Haven't written a post in so long.  And looking back, either I used to be delusional, or the twins have really regressed in their talking and a few other things.  Possibly why I don't post any more.  i think they still know all the same things or more, but they are just in a less social phase?  Well, these things always come and go.

It has been a fantastic summer!  We are doing Special Olympics swimming.  We went to a family reunion and brought along our sitter who was a twin chaser/entertainer for every waking hour.  My arms are healed up, and I'm trying to think what to do if the scratching starts again when school starts.

B.  said his big brother's name the other day, when J. had been at day camp all day.  Lots of good things like this are going on, and of course, a lot of the usual challenges.  Hanging in there, and planning to lie on the couch for three straight hours on the first day of school.

Blog Slacker

I am a true blog slacker. For a brief update, we are having some problems with scratching and biting. I wear long-sleeved shirts. Other wise I get looks and people asking, "Do you have a cat?" J. (the non-autistic brother) is absolutely obsessed with Michael Jackson and dancing to the Wii game "The Michael Jackson Experience". It's actually a fun thing for us to do together.

Potty training continues, and we are making glacial progress. J. has a group of understanding friends who can handle the occasional partially clad twin running through, usually being chased by me (fully clothed) and the fact that you have to take your own soap and toilet paper into the bathroom.

School is going all right. Some administrator decided the twins cannot skip art class, which they had been doing because of the art-supply eating fixation they both have. Of all the issues I have with Texas special ed., missing art class is not an important one. It was not even on my radar. God forbid they are not getting the Texas TEKS in Art! Meanwhile they can't even get 1:1 Speech therapy or OT. Uh-oh, here I go.

I had been resolving to be more positive or at least keep more of my sarcasm to myself. Hence the dwindling number of blog posts. Although the blogs I enjoy reading are often pretty sarcastic.

Too busy to blog!

I was looking back at the blog archives and realized I used to post a lot more than now. I would pay so much attention to each word the twins said, or especially to anything they stopped doing. That was such an intense time. Well, it's still an intense time, but I feel more sure of who the twins are. I always used to be looking for a clue that they'd turn out high-functioning. Oh, those words... "high-functioning"! They were like Harvard or Yale, or "gifted and talented". Now I feel like I know they have a lot in there, but I also feel pretty sure they will need a lot of help throughout their lives. "High-functioning" has been replaced in my mind with "toilet-trained and able to communicate what they have to say". Now I think i'm more able to enjoy their quirkiness, and less apt to see everything as a clue to what they'll be like as adults (on the good days, anyway).

Going to get them early today, to use the IPad and IPod. Would like them to be able to use the IPad at school, but that's a whole other can of worms.

One more thing

My husband and I both thought we might have heard B. say "Mommy" today in the car. Which would be a first!

Articulation sneaking up on you

Sometime between last Christmas and this Christmas, B. can sing songs with perfectly recognizable words. It struck me when I heard "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"' turned around looking for G., and found myself looking at B. How could that clear little voice be coming out of B? When did this happen? They both are so musical, and it is such a joy. My husband, who has a harder time dealing with the twins' autism, has been takinf B. to a guitar store to try out instruments. There is an employee who also has two boys with autism, and apparently he's very understanding. My husband looks so happy when they come home from those outings. He's planning to get the boys a drum set for Christmas. I'm very glad they've found this common ground. Not so excited about the drum set, but I'll live with it. Well, this started out being about articulation, but it's all related. Music therapy, for kids and grown-ups.

A friend of mine moved from here to Connecticut for the autism services.  She had refused to send her daughter to our district and homeschooled her.

In CT,. her daughter has a full time aide trained in ABA, an IPad with ProLoQuo2Go on it, and is in inclusion 12 hours a week.  I may have to stop reading her emails!!

I am trying to be mature about this but I feel jealous!