Woah, long time since I posted here! James is now 5 and has been at school for 6 months. He is in a special needs unit with about 10 other SN kids (mix of Autism, Downs and other neurological disorders) and is pretty happy there. He continues to do ABA and does it at school as well (we pay for a therapist to do that). He uses PECS fairly readily for simple requests and we are in the process of transitioning him to an ipod touch with Proloquo2go. He uses an iPad pretty good now after not knowing what it really was for previously, here is a recent example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_fZNZDITCY

The Gym

October since the last blog?!
Anyways..have been taking James to the Trust organised Gym. When we first started he was very resistant to doing the activities, he would lie down and not cooperate, a few times I left halfway through with him as it just was not productive. However now he actually looks forward to going. Some things observed by me today that I feel worthy of a note:

1. At the start we play a game of 'tails' which is where the kids tuck a sheet of material in their pants and chase each other around trying to grab them. James has never really been part of this, being in his own world, but today was watching the kids and parents running, and really enjoying that and running about too while watching them.

2. One of the other little boys had a full on meltdown, James turned to look at this twice. Thats awareness of another, at some level.

3. He kept grabbing others drinks, I told him no, then got his for him, later he went to grab anothers and I grabbed his hand at the last minute and said No, and he reeled back and hit himself in the head deliberately. I think he was frustrated and confused..essentially something like 'theres drink why can't I have it, and why is it OK sometimes and not others'? So I got his drink and showed him which one was his and the difference, and this time I left his drink out and available by the other one he was interested in so when he looked to that he could see his.

4. One of the gym people asked him if he wanted to go on the wedge thing (kids jump on it and fall forward) and he shook his head to say no. However I lifted him up onto it. Discussed it later and Michelle said probably best we honour his communication so it would have been better if we didn't do it.

5. At the end of the session when it was just playing with balls free for all, the two gym people were trying to get him to catch and throw a ball. He was not really looking at them but he did take the ball to them a few times, and he did catch the ball once, possibly by accident! It is nice to see him almost try and be part of this, or at least be able to participate a bit.

6. We have been doing the train that he has refused to be part of in the past, and he even went and sat down with the others when they sat down (for about 4 seconds).

So it was a good day, and I find he is coming to grips more and more what is expected of him, and will do it. I give him loads of verbal encouragement and feedback.

A wee bit of an update on my boy James for those interested. James is now 3yrs 10 months and has been doing ABA for uh six months or so. He is doing really well at the tasks he is set by his ABA teachers. He can do things like identify an object such as a car from a photo, and understand different kinds of cars, which is good as understanding categories is a big thing. He can complete a task that involves dissasembling an object then re-assembling the object in a specific order as shown by his teacher.

He has no functional language anymore but makes requests by taking our hand and leading us to things. He has started using PECS which is a system where you show a picture of something in lieue of the ability to speak. He needs to be prompted to use this though, I think half his problem with this is he's just so chilled out. He's referred to as a 'passive' subtype of Autism.
The strongest change for me since the ABA has started has been his eye contact. He now looks in my eyes extensively for long periods, more than a normal kid would in fact. The other day we were both looking in the freezer (I think he was hoping for ice-cream), I turned to him and he turned and looked at my eyes then back at the freezer. Doesn't sound like much but I believe thats the first 'joint attention' I've seen from him.

And he now actively seeks me out for a game as such. The game involves basically him hugging me extremely tightly face to face, and me tickling him, and trying to nibble his ears while he fends me off with great enthusiasm, it ends up with a lot of wrestling and him using hands, elbows, and laughing his head off. But he'll intersperse that with going off and zonign out all rainman like and lining up objects or 'playing' with something with no sign that there's an outside world, as in I can't break in - literally I can put my face in between the object and him and his focus is on the object behind my head; it doesn't waver - just like he used to be. Then later he'll come back to me grinning and jump on me for another round of tickle games. And sometimes I'll hear him in his room, he might have been in there an hour and supposed to be going to sleep and he will just be giggling and giggling loudly like something is the funniest thing in the world, and I go in there and there he is lying in his bed looking at his hand. Gawd knows whats going on in that head but at least he's happy!

