The Elder has been blowing me away ever since we got back from our trip. He has been extremely voluntarily verbal. Something that I think he might have picked up from The Cousins. I told The Brother that The 8yo With The Bendy Glasses was a good influence on The Elder just from our dinner conversation led by him about how green beans are good for you. Yes, he's 8. Pretty amazing huh? Anyhoo, I walked by the bathroom yesterday and The Elder looked at me and said, "I'm washing my hands to help make the candy." (The AP was making a batch of Brazilian Candy before she left for New York for vacation.) Volunteered information? Volunteered hand washing?
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The Younger got a new L-Max (Thanks PaPa) and the house seems to be more peaceful as they both have their own now and there is less fighting over the one. The Elder actually got a new one too, but we haven't been able to separate him from his original one, so we are probably going to exchange the other one for a rechargeable battery for The Younger. What has been amazing is that The Elder has been coaching The Younger in playing his games. He's been pretty good at restraining himself from taking over the game (not perfect but responds well to when I say, "Just help").
"That one goes in the Trash. Go left, left, left, left."
"Honey, he doesn't know his left from his right."
"You're running out of time!! There's just a little bit left....Awwww game's over."
"Tell him he did a great job."
"G'job. Go to the Train Depot now. Train Depot. Train Depot. Train Depot."
"Honey, he can't read yet."
"Honey, where is yours?"
"Um, I just help brother."
WHO IS THIS CHILD??? I think the phrase "Use your words" has finally caught on!
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On the flipside for the subject title reference, I'm considering writing a book. Chapter titles have been floating around in my head for the last 2 days. I figured if I posted my intention, that I would have to actually do it and follow through. So all tips, encouragement, and prodding are welcome.
Wherefore art thou?
I'm dreaming of a...
That's what I did...dream...practically all Christmas. I got a little over-indulgent in the gluten department. I'm not 100% convinced that the "sleep until 10:30am" morning and the "5-hour nap" in the afternoon was a result of the 15 eclairs and cream puffs I had. Because if I were, then that would mean I would never be able to eat them ever again. I think I still had some ill effects from the half of a biscuit I ate at Bojangles, but NOT from the cream puffs. (read: denial)
Christmas Eve was pretty low-key. NOT. The kids were all over the place. The Bouncy balls were the best things ever to keep them active in the house without destroying something. We ate pretty late for each meal so talk about throwing our schedule off. I start to forget whether or not we have fed them. That is bad. very bad. As we speak, The Elder is yelling in the back of the van "I'm Hungry" and I look at the clock and it is 6:30pm! Yikes! They haven't eaten since 11:30 this morning! Well, we are going to stop at the next exit to eat and then I'll finish this post...OK, we are dedicated Starbucks drinkers... We just went around our butt to find one. That calls for a Venti....
Family tradition usually has us opening gifts at midnight after Christmas Eve dinner. However, The 6yo With The No Tooth and The 8yo With The Bendy Glasses have a track record of not making it past 8pm on normal occasions so The Brother (their father) decided 10pm would be the new midnight. Opening presents was fun this year because The Elder understood that that is what you do on Christmas. However I couldn't get his focus off his 2nd present (racing cars) long enough for him to open the rest of his presents. So we kept them for the next day as rewards.
Because I was off in Dreamland most of Christmas day, The Elder lacked some serious structure. By the end of the day, he was not only hyper, but impulsive and aggressive. I was very frustrated because I knew it could have all been prevented had I been conscious, and also frustrated because I really didn't know what to tell The Cousins who were getting the brunt of it, because I don't think they know about his diagnosis so I didn't want to use it as an excuse. So as "discipline" I made The Elder bounce 10 laps around the ping pong table and he wasn't allowed to open a present that night. (We still have like 5 presents for them each to open!) Have you found yourself in this situtaion? And if so I'd like to hear how you handled it...or wish you had handled it.
Now, according to The Lola, Santa got stuck at the North Pole and wasn't able to deliver the presents on Christmas Eve so we didn't wake up to overflowing stockings Christmas morn. The Hub was disappointed because Santa usually brings us chocolate. Coincidently my parents have been abroad for the last month on a mission trip and was exempt from Christmas shopping beforehand. So Santa and The Lola struck up some plan to have her just take us all shopping instead to make up for both of their lack. So we went to the outlet mall today in Myrtle Beach to find some goodies.
Updated at 11:33pm (computer battery died in the car)
We actually went to Barnes and Nobles first because I wanted to get the book about organizing for the right brainers (I can't remember if I blogged about that or not, but The Brother and I were discussing it) and a much needed Starbucks fix. The Hub dropped me and The Lola off so we didn't have to drag the kids in there and she ran off to the bathroom and said she would catch up with me. In my quest to find this book, I came across the psychology shelf and, out of habit, stopped to browse. Driven to Distraction caught my eye, but I felt like the title was a little negative. Well, then I saw its sequel Delivered from Distraction. Much more positive title, so I picked it up instead. The first chapter is called "Read this if you can't read the whole book." Now THAT'S my kind of book! I scanned the other Adult ADHD topics when my mom came up behind me...
