My Family's Experience with Autism: "Yes Yes Yes"

Saturday, September 12, 2009

"Yes Yes Yes"

We had an amazing experience today. Well, I should say Rachel did something amazing today.....

Today was the day of the CSAAC picnic. We had a session this morning so we arrived late, but the kids were all happy when they saw what was there -- there was a plastic pool and a moon bounce. Daniel went straight for the moon bounce and we didn't have to worry about him much the rest of the time we were there. Rachel squealed with excitement when she saw the pool. Simon followed his sister (but didn't have the same level of excitement).

You have to understand, it was only about 60 degrees outside, which is a little cold for 2 year olds to be playing in this small pool. We went to the picnic with the kids dressed in jeans and t-shirts. By the time I got to the pool, Rachel was already SITTING in the water and Simon was pulling at me to let him in the water. Before long, he had joined Rachel. After about 15 minutes, I decided enough was enough and pulled them (kicking and screaming) out of the pool and got them out of their wet jeans and let them run around the picnic in their t-shirts and diapers (because I was stupid and didn't bring a change of clothes) and made it clear that they weren't to go into the pool again (and if you think that worked, you haven't been reading my blog). We brought them over to the moon bounce and forced them to go in and play, thinking that they would get absorbed in there and would forget about the pool. For Simon, success. Rachel, well, just read on.....

Rachel noticed there was a "ladder" in the moon bounce which needed to be explored. She struggled many times to climb it and was finally successful. She noticed it was attached to a slide, which made her very happy. But then she saw the pool again and went running full speed. Fortunately, her dad saw this and went after her. I'm not sure if she actually managed to get into the pool (again [note that in between this incident and initially leaving the pool she had snuck into that pool at least 3 times]) but he looked her in the eye and told her "No Pool!!!!!". She, of course, threw a tantrum. But this wasn't an ordinary tantrum. She was actually shouting "YES YES YES!!!!!". So, even though her behavior was unacceptable, it was appropriate and she was expressing herself EFFECTIVELY!!!!!

GO COMMUNICATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to observe this as I was keeping an eye on Simon. But we are definitely seeing some real progress in Rachel when it comes to her ability to communicate and socialize and this is just the latest example. This is UNBELIEVABLE news to me!!!!! This is just a follow-up to the amazing month of August (as far as Rachel is concerned). The changes in her since August 1 is just simply amazing!!!!!!

The only sad part is that her brother isn't currently making the same progress. But we know that these changes happen in spurts and right now it's just Rachel's turn.

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A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)