My Family's Experience with Autism: My Head Is Spinning

Friday, February 17, 2012

My Head Is Spinning

Why does it have to be February? Why can't we just go from January to March? It always happens in February. For the last 3 years, my life has been turned upside down during this short month.

That is true for this week, in particular. This week has shown itself to be a bit much. Things keep happening and are getting added to the mix. And today is no exception.

You see, we have Ballerina's placement meeting coming up and I'm getting the feeling it is NOT going to go the way I want. I received an email from Ballerina's teacher earlier today that told me her behavior is getting worse rather than improving. We have an appointment with the developmental pediatrician at Children's Hospital on Tuesday (after potty training weekend with Music Man). I'm going to print out a copy of this note and bring it with me so we can work on addressing some of the specific issues the teacher describes.

But the representative from our school cluster who will make a recommendation of whether or not Ballerina will do well at the Early Learning Center at our home school will be coming to observe her in just 7 days. If these behaviors show themselves during that visit, I strongly suspect that the recommendation won't favor her placement there. I know.....maybe that means that she would be better off in the second setting, but I truly don't believe that is the case. She won't have any NT peer models to emulate. I don't think the class will challenge her. To put it another way, I didn't get that "warm fuzzy feeling" of knowing it's the right place for her like I did when I visited CAPP (her current school) or the Early Learning Center. I really can't explain it very well......it's an instinct. But I have to be prepared to argue that point to the committee. I don't think they are going to take Mom saying, "I just feel it's right for her" if the cluster rep says "No".

So, on top of everything else, I have to work out a strategy to convince a room full of educators that I know where my daughter belongs for next year. I have to be prepared to make my case so that they are willing to consider what I have to say. It may not be necessary (hopefully I will know on 2/24 after the cluster rep leaves) and the recommendation will be positive, in which case, it's pretty much a "done deal".

Why does it have to be February????????

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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)