Growing

Well, you continue to do extremely well in school much to my surprise. It was decided today not to remove you from the general education class, as long as you continue to hold it together, since behaviorally you do much better around your peers. You will still receive the extra hour of resource at the end of the day and hopefully behaviors will be better there since you will only be there once now.

Last weekend we saw Toy Story on Ice with Anna, Ellie, and Gavin and you did extremely well. Transitions seem to be sooo much easier then they used to be and new places or situations are better also. You don't seem to have the apprehension you used to and follow the lead of those around you. If other children are present then you really do imitate their actions and want to interact.

The biggest downfall we have now is your vocalizations. Since you are still not able to communicate all of your need, wants, comments, or frustrations, you are still using a lot of noises. When you are excited these noises get louder and are inappropriate for the situation and draw more attention. Your home team is working hard on decreasing these, or at least the volume of them, and when with me - we just don't allow them.

I do still see the emotional side to you. I think it will be years to work through your past and given that typically therapy would not help since you can't talk its going to be even longer. You have adjusted to new routines and people extremely well but I see a look in your eyes on occasion that lets me know its not all okay. I also think when you have that deer in a headlights look it is because you emotionally just lock up. If you feel that you are going to be in trouble or if you are unsure of how to handle the situation you decide to just shut down. This does lead to a great deal of frustration for me because it is skills I know you can do so I expect you to do it. It is hard for me to step back and accept that because of your past you sometimes need a little more space and a little more guidance.

Exciting news, you got an iPad on Sunday. We have put the "Tap To Talk" program on it and you are now using this as your communication device. The PEC's were just too behavioral as you hated giving the right picture, even though you knew the right picture so this way you do not have to hand anything over and you really can't play with the pictures. Of course car and candy you learned very fast but we are also working on "I need help" and "I'm all done." I would love to start using this in school also in about two weeks once you are a little more consistent and I think the general education teacher would be completely on board!

So, all is good right now. I love it when things get a little easier with each developmental milestone you go through. School should have the Behavior Plan for you by next week which is the next step and then hopefully everyone will be on the same page.

Love you baby