"Did you get your book already."My nonchalant, inadvertently ironic comment made me giggle. I knew right then I was going to buy that book!
"Oh, no not yet, I got distracted."
Next Stop: Target. There are some wooden trains in the Hot Spot that The Kiddos went wild over. The Elder calls them "The Trains with No Face." I'll post pictures one day. We bought our
Finally we arrived at the Tanger Outlets. I had a goal to find new patent leather dress shoes. I went to every shoe store. Found the perfect pair (on sale too) at Nine West. However they didn't have my size. We got quite a few things for the kids and a few decoration for the house for next year (The Elder really wanted a star for the treetop next year, as opposed to the angel), but I walked away from our "Santa went AWOL" shopping spree with only the book. I looked at The Sister-In-Law and said, "So this is the mommy syndrome...all that shopping and nothing to show for it...I must be growing up."
We did have a nice trip to see my side of the family. It was great to see and spend time with my nephews. It was humbling to see how grown my niece is now that she is a college girl. It was nice to meet my sister's significant other. It was fulfilling to see The AP enjoy The Lola and The Tita's (my aunt) filipino cooking as it reminded her of Brazilian cuisine. I was thankful that The Brother and The Sister-In-Law joined us today, since I usually don't get to tell them good-bye. It was particularly uplifting to be sad to go. Usually within 24 hours I'm ready to haul tail out of dodge, but this year was different. I felt like it was time to go home sooner than I wanted. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd probably would have convinced myself to stay an extra day.
We left about 3 hours later than we planned but still arrived in TN at a decent time. The Kiddos insisted on watching the Blues Clues Holiday DVD THE ENTIRE 8 HOUR DRIVE HOME. I bought them Polar Express (which they have been whining about all week to see) and we had to stop it 20 minutes into the movie because of The Younger's request. (The Elder was asleep. I imagine he would have argued this had he not been.) But even once he woke up, there was no switching movies. It was cute to hear The Younger sing "We just got a letter" and The Elder sing "Spin, Dreidel, Spin." I, personally, ran the juice out my computer catching up on blogs and then ran the juice out of my cell phone playing Spider Solitaire and Sodoku. Whew, it's nice to be home! I've dedicated myself to go back on the gfcr diet, limiting casein to cheese and only once a week and only outside of the home. I figured I'd feel less guilty if I gave myself some leeway. And....no more cream puffs.
Special Interest
Ten Points to every geek person who can help me resolve this problem that Marla comments on here.
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Yesterday, I pulled this drawing out of The Elder's folder in his backpack and just totally cracked up about it. He has been getting Good marks lately at school which might be why he's been overly hyperactive at home and not wanting to answer too many questions. When he doesn't want to think about how to respond to a question, his answer is "trains."
"What day is today?"
"trains."
"Where are your glasses?"
"trains."
So this was just a funny.
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Yesterday we also went through a toy magazine and I had him point out his favorite toys.
"Well, first it's trains." (to the tune of "duh")
"What's your second favorite?"
"This one." (it was like a hot wheels track)
"What is your favorite toy that doesn't have wheels?"
"Let's go to Arts & Crafts."
(He sounded like The Teacher here)
"This one." (it was a build and paint a train craft!)
"That has wheels. Which is your favorite without wheels?"
"Just the paint."
To paint the train, no doubt.
Tis the season for "making" "cookies"
Ok, so I don't get the Martha Stewart award when it comes to baking, or cooking, or much in the kitchen for that matter unless there are directions on the box for how long I need to microwave it. Well, I can do magic in the crockpot. Of course the only thing I need to do it put the stuff in there and then turn it on. It's not that I CAN'T cook (with guidelines), I just don't enjoy it as much as The Hub, therefore, he and the microwave takes turns providing nutritional means for us. Well, I have 2 cookie stories for you. I've posted all of the pictures in the slideshow on the sidebar.
Sugar Cookies...
Good ole fashion gfcf sugar cookies. One of The Elder's classmate's mom send us some gfcf flours and the recipe to try. First, I never make cookies from scratch and if I do, The Hub is there to supervise and then eventually take over. The Gma was coming over so I thought I was safe. Nope. That made it worse because now I'm feeling the pressure (where do you think The Hub got his baking talent?), but kindly enough I was not chastised for pitching the rolling pin and flattening out the dough with my hands. The Gma brought us a large assortment of cookie cutters to use. I let them pick out which ones they wanted to use, so among the Christmas Trees and ornament, we also had a Christmas Question Mark, a Christmas Hand and Foot, a Christmas "L," and a Christmas "Z." Oh, and the Christmas "X" which was accidentally stretched out to look like a Cross.
Ten points to the first person who correctly identifies the mass to the left of the foot.
These were ALL the sugar cookies we made. All Ten of them. The Elder did well with the sensory portion. He hated touching the butter, but once we started cutting the shapes he had a lot of fun squishing and flattening the dough. Maybe a little too much...I bit into a cookie that had dog hairs in it. ho hum. We now only have enough batter left to make about 3 cookies. It was some yummy cookie dough - and a LOT easier to do it that way.
