Magic Marker Monday: Plein Air Painting

We took advantage of a sunny, warm weekend earlier in the month and took James to our Town Green. James loves to run about on the grass, up, down, and around on the intersecting walkways, and around the fountains. This time, his sister was on a play date. Because he'd been wanting to practice his letters and number so much (thank you, Kindergarten!) I brought along some paints and a small sketch pad.

This is what James wanted to do:

He continued painting while my husband and I talked and admired the beautiful weather. What did we talk about? How proud we were that James is constantly trying new things. Last year this time he could not have managed a small paint brush like this. He certainly would not have painted his own art, looking at the trees, clouds and sun around him for inspiration. To say nothing of talking to  us about them as he painted.

I am still watching his hands. Whenever he tries something that takes a lot of concentration, the resting hand gets drawn back and in towards his body, fingers curled, thumb up. When we do table work, I remind him to try using it to weight down the paper.

This afternoon was pure fun. And we have some new fridge art:

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Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: CATS Walk, First Ever!

This past weekend, James, his sister, and I participated in the first-ever CATS (Community Autism Trek, Sonoma) walk. We walked to raise awareness not only of autism, but also that the wonderful CATS Program exists to help so many in our community. And raise a little money to support the students and the program too.

The CATS Program a great source of information and learning for students, parents, and professional who work with children and families of special needs people. It's also a great resource to socially connect with other families, which is tough for us.

How did the walk go? Just look!

 

 

And yes, we've been in the program and it has been a great resource!

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


and ... Wordless Wednesday

Resonance

I read this article about autism and the MIND Institute in the NYT and it just ... resonated.

The non-responsiveness. The staring. The trips to UC Davis. Providing samples. Having to make hard choices, like leaving my job. Looking at our autistic child's sibling with a new (and sometimes heart-heavy) perspective. Lack of answers. Curveballs. Making it up as we go along. Trying all the therapies that seem helpful. Progress. Being grateful for assistance. Realigning expectations of the future ... for our family.

I wish this family all the best. They are a lot like us.

We Voted!

This is what our kids get to do while Mom votes:

Our local polling place is at the K-1 school, where James' sister and now James go. I like the kids to see people going to vote, and thankfully it's also close to our house.

This time there were no initiatives that directly target autism-related issues, but it's always good to be involved.

Meanwhile, a little Halloween political candy:

Magic Marker Monday: Basic Holiday Fun

Halloween morning. It's after breakfast, the TV is off, the kids are literally bouncing around (love that indoor trampoline) yet I am still struggling to reach full awake status. What to do ...

Make cards!

We broke out our economy pad o' construction paper (big back to school sale at Target), scissors, crayons, sparkle pen, FREE stickers from Trader Joe's (just when I think I could not love them more!) and adhesives (both tape and glue stick). Result: almost 45 minutes of colourful fun:

James' card is the green one on the left.

Here is the inside of his card:

I traced his pumpkin and them helped him cut it out. I offered him the scissors in between his left & right hands and he chose his right. Yes, I am still obsessing -- shhhh! James wrote his name with crayon on the right.

Here is our collection of spooky creations:

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Special Exp. / Wordless Wednesday: First Lost Tooth

... and he swallowed it while at school. Just like his mom.

The Tooth Fairy found out anyway!

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


and ... Wordless Wednesday

Still Learning Our ABAs

Autism-related behaviours manifest differently with each person. Our experience with James is special in that he likes and seeks out others, he is normally sunny, and is empathetic toward others. Sometimes I realize how focused I am on James, and how much I am not paying attention to the bigger picture if Autism, it's issues and research.

For example, this morning I was reading an article regarding treatments for those affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which is James' official diagnosis. There were many references to ABA.

Huh?

Okay, I'm officially clueless. I had to Google it. ABA stands for Applied Behaviour Analysis and there are pages and pages out there on the internet that cover what this means, what's hot, and evidence-based reports. The Bright Tots website is what I was reading this morning.

Once I got going, I realized I did know what this was, I just wasn't used to thinking about it as "ABA". In preschool, his teacher and SHAPE assistants worked with us to help James learn to eat and dress by himself, as well as cleaning up after himself. It was key in getting him engaged with successful potty training (although it took several attempts to find the correct motivating behaviour). Instead of ABAs, we talked about self-care goals, targeted social interactions, delved into breaking tasks down into small steps & social stories, and strategized ways to model correct speech & language.

Now in kindergarten, his team and family continue to look at ways to keep James engaged in his class routine, improve his social & language interactions, and encourage age-appropriate behaviours. So I feel better that I haven't totally missed out on ABA for James.

What I still feel I need to learn about ABA, though, is how else it might be able to help James. Where we can find these services. How we can pay for them. Because last time I looked, they were not covered by health insurance in California. Because I agree 220% with Autism Speaks in the part of their 2009 document "Arguments in Support of Private Insurance Coverage of Autism-Related Services", which states:

Argument 7: By improving outcomes for children with autism, mandated private insurance coverage will decrease the lifetime costs of treating and providing services and will actually result in an overall cost savings in the long-run.

Incidentally, I think the government should be seriously looking at this as well and see programs that support ABA-related services as a key investment in our future. We need to keep state and federally funded programs intact as much as possible, because for families like us they are just about our only options.

James currently receives the bulk of his services from public schools and the North Bay Regional Center. Without this assistance, we'd be hurting. And 10-20 years down the road, James might be even MORE dependent on government-related services, had we not had the help to get him to manage his own self care and jump-started his learning and speech. Along with the other 1 in 100 children on the spectrum.