I took my boy to the gym they have for the local ASD group and it was kinda good and kinda discouraging, and quite hard work. The format is they organise a sequence of things for the kids to do as a group in order, e.g. walk up a ladder, turn around and fall backward onto a landing cushion thing, wlak along a beam swing on a rope, forward rolls down a board etc. So it teaches them to listen and follow instructions and attentiveness and physical components. The kids all there do it at a canter and can all talk, I'd be hard pressed to pick them as ASD kids except one or two. James of course can't talk or follow instructions..the discouraging thing I feel is he's in a group of Autistic kids and within that he's the 'worst', which is how it was in the course we went on.
But I've got to remember that the other kids are older and have done some years of ABA, as one Mum told me her son couldn't talk either at James age.

At home I saw him look at and grin at two other kids (Andrew and Chris) that were trying to enagage with him and bouncing a ball off his head on the trampoline. Strange as it may sound I have never seen him even give the slightest awareness that another child is anything more significant then a fence post that needs to be walked around before, let alone at them.

Silly song

I was pushing James on the swing today at the park, and made up a song:

"James, James, James
James, James, James
He likes to eat Marmite - and peanut butter too.
He likes to eat lollies..and chippies as well, he likes to eat lots of food, and then he makes a smell"

Etc

And I sang about all the different foods he likes to eat, and the different things he had done that day and people he'd seen (been to Kindy, had homework with Vanessa and Lisette).

He was grinning broadly, and really seemed to be listening whereas if I talk to him he doesn't appear to pay attention.
:-)

Different boy?

James has been sick this week with a virus with an on and off temperature so has been tired and sleeping lots including during the day. On Sat he had had a sleep during the day so we decided to go into town about 7:30pm for an adventure on Oriental parade seeing as the weather was so nice. This is something we've never done before, taken James out at night, broken the routine. We had a ball, ran up and down the parade, ran up and down the beach, went in the water a bit (well James did) went on the playground at Freyberg and down the big bumpy slide. Then on the way home we got burgers from burger fuel, I stayed in the car with James, but James was keen as to get out so I took him into the shop where Michelle was and he ran about a bit but happily sat on the stool watching TV (unusual for him).

Now today I took James swimming in the morning and we had a good time as usual.
And this avo it seems like I have a somewhat different boy (Michelle noticed changes in his demeanour since Friday); progressively over the last year James has got more and more passive and seemingly disinterested in the world, often showing little interest in things children are normally interested in and staring off into the distance. Today he has done the following uncharacteristic things:

- On the way back from the pool he was opening the car door, and then was winding the window down.
- Been making lots of sounds (kind of like groaning but not unhappy if that makes sense..).
- Watched a bit of TV (never normally looks at it).
- When we went to the cafe was lying down on the footpath and same on the way back and didn't want to be carried either.
- Made a mess in the office, investigating things and pulling things out.
- Come running over and flopped on me and we've had tickles where I have made him laugh instead of him just pulling away.
- Been unco-operative during his ABA and pretty much refused to do any.
- Been pinching and running about and the house and almost..naughty?
- Been smiling lots.
- Ate a rissole for tea straight off and his brocolli.
- I offered him carrots, he looked at me and tried some, and then ate some!
- He put a carrot in my mouth (last time he would have put food in my mouth would be 18 months ago).

Great :)

M was away for the weekend. I did two sessions with James on Sat but he was a horror, and refused any lollies in the end, even M&Ms and was stimming big time and even jumped up and wrought arm-swinging havoc upon his stacked clothes!

So I didn't do any on Sunday as he was even more tired. That aside he kept coming and getting my hand all weekend and taking me off for food or to get something or even just to play- next to him. He can't play with me as..well he just can't do that yet. But the taking of the hand was great. We did lots went to a few parks, went and did his biking, went to the pool.
Michelle did some sessions Monday and I did a little bit while he was in the bath yesterday. I did quite a lot today after work.
Did a lot of thinking about the reinforcers as I think that was the problem on Sat in large, so now adding in different sorts of fun activities. And marshmallows! His current favourite.