Gingerbread Cookfins...
In this post, we were preparing for upcoming food art projects. Fast forward 2 weeks later and we still haven't done the banana pops and we finally got around to the Gingerbread Train. Well, attempting to make it. In the interim we lost the box to the cookie mix. This is disastrous to me (see first paragraph). We looked through the recycle box but we cannot find that one. I went online to this particular company's website and lo and behold they can a recipe link on their site! Woo hoo! With much confidence, I start rattling off the instructions from the computer to The Hub. Still being drugged from his procedure (at least that is the excuse I'm using), he questions the instructions but listens to me anyway.
"Really? Two eggs?"
"That's what it says."
"Are you sure we use that much oil?"
I point to the computer screen.
"Ok."
Well, it was not quite the consistency we were hoping for.
Yes, that would be the kids spooning the dough into the cookie mold. The Elder was not too excited about the drippiness of the cookie dough. It was not what he expected (or any of us for that matter). We had to get him to pose for this picture. I think I got 2-3 shots of that ONE scoop he participated in before hanging out on the yoga mat.
Needless to say, the trains didn't turn out. We couldn't even get the cooked matter out of the mold in one piece. They tasted pretty darn good though. Since we were in charge of refreshments at Sunday School this morning, we used the rest of the dough/batter for mini-muffins. They got hard pretty fast, so they were firm like a cookie, but airy like a muffin. We got lots of compliments on them, despite my lame attempt to explain to them exactly what they were. One of my friends said,
"They're Cookfins!"
So there, a new tradition? Try it! All the cool kids are doing it.
Lots of Sugar, No Nap, No Gingerbread House
That sounds like a nightmarish subject title, but I dare say today has been a good day.
This morning I actually woke up without feeling the need to turn over and go back to sleep so I might be over the change-in-meds hump. I even ate 2 breakfasts! Ok, wait, that's not good. But I haven't really been eating well lately and The Hub found some Gluten Free bagels that are sooooo yummy. Unfortunately when I looked at the ingredients, about half way down it lists skim milk powder. Really? In Bagels? Bummer!
My assistant came in early this morning because she requested a meeting with me so I skipped my Mom's Group meeting (also because they were baking cookies at the church for the bake sale and I'm making Gluten-free ones so I have to do it at home). But she forgot what the burning topic was so we just put out a few tiny embers and then just chit chatted (I guess we are a little bit like corporate-sigh). It actually made me feel pretty good that she forgot why we were meeting, based on my recent executive function skills, or lack thereof. That is until I realized that I do pay her to have them. Ha! But anyhoo, she picked up an early call from a mom who reminded me of the gingerbread house making party she was having at her house. Dangalang I totally forgot about that. Good thing The Elder does well with FUN changes in the schedule. It was like a surprise - and believe it or not, he does like surprises. At least the concept of them. (He's not always keen to "we are having a surprise for lunch" and then it is ground beef or green).
So feeling bad that not only did I not RSVP and downright FORGOT about the event, we didn't participate in the decorating but came for the socialization. It also started at 12:30 and I thought we would leave our house around 1 since she was ordering pizza (of the gluten variety of course) and we would have time to eat at home and get some downtime since the party fell during The Younger's Nap Time and The Elder's Quiet Time (which translates to the computer time).
When we got there, The Elder went straight to the trains and The Younger went straight to the candy, and me? I went straight to the adult interaction. Adult conversation about adult topics. Not about poop or Dora or what toy we can't find because of the holiday scavengers. Ahhhhhh, to feel like a grown up again. That was nice.
This event had the potential of being the social event from hell. There were a million kids there and it was chaotic. I was actually glad we decided to not make a house. Not only were folks fighting over "who has the red frosting can" but we had some "bring it on" moms being a little competitive in their creativity of their "child's" house. It was actually more hilarious than catty, and definitely fun for me playing the observer role.
But to my delight, it was a social gathering from heaven for The Elder. No fighting. No biting. No shoving or pushing. And everytime I looked he was sitting with at least 1 or 2 other little boys playing with the same thing (Cue: Mouth dropping open). I felt a little weird relaxing and enjoying myself, afraid that any minute some kid was going to coming screaming for his mom with his finger pointed at The Elder. But it n.e.v.e.r. happened!
He was so incredibly perfect. I gave him a 10 minute warning before we left and he ran off to play with the kids so fast I wasn't sure he heard me...."Hello?" "OK, OK. 10 minutes." He heard me. Then at the 2-minute warning I thought that I would try to "hurry him along."
"We are leaving in 2 minutes. Would you like to come downstairs and start getting ready." Mimicking that I was putting on a coat.
"No Fanks. I have 2 minutes."
When it was time to go, he said good-bye to his friends (with prompting) and I helped him put on his coat. While I was getting The Younger and myself ready to go, The Elder just stood by the front door, waiting for us. Not entirely patiently as he whines "come on," but hey he IS four.
