Overheard

"A, get that tree out of your mouth!"

A Good Link

We're still looking for our the cure to our cough too :)

http://autism-daddy.blogspot.ca/2012/03/letter-to-parents-of-low-functioning.html

Day 3 - Notices

So my darling slept nearly 12 hours last night, ahhh...back to school weariness, I love it!  Sleeping is always a bit of an issue here as A has trouble getting to sleep.  Once she's down, she's good though.

Even though A has an IEP and does her own thing in class, we get all the regular class paperwork and notices home.  And this kind of stuff makes me a little sad:

Ahhh, if only we could fill this out together.  That seems like a long, long way off.  If it ever happens.  BUT, but, but, she likes school.  She loves being there, loves her CEA...that's half the battle, right?

Day Two - Scratching

So A self-injures, I guess you could call it.  She doesn't speak, and her communication is limited to proximity, some pointing and yes/no buttons, which are working fairly well.  She scratches herself, alot.  It started when she was about 5 and got sick one December.  From what I've read, and I believe it holds true for A, some autistic people cannot tell what hurts, they just know they feel bad.  She started scratching her hands when she felt ill, and over the years, it has progressed from there.  Now, it seems to be habitual.  She scratches when she's happy, sad, excited, etc.  It's not constant, but pretty regular.  Strangers have started to ask me if she fell down or had an accident.  Most times I don't really answer, just give a half-smile and shrug my shoulders.  I'm not going to stop and explain her idiosyncracies.  Others, I'll just say, "she scratches herself."  It's getting more obvious that she's a little different, but that's a whole other post.

It's taken me awhile to figure out that because A sees any attention as good attention - which, let me tell you, can be (WARNING: expletives ahead!) SO fucking frustrating - when we grab her hands to stop her scratching, she may actually see it as positive reinforcement.  Hey, I scratch, they come sit by me and hold my hands - score!  So I've been trying to stop, and ignore her when she goes nuts.  It's hard.  It's really hard because she goes at her face and hands.  And it's summertime.  Ugh.  She is pretty good about sitting on her hands and stopping herself...sometimes.

Any suggestions, comments?  What do you think?

Day One-ish

So in my attempt to blog a school year in our (and my daughters) life, I got off to a late start.  Oops.  We actually had our first full day of Grade 4 today, half-day yesterday.  Needless to say, A is really quite tired today and was in a lump on her beanbag chair when I came to get her at school.  Happy but oh so tired.  To top if off, her part-time BI (behaviour interventionista?!) and someone who has been working with A since she was 2, is over right now, working with her.  OK, sorta playing, reading, hanging out, BUT, it's much better than A sitting on the couch, staring off into space.  I love her, but it's hard to watch.

School is good.  We so far, haven't had the battles I've heard and read about.  We have a wonderful principal who bends over backward for A, and a great CEA (teachers aide) who (yay!) will be with A until she finishes elementary school.  A likes school, most days, and loves to be around the other kids.  I love, love, love the free time and ability to do what I like when the kids are in school.  The break from my stinkerbell A is very nice too :)