080508 Transition Week

So we are wrapping up a lot of things this week to transition into the next segment of the study. Tyler had an evaluation at U of M today and I have a Parent Interview scheduled for tomorrow. The evaluation today went ok. When we had agreed to have Tyler help out with the ADOS-T training, I had some concerns about the timing. The evaluations aren't always fun for him and I was afraid with his real evaluation coming up that the training evaluation appt may have an affect on his behavior and unfortunately I did see a little of that today. I actually had trouble just getting him to leave the area of the car. I had intended to walk with him from the parking structure to the building by holding his hand but he wasn't having any part of that. I tried to pick him up and give him a toy to hold on to but that didn't work either. My saving grace was the stroller, he didn't seem to mind going in the stroller, thank goodness.

He never quite seems himself at the evaluations. part of the reason is that he has to sit in a chair at a table for a large portion of the evaluation and sitting still isn't so easy for him. He also has a bit of a runny nose and is obsessed with putting his finger in his nose, I think eh just figured it all out so that was kind of distracting him today too. There are things I know he can do and does at home but he does not demonstrate in the evaluation room. carrie had mentioned there is usually a 2 month time lag for skills to generalilze into other surroundings. During our 10 minute play time (has to play with the same toys each time), he did however demonstrate his interest in pretend play by playing with the farm animals. It's the first time he did this with those toys during the play sample. Usually he plays iwth the cars and the shape sorters so I was really happy about that. He also said yes a few times and that was also great. Diaper change prior to departure was a struggle. Since it was a stinker, I had to recruit helpers to help me get through it w/o making a huge mess.

At home the boys are doing great. Ben is super excited because he now has a pillow in his bed! Steve had a golf outing last night so the boys and I played "jungle" which is basically anything we hide in like under the blankets or in a thomas tent, etc. Ben calls it all a jungle. So after bath last night we played jungle under teh blanket. It's a great way to get both boys engaged in the same activity. Ben loves the jungle and Tyler loves animal sounds and signs so they both have a great time. We also worked on "joint" reading. Tyler isn't at the stage where he can sit still while you actually read an entire book and they aren't always patient in waiting for me to finish reading to the other child so I had Ben find certain items in his book and then I labelled things for Tyler. Still working to get Ben to label items for Tyler. This will be a great way for them to interact together!

Which reminds me. I had mentioned to Carrie about my concerns betweent he relationship between Ben and Tyler and how I wish that they'd play together more and ways we work (but not force) to show them that eachother can be fun. She said that siblings are oftent he best therapists! Many times siblings learn and enjoy therapy time with their brothers/sisters with autism. She said give been another year and he'll be ready to work with and enjoy his brother a little more. There are also Sib Shops offerred at the Judson Center. We'll likely enroll ben in these when he gets more school aged to help him cope with being the sibling to a kid with autism.

On to this weekend, Grandma is coming, yeah! We haven't seen grandma in a month and are all looking forward to her visit. we are hoping to take the boys to a petting zoo. Wish us luck :)