By the time we were in the car, The Younger was totally hyped up on sugar (a mixture of M&Ms, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, and a number of things I saw him put into his mouth and spit out again - the grossest of these being partially masticated gum drops. Nasty!). We got in the car and The Elder says "I'm Thirsty!" and The Younger yells out "I'm Tired!" (And he is not getting a nap at all today. Tonight is Date Night with The Hub, so poor AP, or lucky her, because he will go down fast tonight.)
I pass them both juice boxes and The Elder is slurping away. Being high and probably has the shakes and blurry vision, The Younger couldn't get his straw in the box and was pitching a fit. I asked The Elder if he would help his brother with his straw. He stopped sipping for a second, thought about it for a while, then replies...
"No Fanks"
A Big Brothers Rite - Be mean to your siblings. What a ridiculously NORMAL day we've had! Woo Hoo! (I'm knocking on wood!)
100 - a "Nice" Round Post
I had been having a ho hum kind of day. I wanted to be productive but just couldn't manage (still looking for that executive functioning somewhere...it's bound to turn up!). We made a list of everything we were suppose to do and everywhere we were suppose to go and somehow only did about 10% of it. The Younger didn't even get a nap today. We did get some things bought and prepared for upcoming food art projects. We are planning to make some GFCF Blue's Clues Banana Pops and a GFCF Gingerbread Train. Other than that, I won some Freecell games and watched UT lose the SEC championship game (they do get an A for effort, but an F for losing).
The Hub made a comment that I was almost to my 100th post and frankly I had no clue, other than I can be rather verbose, that I was that far along in my blog. Nor have I a clue how HE could tell what number I was on because I had a time trying to verify that this was indeed my 100th post. Once it was confirmed, I really wanted to make it special (how weird is that?) and I guess had some sort of block, because even though I have tons of hilarious topics and conversations that have been tossed around between the adults and children in the household today, nothing really stood out as "100th post" worthy. I asked The Hub, "What do you do for a 100th post?" His Aspergian reply was "You say 'hey, this is my 100th post' and then people will comment saying 'congrats on your 100th post.'"
So I must send a huge THANK YOU to Elissa from Managing Autism for not only giving me the content for my 100th post, but for awarding me with the Nice Matters Award. It made my day in more ways than one! You deserve this one yourself! (Would that count as one of the 7? I say YES! You're #1!)
Here is what the Nice Matters Award is all about: “This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass on to seven others whom you feel are deserving of this award.”
So here's the hard part, not because I don't know nice people, but because I don't know how to pick just 7 because you are all nice and inspire good feelings and inspiration. Here goes...
I know, Maddy at Whitterer on Autism, you've been awarded over and over again and but I must must must send it back. You were the very very first non-family member or current family friend to stumble upon my cyber-doorstep and comment on my blog and it was at a time in my journey that I really needed to hear from someone who could give me perspective like you only can!!
Bonnie at Coffee Autism Faith Explored - you have been a faithful reader and commenter from the beginning and have helped me more than you might think. I can relate to you a lot, so I truly love reading your blog.
Gwen at Gwendolyn's Gifts - Success Sunday Diva...I think God put us together in such a timely manner. (I'm sorry that my executive dysfunction prevented me from coming over today, I'd like to come one morning this week if you still have your items up.) You inspire good feelings, not just in your attitude, but also through your art.
Tulip Mom - Your baby girl is beautiful and hopefully she will let you eat poultry soon! Not only do I love reading your blog, I love seeing how many supporters you have by the sheer number of comments you receive...that says a lot about you.
Karen at Beyond Understanding - I love the topics of your posts and the cause behind your blog. You amaze me, especially when you do more than one post in a day, thanks for all of your sharing. An all around neat person to associate with. I've learned and will learn a lot from you!
Susan at I Run for My Life - Susan is actually one of The Hub's readers but I wanted to include her as the 7th because today she ran a marathon for Elijah on his 7th birthday. Here is The Hub's commercial to support her. Susan, Chasen's signs are hilarious. Congrats on finishing (was there really chocolate there?).
So, congratulations to all of you and thank you for a very special 100th post!
The wheels on the bus go...zzzzzzzzzzzzz
School is back in session after the fall break and Eric started riding the bus home this week. It was a weird transition for me. At 10:30 I felt like I needed to be leaving to go get him and then the agony of waiting for the bus to arrive was torment. I spoke with the bus driver late last week just to confirm everything and she quoted an ETA of about 11:35am. Now I understand that everyday is different because not every child is full time like Eric is. Even the little girl in the neighborhood only goes Mon and Wed. But at 11:45 I started to panic. I mean, surely someone would have called me if he was still at the school waiting for me to pick him up, or if the bus was late leaving, or whatever. I sat there with my phone in one hand and the bus drivers number in the other, staring out the window. I hear a "noise" that sounded very bus-like and I expected a yellow thing to round the corner, but it was the lawn people instead. So at 11:50 I broke down and called her. I didn't really know what to say: this is a crazy, panicky mom who's freaking out about inadvertently abandoning her son?
