Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

An Artist among Us



B. discovered his medium yesterday...he likes to work in watercolors. Over the past couple years I've tried getting him to paint every once in a while, to no avail. But yesterday he loved it.

He also said "paint" and, I think, "painting" several times. And when I tried to put things away as it started to rain, he said a very clear "NO!"

I'm hoping the paints really are truly non-toxic, because most of the time he had one brush in his mouth, and he drank part of a cup of the painting water.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

ASA Picnic

I managed to calm down after the doctor's appointment, largely due to a picnic we attended on Saturday. It was held by our local branch of the ASA, and it was encouraging, relaxing (as much as taking our 3 boys to a big park can be), and just such a relief to be with families who understand.

There was a ton of food set up in one pavilion, but not many people sitting down at any given time. Most of the conversations took place quickly, as we passed each other on the playgrounds or swings, or while juggling plates and children.

One thing I noticed was that the parents of teenagers got to sit down and eat a regular meal. The parents of kids under ten or so were doing lots of running, chasing and generally following kids around.

Once the twins had worn themselves out I had some actual conversations with other parents, and felt validated for sticking with my approach of some ABA and a lot of intensive playing, singing, jumping and so on, in a natural enviromnent. One mom kept telling me "Buy them a computer!" because her son has taught himself to read and do all sorts of other things on the computer. He was the cutest little five year old, walking around reading every sign he could find.

I finally figured out what G. means when he points to his chin and says, "Boo". He saw a lady with a plastic spoon, and started following her around saying "Boo!" and "Peesh!" (please), until she went and got him his own spoon. He has a thing he does where he bounces a spoon up and down, and says "one, two, fwee, foe". I'm sure it's from a movie.

Now if I could just figure out:

"Fwee, fwee...oooooooooo"
"Care-a bear-a" (it's not care bears, because he doesn't know them)
and about twenty other things that he says all day long, I'd have some peace of mind. I feel as if I live with someone who constantly speaks to me in a foreign language, and I do mean constantly.

As usual, we only managed to take pictures after everyone was exhausted.


Monday, May 7, 2007

PHEW!

I've found a new way to feel good about autism: spend a weekend thinking your son has not only autism, but also some weird myelin-depleting condition. Just plain autism sounds great to me now.

The doctor finally called and said, "Oh we see hypomyelination in lots of our kids [meaning patients with autism]. We don't refer them to neurologists, because there's nothing you can do". So whatever it is (she didn't explain it, and I was too relieved to formulate questions), it's not getting worse, and according to the doctor, could actually improve as he starts to use more parts of his brain. That doesn't sound very medical, but she said something along those lines.

Yikes, what a crazy situation. If only that staff member could have kept quiet! I'm sure she's in some kind of trouble now.

I feel as if my brain has turned to mush. My husband kept asking if I'd asked her this or that (for example, does B. have the same condition). I don't think I asked anything once I realized it wasn't anything progressive. I was thinking. "Yippee!" and wanting to get off the phone. She also told me that his bloodwork is normal, which was good to hear.

So now I'll spend a lovely afternoon enjoying my merely-autistic twins and their merely-articulation-challenged big brother. Ahhhhhh......