Update

These past few weeks have been a mixed bag. I'm beginning to think that's just the way of it really.

On the rough side, Pod's day care provider told us that she hadn't made eye contact or interacted with her all day. She was worried about taking care of a kid who wouldn't even look at her, mentioned 'autism', and basically implied that if things are the same on Tuesday, we were going to have to reassess Pod's place in her day care. That was depressing. In addition to that, Pod hadn't eaten, pretty much at all, the whole time she was there. It's hard to figure out how to proceed with something like that, because we chose to send her to day care for two reasons. Firstly that she'd get the chance to interact with other kids (hopefully helping her social issues), and secondly that I'd get a break from her to work on stuff that I need to work on. As you might imagine, this was upsetting on a number of levels, and it ramped up my worry levels quite a lot. What about her chance to learn from other kids? To be incentivised to communicate? But if she's not eating and not making eye contact, that's distress, right?

The next day was the polar opposite. I took her to the library for the story time and she wouldn't leave my person. Not just my side, but my person. She insisted on sitting on me and wouldn't stand up at all. At one point, she picked up the carrier, handed it to me, and signed 'all done'. I told her 'no', that we were staying for the story and that it wasn't finished yet. She looked like she was going to have a meltdown but held it together really well. Looking around that room with kids all dancing and exploring and just being basically all things 'Italy', I felt a little sad that my daughter was so 'Holland' by comparison. She'd been signing quite a bit and I was so pleased and proud of her, it had made me feel like the road was a little less arduous - you know, until I saw the other kids. However, when all but three children had left, she began to come out of her shell, and then we had a major breakthrough.

Pod played with those other children in an interactive way for the very first time. Usually when she's around other children, she does what she's doing and basically ignores them. If they interact with her, it's almost like she sees them as extraneous as opposed to being friends to play with. This time though, she played with them. Still not initiating, but she played all the same. I'll take it.

On the Friday we went to the Play and Grow group, a kind of activity group for kids in the Infants and Toddlers Program that Pod is enrolled in. Looking around the room it was a set of different feelings that I felt looking at those kids. I saw parents struggling with the same things as us, but hiding it under a veneer of hope and positivity - like us.

And that's the hardest part.

When they're very small, it's not so obvious that they're different, but as they get older, the lack of verbal skills, the avoidance of play, the flapping, the high pitched screeches of excitement that make other children look at them funny, and meltdowns, well that all begins to show. That's when the looks start and the insensitive questions, and EVERYONE knows better than you just what's up with your kid.

You work your ass off, you learn sign, you laminate picture communication cards, make schedule after schedule, do activity after activity, take them to places that you think will be good for their development. You do all of that,  and then any improvement because of the hard work you put in is seen as 'oh, they're not that bad off really' as opposed to something that your family *fought* for, that you worked for every day.

The play was the most spectacular win for us this week, but more significant has been Pod's increasing use of sign. She's actually beginning to communicate what she wants to us, and it's been amazing.

So far, she wants to play with the 'Knock Knock Box' ALL the time. Well, mostly because she wants to figure out how to blow up a balloon and blow bubbles. She wants to go outside, ALL the time, and thankfully the weather is getting better so we can do that more now. She also made her first schedule for herself tonight - repeatedly telling us she wanted to go to bed (it was far too early, but she was tired from running around dribbling the soccer ball and playing on the playground).

E told us on Thursday that we need to start working on her initiative when it comes to play, and that imitation is a good thing when it comes to setting down the foundations for that in children. So yesterday, I got her to help me clean up, giving her a wet wipe so she could clean the coffee table while I wiped down the other surfaces. Then we each took our vacuum cleaners and did the floors. She likes mimicking things, so I'm hoping the garden we have planned for this year will also help with her initiative. Hopefully it makes for a good learning environment for her.

Activities Round Up and Reaction

These are the suggestions from E and L (our specialists that come and help me learn how to help Pod) so far:

General

* Give a warning before finishing an activity she likes so as to give her fair warning and allow her time to put coping skills into play.

*Label emotions in a very concrete way. For example, when she's upset by something, include "Oh, you're sad/angry/upset." Then reset limits and explore options.

*Look up CSEFEL.vanderbilt.edu as they have great parent articles.

*Continue going to the library story time for social interaction and stimulation.

*Create picture cards in order to let her know what is going to happen before you do it so that she can be ready.

Speech

*Hold objects to mouth/point to mouth so that she can see how your mouth moves when making a sound.

*Continue to work on prompting the word "up" when she wants to get out of the high chair. Look where her eyes are looking and try to get a read on if a tantrum is brewing. Remove her before a tantrum.

*Use the 'Speech Box/Knock knock box' to work on cooperative speech skills.

*Sign when saying key words.


Sensory


* Incorporate daily water play. Start with a small bowl of water, a piece of paper, and a paintbrush. Have Pod dip the brush into the water and let her 'paint' on the paper with the water. Try to progress to dipping fingers in.

* Find other textures to play with: dried rice or beans, Play-Doh.

* Play with fingerpaint.

* Try and get Pod to brush her hair with your help.



This somehow seems less overwhelming when written down like this. I've found a simple "All done" while signing to be a very good way to end an activity. Sometimes Pod even hands me the stuff to help me clean up now. Labelling her emotions has also been good because now I can say "Sad choice" to her when she's doing something that will end badly and she's starting to get it, I think. I go to the library (weather permitting), and just made a picture board for her so that I can try giving her a kind of basic schedule to help avoid meltdowns.

Out of all of the areas to work on, I'm finding the speech the hardest. Probably because it's the area I'm the most stressed out about. But it's also the area that requires the most consistent reinforcement and the adoption of new habits. Things like remembering to sign key words while saying them, and pointing to my mouth to draw attention to the shape of my mouth when speaking are actually kind of difficult to sustain. I know it's just a matter of time before I get it. The Knock Knock box is perhaps the easiest out of all the activities to do.

As someone whose kid doesn't really play in a cooperative way, I love the sensory activities because it's becoming the nearest thing to play for us and I think Pod really enjoys them too.

Yet to do:

*Look up articles on CSEFEL.vanderbilt.edu
*Create sensory boxes with farm animals and dried goods.
* Continue working on the speech stuff.

Own ideas:

* Add two horses to the Knock Knock box with the associated animal sound.
* Create some little shakers and add them to the Knock Knock box. "Shake", "Shake"