The last week (or so).....

I am finally taking some time to sit at the computer and write this post. So much has been happening these last couple of weeks, it's just hard to keep it all straight. And then, to top it all off, other things have been added on that makes it impossible to spend the time sitting at the computer to tell the stories. But more is happening so, I'm going to share the existing stories now.

First let's start with last Friday. The kids were off from school due to a state-wide education conference and we learned that the characters from the PBS Kids show "Super Why" were going to be paying a visit to meet their fans at our local Whole Foods Market. This is a current favorite around here so I planned to take them to the store. Then life happened. I threw out my back. On Thursday, while reaching into the dryer to pull out my favorite pair of jeans, I felt it just SNAP!!!!!! I dealt with it for the rest of the day, resting it whenever possible and REALLY bribing Simon into the car when it was time to get Daniel and his friend from school, but by Thursday night, I was in A LOT of pain. When I woke up in the morning (slept well, thanks to a very good pain-reliever), Kevin asked if he needed to stay home (he saw how I couldn't move the night before. I was feeling better so I was slow to answer him, but then as I tried to stand up, he didn't even wait for the answer. He just put on a pair of comfortable pants and stayed to help me.

By the afternoon, I was feeling better, and we figured we could find a cart for me to lean on, so we put the kids in the car and headed over to the market. We still hadn't told them of our plans in case we decided not to go through with it and when we got there, we noticed there was a line (but not a very long one). So we (well, Kevin) got the kids out of the car with the leashes on, and we took our place in line. We looked in the window and who did we see?? PRINCESS PRESTO!!!! This is probably Rachel's favorite character from the show (well, of the heroes that is). We wait on line and despite a few attempts to jump ahead several spots, they did quite well. And they got to meet the Princess.



Then we took advantage and did a bit of shopping. We aren't at Whole Foods very often, even though we like many things that we can only find in that store. It's not particularly convenient and it is a little pricey (all right, you get what you pay for, but still it's not always in the budget). After we finish the shopping, the meet-n-greet character has changed and SUPER WHY is meeting with his fans. So, after making our purchase, we got on line and waited again. This time things didn't go quite as smoothy. Rachel and Simon were getting tired and just wanted to get in the store again or leave....one or the other. But eventually, it was our turn....



When it was done my back was hurting again, but it was worth it. They were excited and happily went in the car talking about Princess Presto and Super Why!

The other thing that happened this week involves a slight change to our bedtime routine (and for you loyal readers, you KNOW that is a sacred thing in this house). Simon, lately, has been unhappy with our existing routine. He's only wanted ONE book, and he wants to be the one to read it. So, Kevin let him the other night (this video is about 6.5 minutes long, so your choice how much of it you want to watch)....



He did a really good job with it. Some of it was memorization (he knows this book from school) but much of it was reading. But one thing we did notice by doing this is how much he still "stims" -- it's not the repeating stims that he used to do....we've always seen the flapping but now we're seeing the smacking of the lips and licking his face. It's not a bad thing that we're seeing it, but it's amazing how Kevin's decision to record this reading really showed us about our son's progress.....the good and the bad....

So, I've now filled you in about some of the things that have been happening around here. There's still more to tell as things are, as I said earlier, EXPLODING all around me, but that's another story for another time.

Autism and Empathy

We've been noticing something recently. Rachel really loves her brothers, Simon in particular. She has always been sensitive to his feelings and they have always demonstrated what I call a "twin bond" -- they only have to glance at each other and they seem to have a full detailed conversation. We have never been able to scold Simon in front of her, not because of the noise, but because it meant her brother was in trouble. I had thought that part of that was the unexpected nature of this (Simon getting scolded is outside of her control), but for the last few weeks, we're starting to see that may not be the case, at least not in full.

A new favorite television show is "Super Why". We watch it on PBS Kids' Sprout as well as on our local public television station. She seems to be obsessed with the episode focusing on "Jack and the Beanstalk" because the "problem" they are trying to solve is resolving the main character's little sister's temper tantrum. "Joy" is crying. Screaming. She's having a "HUMONGOUS tantrum". Rachel has been walking around asking, "What's the matter, Joy?" or suggesting offering a bottle to Joy to make her feel better. I've also been receiving notes from her teacher explaining that she has been more emotional in school lately when another student is upset. She also gets upset. She tries to cry, and is often successful.

I know this may seem strange to say, but I don't think of this as a negative development. I think this is evidence that she is trying to determine how to express "Empathy". Dictionary.com defines empathy as "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." I was always concerned that because of her autism diagnosis whether she would ever fully be able to express or experience empathy. But she is proving me wrong lately.

I created and administer a Facebook page (We Care About Someone With Autism). Yesterday, I chose to have a day long topic discussion about autism and empathy. The theory that an individual with autism cannot experience empathy was one of the first myths that I was exposed to when we first began our journey into the autism world. We are obviously seeing that is not the case, at least in Rachel. I was wondering what others had to say on the subject. I was pleasantly surprised to see and learn that others often see the same behaviors. The biggest difference is that these children often need to learn how to express it effectively, as this skill is one that is often lacking. I have been addressing this issue by telling Rachel to ask the "sad" person, "Why are you so sad?" I've only been doing this for a few days so it's too soon to see if this will help to resolve the problem that we are currently experiencing. But I wouldn't really call it a problem -- I'd just call it a development.

But Rachel will always feel something special for her twin brother!