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JUL 22, 2025

<p> Hola Mundo</p>

-1 MIN

autism getting older or have we just learned how to get attention? Our recent experience.

MAR 12, 2011

autism getting older or have we just learned how to get attention? Our recent experience.

Do you remember when you had your babies? And when they were sleepy or cranky or colicky you would go through the list of things-to-do in your head to make them stop crying? Check the diaper. Bust out a booby or a bottle. Wrap them up like a little burrito and rock them back into blissful slumber. This was my checklist. We used to swaddle up those babies so tight. They would thrash and yell until eventually they would tired themselves out. Eventually they just stopped fighting and would lie there on the bed, whimpering or even going immediately silent, and let us swaddle them up tight. It was pretty awesome.<br /> <br /> There's a "hugging" machine that people with autism can use to help calm their sensory system. I believe it was Temple Grandin who invented the machine. It gently but tightly squeeeeezes the body and helps to "relax" the nervous system. I relate to it like this: I used to have braces when I was a teenager. Always after they were tightened they throbbed for days and days. And sometimes I would bite down as hard as I could because the relief from un-clenching felt so much better than the throbbing pain of before. I imagine it might work something like that. Anyway, we were taught to squeeze our little guy into a ball when he went into meltdown mode. We had to do this a lot when he first started his early intervention (a little after 2 yrs old). Boy did he struggle and fight. So obviously I didn't think he liked it and I believed it just didn't work for us.<br /> <br /> But...<br /> <br /> Lately we've been having a lot of meltdowns. I think they've surged in numbers but for what reason I don't really know. Maybe he's going through a growth spurt and his little sensory system is all messed up. So my husband started swaddling him again. I didn't think it would work since he struggled against it so much at other times during meltdowns. But I think it's been working. In fact I became convinced yesterday when I had to swaddle him myself. I expected struggling and screaming but he seemed to realize what I was doing and just went limp, allowing me to wrap him up tight. Then I picked him up like a baby and just gently rocked him. It took him a while still to recompose himself - the whole thing probably lasted about an hour - but all while he was swaddled he was relatively quiet and calm. I could tell he was trying to hard to relax and stop crying. My heart just melted.<br /> <br /> So I guess now that he's older and perhaps more aware of his own tendencies and difficulties, he's realizing the benefit of us doing something like swaddling him. Personally I was shocked to find that it worked at his age (almost 4 yr). But even if it doesn't work every single time he has a rage, I am definitely turning to this method of calming, first thing.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3106788052801319196-8905799761384405068?l=autismathome1.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>

-1 MIN

Wrestling with a 3-yr-old, Entry 5

OCT 28, 2010

Wrestling with a 3-yr-old, Entry 5

<embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.box.net/shared/static/9buam5ybdd.mp3" height="27" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" width="400"></embed><br /> <br /> Topics: Preschool, Special Education, potty training, and wrestling.<br /> <br /> music by: <a href="http://www.jonathancoulton.com/">Jonathan Coulton</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3106788052801319196-2633684121684268069?l=autismathome1.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>

-1 MIN

OCT 28, 2010

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jKq4-8gp_XE/TMiCdj06DOI/AAAAAAAABFY/4Dm6t4NBkSM/s1600/iepspecialedbooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jKq4-8gp_XE/TMiCdj06DOI/AAAAAAAABFY/4Dm6t4NBkSM/s320/iepspecialedbooks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I attended a meeting last week about IEP's and what to expect. There was SO MUCH information we were given. I had already attended a few of them for my ASD Littles but knew that things were only going to get more challenging as they get older, so I was hoping to learn more. Well... I have enough reading material to last me for a very long time, as you can see from the picture.<br /> <br /> I joked to my husband that we learned about policy, laws, laws for those laws and policies, protocol, and various ridiculous acronyms. Alphabet soup! Anyway I have a ton of researching and reading to do. The sad part is that none of this information is truly practical. What we parents want to know about are anecdotal, scenarios, "what do we do if...", and etc. Those are the classes I think we need.<br /> <br /> When we go into those IEP meetings sometimes it's just overwhelming with a handful of "professionals" talking to each other about what to do, as opposed to bringing you into the conversation and talking WITH you. Plus, as a parent of special needs kids you might be overcome emotionally thinking about them and the tough time they're having. There are also the pressures on you to fight for them and get the help they need, but you don't even know WHAT they need... there's just a lot of crap thrown at you all at once.<br /> <br /> I think a parent group would be a good thing for me - a chance to talk to others and share stories, especially the horror stories. Believe it or not, parent groups are hard to come by.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3106788052801319196-6079838569943201534?l=autismathome1.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>

-1 MIN

first day of preschool

SEP 9, 2010

first day of preschool

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gemparenting.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/crayon_004537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://gemparenting.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/crayon_004537.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /> Well we were able to get into a half-day preschool class across town. So yay for that.<br /> <br /> Andrew had his first day on Wednesday and it didn't go so well. This is pretty much what happened....<br /> <br /> He was playing by himself, doing what he wanted to do, then at some point it became time for a group activity and he didn't want to join in. Then at some point after that he threw a huge tantrum and I had to be called to come and pick him up.<br /> <br /> But I have a few questions that I don't think they would have been able to answer because they don't know Andrew like I know Andrew. For example, sometimes with auties they need to complete a task before they start a new one. So I was wondering if maybe he tried to tell the teachers something about whatever he was trying to do, then nobody understood him because he still doesn't speak very good, and at that point the frustration of being "ripped" away from whatever he was doing would have sent him over. I don't really know. It could just be as simple as  he got really angry because he didn't want to do the group activity and had a fit. But <b>I know</b> <b>when </b>he's trying to communicate... I just don't always understand what he's saying. And that's where a huge part of the frustration comes from.<br /> <br /> Today I left him at school for just an hour. His teacher said he did much better today but when I picked him up he was more than eager to leave. I guess it was just the right amount of time. So we're going to do that again tomorrow. And hopefully on Monday we can extend his stay.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3106788052801319196-5587959094038982740?l=autismathome1.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>

-1 MIN