"Hi, this is Eric's Mom (where is my son????). I was expecting him around 11:30, is everything alright?"
I think I sounded calm, I'll have to ask Cris to verify that. They were about 10 minutes away. She said she had a new student to drop off. She seems very nice. Eric was zonked out. I had to board the bus and unbuckle him and carry him inside. It was a little sad that he missed his first bus ride. He did have a full weekend of Halloween events, and I'm sure the extra sugar had nothing to do with it either. =o) Oh and they accidentally gave him animal cookies in Sunday School - of the gluten variety. I'll have to remember to pack special snacks for church.
Today was the second day and he was awake and actually came out himself after the driver unbuckled him. I think he was very happy and feeling like a "big boy."
Backtracking to this weekend, church was a great experience. We started going to the early service to stay aligned with the military schedule. We've been parking in the back and taking the back door to the gym (which bypasses the nursery and classrooms) and both of them stayed for the entire service for the first time! Terry did have to take them to the bathroom twice because (well, Eric had to pee the first time, and I was afraid that Ryan would pitch a fit to not be included so I sent him as well) Ryan was getting upset because Eric was taking his "papel." Which he wasn't, but Ryan decided to throw things anyway, loudly declaring "mine, mine, mine". He hauled back to throw his (full) sippy cup and you could feel the panic between me and Terry as we look forward to 2 rows of several silver-haired couples. That thing could easily cause a concussion, especially with his larger than life strength. We are trying to de-cup him and that is making the tantrum worse (during the sermon) so we both let go and stopped trying and just sort of hovered our arms around him in ready-mode anticipating the launch. Right when I relaxed thinking he had changed his mind (luckily Terry stayed uptight about it), he threw the cup and Terry tipped it so it didn't land on a head, but it did land on the empty metal seat in front of us and made a beautiful crashing sound (during the sermon) that seems to forever echo in the gym (during the sermon). So I sent them all to the bathroom (which is still in the gym). Sat there alone waiting for my heart to slow down, repeating "I don't need anyone's approval but God's," then trying to get something out of the message (which was the Success Quote). BUT it truly was a great experience...it was the first time we didn't have to take them to the nursery in the middle of the service. Next week we will try to bring more things to occupy them. Eric did fabulous. I prepped him before the prayer to be quiet, he didn't cover his ears during the songs, he didn't even complain about being in there (as opposed to playing with the toys in the nursery). I wonder if the casein removal has anything to do with this.
Also, Newsflash, Eric rode a horse BY HIMSELF! Well, there was a lady walking the horse around in a circle but he was solo on its back. Ryan wouldn't even consider it until I got on first. I guess he thought it would be safer, however, he didn't hold on to the saddle the whole time! He has also worn his Halloween costume EVERYDAY since Sunday when he donned it on for the first time for the church's trunk or treat event. Do I really need to tell you what Eric was dressed as?Pictures to come....
Steel Horse
Mavis is a train in the Thomas the Tank Engine series in case you don't get the reference.
Now watch it again and see Ryan exhibit his surprised shocked face. I think he wet himself.
Need the inside scoop on that? Click here.
Stickies in lieu of Roads
"What happened?"
That was Eric's reaction yesterday when we went for Outside Play time (promptly at 14:00). We have been in drought in Knoxville (behind 12 inches) so the sidewalk chalk roads and pit stops and railroad tracks and parking spaces for the Little Tykes car and the Bicycle have pretty much been a permanent setup on our driveway. We even had a Chik fil A that served gluten-free chicken nuggets chalked in by the house! However, it poured on Thursday. (I could not find my umbrella because I hadn't used it in so long!! It's my favorite and it is still missing!) Our brown, crunchy grass was happy, but alas, the chalk masterpiece was gone. Back to Square One.
I cannot claim to be a master civil engineer to reconstruct the setup (that's Terry's job) so I gotta think fast.....I was walking back to the house from the mailbox going through it when...AHA! Easter Seals! (er, they were probably Christmas Seals considering the time of year.) So we did stickers.
RE: the reference to Eric's "Pattern" shoes was that he was wearing two different shoes. The Wednesday before when we went outside to play (probably at 2:07pm because we weren't on THE schedule yet), I told them to put on their shoes and he, jokingly, put on the two different shoes. Not fazed by it because at least his feet were covered, I looked at him and said "That makes a nice pattern" (because he's into patterns). So on Friday he said that he wanted to wear his Pattern Shoes which is what you see in the slideshow!OK, stickers are running out - now what? Oh yeah! We got wooden instruments the other day from the Hot Spot in Target for a motor skill exercise. I forgot! Where did we put them? (Ring Terry) They were so excited about these instruments. Noise makers, clappers, and triangles, oh my! They played with them outside and then again inside the playroom (see clip). They even begged to play with them again this morning.
And yes, he did say "Thomas" when he was playing with the clapper. Uh......ok.
I also updated a past post that I had "Coming Soon" for a video that I was trying to figure out how to compress to be uploadable to blogger. Check out the video here.
When 2 vowels go walking...
