody and check out SOOC Saturday/Sunday entries past & present. No cropping or fixing -- it's life, straight out of the camera.





  

Letter for James

To my Son:

Thank you for being you. For waking up each morning with a happy smile and bringing joy to meet each day. For trying new things and making the most of them. For making friends and softening stressed faces. For chuckles and kisses. For your hugs around my neck. For the light in your eyes when you see the people who mean the most to you.

I love you, Mom

Oh Lucky Little Man

James celebrated the end of Daylight Savings Time the way he has the past three years -- he got up 2 1/2 hours earlier than usual. I was up at 4:45AM. That kid is lucky he is cute! He inhaled a lot of food for breakfast too. He is over 40" now, and I guess we are in for another growth spurt. Yikes!

His new favourite thing is watching the Disney Sing-Along video shot at Disneyland. I like this so much better than Caillou! We watched it 3 times today. I also took him out in the back yard once the sun rose. He explored a lot and had lots to offer talking-wise: "leaf!" "Oooh! Whassat?" "kee-tee" and "I want DADDY!!!" That brought a smile to someone's face!

He loves playing with Play Dough. He and his sister shared a big activity barrel of it for almost 45 minutes this afternoon. He rolled out the dough, asking first for the roller ("Roh-er?" Pease?") and then cutting out as many purple stars as possible, before mushing it all together and starting again. Both kids also spent some time playing with their musical toys with their dad. James flipped through many books. He loves one from Switzerland, from some reason. Bern is his muse, I guess? And it has been pouring cats and dogs outside, so we love the fact that he still uses his trampoline. Go get out that energy, James! And please, have pity on your poor mother and sleep until at least 6:30 tomorrow morning!

Special Exposure Wednesday

And yes, it's still Wednesday.

Here is a picture of James from last Wednesday. He got bored & quietly opened some kitchen cabinets. The cotton balls in the egg carton that bored him to tears in May is a hit in July!




Oh, I am so proud of how far he's come in the past year! When I see him like this, enjoying life and quietly pursuing more, I just want to hug him and give him what I can for his shot at a happy life.

For more about Special Edition Wednesday, check out their page.

This is James: Bus

In the mornings, James adores the school bus. He practically rips open our front door and flies down the driveway, crying "buh! buh!" before he leaps into it. The driver always has a big smile for him and calls him her Little Angel. He giggles, wiggles, and glows with delight while he gets webbed into his seat. Then he'll look at me and shout "Bye!" with a grin.

I always wave to him outside the bus. And James always leans over and puts one finger up to the window. I can see him saying "bye" inside. He doesn't stop until I put my finger to his (on the other side of the glass) and say "Bye James, I love you!" Once I drew a heart too, and he thought that was the Coolest Thing Ever.

Then I wave to him as the bus pulls away from the curb. I wait for the turnaround and wave to him as he passes by, and I stand at the bottom of the driveway and wave some more until the bus turns the corner & out of sight. Mission completion!

Random Bus Thoughts:

1. Sometimes I have trouble getting James to focus, or sit still for socks and shoes. Usually, all it takes is a reminder: "James, bus" and presto, he is on board!


2. I wish I could get going as quickly as he -- angelically asleep to completely awake and demanding "muh-muh" (muffins) in 4.1 seconds.


3. James almost always makes my day happy with his starry smile and big happy eyes


4. The bus keeps me honest for getting James to school on time -- yay honesty!


5. I am so glad he gets an adventure so early in the day, while I am still working on that first cuppa joe