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I forgot to mention that as of Friday, Tyler is officially done with the study. Can you believe that 18 months have gone by? Steve took him in to his final assessment/evaluation on Friday. We soon should have a follow up report soon which I'll be happy to share. Steve was a bit frustrated in the evaluation cause Tyler was very frustrated, almost to the point of banging his head which he hasn't done in many months. Since each child with autism is different and responds differently it's hard for the evaluator to know how to interact with each child so Tyler in Steve's words was faililng all the tests and Steve knew he could do them so Steve finally stepped in and asked if he could try and things went better after that. I guess the staff had a little party for him at the end since Tyler was the first kid enrolled in the study, he's obviously the first to complete it. What's funny is I was at the Judson Center yesterday for our intake appt to get Tyler enrolled in splash camp and they had a brochure on that study. I wish I could write on there "life altering" cause I just feel Tyler benefited so much from it all and no report or brochure can reflect just how much.
Tyler is doing really well at feeding himself.. even with a spoon. You still have to help him get his fork to stab the food once in a while and if he's not super interested in the food you m ay need to give him a few bites..why work for brussel sprouts right!, but compared to a few months ago, he's come a long ways.
For the first time ever.. I was able to play with both boys in the front yard with just me, i.e. one parent. I wanted to throw a little party. We played in the backyard and then things were going well enough I thought we could try the front yard. Now granted I had Tyler's books out there for him so he wasn't doing typically outdoor activities but hey we were all outside. Ben and I played with the chalk, Tyler wasn't too interested in that. so I'd take turns reading with Tyler and playing with Ben. The great thing is when Iw as with Ben for any extended period of time, Ty would come over to read his books with me. It's just amazing to me how much he wants to interact with adults now compared to before the study (see the study was amazing!!!) Anyway I gave them a 5 minute warning (still struggling with the fact that Ben naps but Tyler doesn't, Ty is near dead by 7:15 and Ben is ready to party til 8:30 or 9:00. So apparently I should have given them a 5 minute warning 5 mins prior and then went in when I actually gave them the 5 min warning cause suddenly everyone broke down. Tyler wanted to ride the bike but isn't big enough yet to really ride it and then I passed a bug (Ben had just spend 15 mins playing with ants) so i got really excited and said Ben come here, look at this bug, hurry. He melts down.. "I CAN"T".. standing at teh end of the driveway screaming. I'm like ok, time to go in. i start to take care of the bike and Tyler sees me go in the garage so he goes to the garage door, I still had other things to gather by the front door (Tyler's books, etc.) so I said Tyler, not that door, we have to go in the front door (the garage is not safe for him to be there unsupervised) so as I walk him out of the garage he starts melting down (oh goodie), so I gather up Tyler and the books.. Ben is still at the end of the driveway refusing to move and screaming I can't. So I'm like hmmmmmm I can't carry them both inside and the books, etc.... so I felt pretty confident in the fact that since Ben was refusing to move, he was the safest one to leave outside alone for a minute while I took Tyler rand the other stuff in. So I quickly drop off tyler and books and then the darn dog shoots out the door (I had walked him earlier so he hadn't been neglected), darn it, so I'm screaming at the dog to get inside, keep Tyler inside, he's still crying and then poor ben is still at the end for the driveway screaming. I can't imagine what would have happened if a neighbor saw or a cop had driven by... 3 year old, left outside alone, 3 feet from the road, screaming while mother is nowhere to be found. Honestly.. I didn't have much of a choice, the kid refused to move. So we worked it all out and get everyone in safely and calmed down so we could get ready for bed. shewww.. but all that aside.. it was one of our best nights alone. Steve was at the parent support group which I can rarely go to now since Tyler doesn't nap so it was just me and the boys and everything went great, from dinner, to the swings, slides, ants, and then the front yard play. I can't begin to tell you how liberating it was to be in the front yard with both boys and for the most part felt pretty confident and managed to keep everyone safe... if I had only ended play time 5 mins earlier. PS that photo of Ty was taken about 5 mins after we came inside so obviously he wasn't upset for too long.
So anyway I feel good that we have plans for Tyler for August now. My guardian angel Amy is one of the organizers for the camp and she sent me some very reassuring words today, she's truly a godsend! You know.. we trust very few people to be alone and care for Tyler as there is a lot that is involved so leaving him to complete strangers....well even if it's for his own good, that's just plain hard. Here's a little bit of what Amy had to say:
Remember it's day CAMP - not school, not 'treatment'...so our #1 goal is just for Ty to have FUN, be safe and interact w/his peers. There will be music, games, outdoor/indoor activities, and water play. It's a nice, safe, age-appropriate site.
We have TONS of staff and they all can not wait to fall in love with your little guy...I'm putting Owen's home VB program aide, Kathlene, in Tyler's 8:30 group and she is great with sign language...a dual major in SpecEd/SLP and wonderful.
The Team Lead, Stephanie, is bright and energetic and has great ideas about incorporating literacy and technology into her group activities...she is pursuing her Masters in ASD certification.
Whatever you put in his intake file w/Judson "Parent Input" will be reviewed by camp staff in advance.Be assured that I'll be on site there as much as I can those three weeks...and our full time Camp Director, Lauren, is outstanding! She's pursuing her PhD in behavioral psychology and will be there to assist w/positive behavior supports.
GFCFSF will be honored - I am proposing that we provide all the snacks and that they are diet safe...there are several kiddos on diets coming and I'd rather be totally safe. Same with materials - so infractions will just be a non-issue.
Send me a list of what Ty likes (snacks, fruits etc.) and I'll try to incorporate into the menus. I know he's not a good eater. We are not doing a full 'lunch time' since they are only there for 3 hours - so we'll have ex: pretzels and apples or veggie chips and grapes or crackers and bananas or popcorn and watermelon and probably just water to drink to avoid the juice/milk variables and having lots of sippy cups lying around. Welcome your thoughts on that.
You'll want to apply his sunscreen (whatever kind you use) before you leave him in the morning, and it should be good until you pick him up...we will be in and out
Weekly Themes are:
"Here We Go" - Transportation, Trucks, Cars, Boats, Planes, Trains, Buses, Bikes
"Jamboree" - Farmyard, Barn Animals, Vegetables, Hay & Horses, Square Dancing, Rodeo
"Creepy Crawly" - Bugs, Worms, Lizards, Snakes, Spiders and Slime