This morning, Eric and I went to read a book and it was a Thomas book (of course) with the noisy buttons that you are prompted to match and push periodically throughout the story. I really didn't feel like reading, my jaw kinda hurt and my mouth was dry from not drinking water (gotta put that in the military schedule). So I told him to read it and I pointed to each word. I would say he got about 90% of all the words on the first or second try. I was pretty impressed and wish I had had my camera to video it. I mean how did he learn that? I didn't teach him to read.
But the I remembered Leap Frog!! Ah yes, phonics, spelling words and complex words. Yes it was a little advanced when we got it when he was 2 something but he really liked the music. Well that explained why he always said ideeeee instead of idea, even though I had never pronounced it that way when I would say, "That's a good idea." The Leap Frog video Code Word Caper goes into COmplex Words like bake (silent e), shut (sh, ch, and th sounds), and wait. The latter song states "When 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." So he would "read" that word in his mind and let the "e" do the talking and dropped the "a." Too smart. I'm already a little frightened about the teen years....
Rote Memory
Eric really displayed some impressive memory skills today.
Yesterday we were making a card for daddy's birthday around 2pm. (When I say we, of course, that is the "royal we".) Ryan did sit down at the table with me (and was master of the glue stick...), but Eric was into his computer so I would say something like "do you want to help?" "Yes" "Then come glue this onto the paper." He puuuulllllls himself away from the computer, grabs the letter and pats it down on the card, barely taking his eyes off the computer and then quickly resumes his game. This happened a couple of times before I finally gave up on his participation in card making and Ryan and I just finished it up (when I say Ryan and I, I mean just I).
So in an effort to be funny because my assistant was in the other room listening in on all this and laughing at my feeble attempts to engage Eric in the activity, I told Eric (well, just said it aloud in Eric's general direction), "OK, now be sure to tell Daddy about your card first thing in the morning....say about 5:00 am, ok?" We are both laughing and D is telling me how cruel I am (cue evil laugh). Ryan was actually laughing too. Eric....no.
"So Eric, where can we put this where daddy can't find it until tomorrow?"
"How 'bout........over there" (pointing to the drawer to his train table)
So I go to lay it in there and tell him I did that. His response was blank as if to say, why are you talking to me, can't you see I'm on the computer.
Now fast forward to this morning. My head was splitting because we went to bed really late last night getting ready for the camping trip. And Eric was sitting on the bed between us staring into space with a big smile on his face. I whispered into his ear, "Tell Daddy Happy Birthday in his ear" which he did and Terry gave him a hug (the sleepy half hug). So cute scene that makes us go "awwww" and then time to close my eyes again and sleep off this headache. Then I hear Eric say...
"Daddy, I gotta show you something..........its downstairs.....................hold my hand."
I personally had forgotten about the card (wife of the year award), but as soon as he said that, I knew what he was talking about and I was wide awake and making Terry get out of bed too trying to act as if I was clueless. But piping up halfway down the stairs saying "wait, let me get my camera" kinda ruined that intention.
So because I don't know how to reduce the size of avi files yet, I can only put in screen captures of the video. I was simply amazed that, not only did he hear me say that yesterday, but he remembered to do it too!
The funny part was the requirements of Terry that he had to meet in order to receive his card.
"Get on the LoveSac....
"Go to the back of the LoveSac....
"Close your eyes....
"on the ground....
"Close your eyes on the ground.....
"All the way to the floor....
"Make it bigger...
"Do you like this, daddy?"
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"No"
Happy Birthday Terry!
Terry is the big triple dozen today which mean according to William Tell Mom he is no longer grounded! We are going camping tonight and will be back tomorrow after Terry's race. Wish us luck as it is the first time going with the kids!
On our stroll to the neighborhood park on Wednesday, I asked the kids what they wanted to get Daddy for his birthday. The first response was actually, "a cake? a Thomas Cake just like me? at MY party?" Which is funny because he didn't have a Thomas cake, but that is beside the point. So I said, "Well, cake is a tradition so he'd get that anyway, what kind of gift would you like to give him for his birthday?"
"How 'bout...(finger in the air)....a new car?"
Well that was an easy one as that afternoon we were scheduled to pick up our 3rd free car. Remember the whole springing things on them...I didn't tell them until that morning that we were going to get it that day, even though we finished qualifying for it on June 30th. Ryan took the transition pretty hard, but then got over it when I let him sit in my lap in the driver's seat while the dealership rep went over the features. Now he makes sure that everyone knows about his excitement. "new cah, new cah, new cah."
So Happy Birthday, Terry! Here's your new car (except I'm going to drive it, ok?).
Can't Undo Delete, but...
Well, I cleared everything off my camera's SD card (after uploading it all to the computer - whew!) but I loved having these videos handy on my camera to watch whenever I wanted to. So I'm hoping that if I blogged on them I would be able to get them on my phone via mobile Picasa, so let's see if that works....
This video was taken in the car on the way to Iowa (see post for cute story on that trip). If you can't hear what he is singing along to, it is Schoolhouse Rock's "Interjections"
This one just makes me laugh.
This one just makes Ryan laugh. (and Eric though he didn't want to admit it)(Coming Soon - looking for a way to get it under 100MB. Any ideas?)
10-6-07: was able to compress it using none other than Windows Movie Maker which comes free with XP and Vista! Oh, and you can't see the videos on Mobile Picasa. bummer. =o(
"Tee Hee"
"I can't like it! Go back to Thomas videos!"
By the way, you can't upload these directly from Picasa to Blogger, I had to do it straight from Blogger. Would be nice to have that feature in Picasa, huh?
What's all the talk?
Today was a fun day with the boys. I again got to spend pretty much the whole day with them and it is just amazing how well they are talking. I have noticed that Ryan has taught Eric a lot of phrases (and Eric has taught Ryan a lot of behaviors, hmmmm...) and it is so cute to hear the Elder echo the Younger.
Some of the things that have sunk in this week for Eric. To ask to use the computer. Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that would happen without me having to duck to avoid a shoe, or spoon, or whatever he could get his hands on at the moment, when I would have to say no. Or quickly remove the laptop from in front of him (or vice-versa) to keep him from beating the keyboard to death. I mean to hear "mommy, caniplay on lour computer please?" wants me to let him use it every time he asks and so far I have. He does have his own logon name on my laptop, so he knows he has to "Switch User" and get to his screen before he can play (which he can do independently). He used to have a Thomas Wallpaper but has moved over to Curious George and on his 2nd CG scene since I showed him how to change the wallpaper that one time. He also has a bunch of Internet Explorer links (which is how I know he is on his screen in a quick glance because I use Firefox) on his desktop that only HE knows where they link to, because to the layman, the links look like they link to some site called "lksjdh ;uh;fjzsdj ohg;oshdogi," ";shtuwaotuSDjf;o'rg" and ";ish;oahrjgJ dng;ahr'goi." plus some other sites too that speak a similar language.
Well, today our internet is down so I was planning on using my broadband card, but in an attempt to stake claim to my computer I told him it was down, and he proceeded to hover over the network icon in the systray with the mouse, saying, "No, we have 5 bars!" He was ok with playing Purble Place for a while which is on my hard drive.
During that, the Younger awakens from his nap and comes running to me with arms up, saying, "Hold you." So I pick him up so he can he what Eric is playing on the computer. "Sit down stead." So I let him share the barstool with his brother. When Eric finished and won his game, I cheered for him. Ryan then put his right arm around Eric's shoulders and his left hand on Eric's left arm and gave him a squeeze and said,"Good job, eh-kick!" just like a proud dad would do to his graduating son. Of course this is also the same kid that 10 minutes later when we put Little Einsteins in the DVD player tell me to "Go away" as I go to kiss him good-bye. Hmmmm.. where'd he learn that from, eh-kick?
We are trying to potty training Ryan (not very hard as he is still in diapers - he hates trainers). But every night after tubtime we let him run around nakey until he pees (yes, our carpet is sad). And then we tell him that feeling is pee pee and when he feels that he needs to sit on his potty. Last night he was in our room and ran ALL the way to his room (which isn't far but when your legs are only 12 inches long I guess it is) and sat on the potty without prompting and he made pee pee!!!
Because I've been spending a lot of time with the boys lately, Ryan has gotten a little clingier than normal. Tonight he used his body as a barricade to my car and wouldn't let me get in and I was already like 5 minutes late for a meeting. And when I did get in he tried to open the back seat door. When I pull out of the garage waving to him, he was giving me the "fake pout." Cris and I each had to cover our mouths to laugh. It's funny how I don't get too wound up about this separation anxiety. I guess because Eric never had it, and I had lived through the stress of it vicariously through the other preschool moms whose children in Eric's class were screaming death cries when they got dropped off. And then again learned the lesson right along with them that they are just fine. (I think I cried more because Eric didn't cry when I dropped him off)
Anyhoo, the meeting was canceled so I came home in less than a half hour and I thought I would surprise him. They were both in the tub and when I got there they became wired. We let Ryan do the nakey dance (no pictures were taken to protect the embarrassment at his future wedding reception) and they were running up and down the halls getting us "food." TWICE Ryan stopped what he was doing to run and sit on the potty and TWICE he would look up at me and say, "s'not working" (stage fright I assume). Shortly after the second try, he peed on the floor. He was very upset about this and started rolling on the floor, saying "I'm sleepy." I mentioned to Cris how it is so odd to hear him talk about his feelings because Eric never told us when he was tired or hungry or thirsty or happy or whatever (at least accurately). But, again, Eric has learned a lot from his baby brother. Like how to pretend play at least with the "serving us food" game. It's cute because Eric's play is a cross between what he sees/hears Ryan do when he is pretending and what he sees/hears us (Me, Terry, & Cris) say when we are actually serving him food.
"Mommy, what do you want? Orange juice or apple juice?"
"Orange Juice"
"That's a good ideeee."
Then he puts his hand tightly over my mouth (as if he is trying keep me from talking) and makes drinking noises.
My boys....growing up...
On your mark....
So how do I pull Eric away from the "Percy Saves the Day" DVD or YouTube.com (search: thomas the tank engine) without a prolonged fit?
I've got a great new trick that is working for now. If I ask Eric a question and give him multiple choice answers (beyond yes and no questions) often he will interrupt his meltdown to think (since I've given him the words to use) and then answer and then we whisk off to do that.
For example, the other day it was time to eat (chicken noodle soup, I think that definitely counts as 3 foods because of the chicken, noodles, and potatoes, but we got really fancy and sneaky and rrr-ed some carrots, tomatoes, and broccoli in the broth so that it isn't chunky! Sometimes if it is too orange he catches on...). So I said, "It's time to eat." "I can't like that, I'm watching Thomas." "You can pause it and watch it later but it is time to eat right now." Cue: Meltdown. "Hey! It's soup day (like every other day), so do you want the green bowl or the blue bowl?" They love those bowls because they have built in straws to slurp (or blow soup bubbles). Crying stops followed by "Blue Bowl!" "Ok let's hurry and get it." Lunch then commences.
My classic trick is "Wanna race?" (I love his goofy gait!) The younger is catching on to this too. It gets them totally focused on the race and not the fact we are going to tub time or nap time or some other non-preferred activity. Tonight their participation was duly noted. I lined them up and said, "Tub Time! On your mark..." Then the younger said, "Set..." and the elder yells, "GO!" And they raced down the hall to the tub. Totally cute.
Calling all Thomas Fans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DWC_AD2gEM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGMdnvSJ0ug
This is Eric's new favorite site. The above links are pretty impressive.
Eric is so obsessed with Thomas and Friends (trains in general, um anything with wheels but trains would be #1) that EVERYTHING gets reference back to some episode stored in his memory or a train book. For example, today when we were reading books, I would read a line and he would say "Just like Bertie said" and then in another book the little boy's name was Edward and Eric says, "Edward is an engine." It totally fascinates me. (He is sitting in my lap watching me type and he said - "Hey there's Edward, and there's Edward word again."
OK now I have him occupied counting the water bottles under the desk so I can quickly wrap this up. (They are so neatly lined up along my desk's edge...)
Eric has recently had an aversion to playing with Playdoh. He hated it when we first introduced it to him at 2. Well he loved watching ME play with playdoh but wouldn't touch it (btw - we have 12 water bottles). Then we got him to play with it and enjoy it with cookie cutters and now all of a sudden he doesn't want to play with anymore. So I got creative and found a set of letter and number "playdoh stamps" and now he has a rekindled love affair with the squishy stuff.
Tomorrow we are going to try floam for the first time.
You have new Picture Mail!
This is a picture I took from my cell phone. I call it "Masterpiece before Destruction." The younger was still napping when we built it. AND we used every single piece of track!
Back from Dallas
We flew to Dallas last week and the kids did fantastic!!! The plane engines didn't bother Eric's ears like I thought it might but he still put his fingers in his ears. He was afraid of crossing the crack between the plane and the skyway and he wouldn't descend the stairs. But all in all nothing major. They both were sooooooo excited about flying in an airplane. And Eric rode the moving sidewalk and loved it. I was surprised but Cris hopped on thinking Eric would too because that is what Ryan does, but Eric stopped in fear and Cris pulled/dragged him onto the sidewalk so he didn't get left behind - thank goodness! That might have been disastrous if we were all stuck on the moving sidewalk and left Eric standing in fear alone - you know how long those sidewalks are!
The ah-ha moment we found with Eric this week was with his button hole fear - He wouldn't even hug Terry until he took his tux shirt off, and as soon as he did he said, "Daddy I can hug you now!" Then again in the airport on the way home he was complaining of being cold and I didn't have a blanket so i took off my jacket (kind of a lightweight cotton button up jacket) to warm him up and he wouldn't accept it so I put it on because it was indeed cold and told Eric I would just hold him to keep him warm and he wouldn't let me do that until I took the jacket off. He was willing to freeze (and he was literally shivering) over being near my button holes. HOWEVER he doesn't seem to mind single buttons. He will play with a book that has a big button and he will button and unbutton it with no problems. And he will wear pants with a button and zipper (haven't tried a button fly but I don't think they makes those in 3T) - we will continue to test this.
We got the paper work to fill out for Child Find to get him into a new therapy group and I had just left unchecked the "excessive reactions to changes in routine" because although he would question the change and seemed bothered by it, he never really had full blown out tantrums. Well yesterday I switched the lids on the sippy cups and he about had a cow yelling, "That's not right! That's not right!" He refused to drink from it and threw it across the room and when I didn't react he picked it up again and threw it again and then a third time. Dr A suggested that his recovery time needs to be between 5-10 minutes and if he is agitated longer than that then it is counterproductive and it had been a few minutes already so I gave both sippy cups to Ryan who could care less which lid was on which cup and let Eric cry in my lap until he calmed down. So I started a conversation with Ryan and he said "Thomas DVD" and Eric bursted out laughing in a big belly laugh. So recovery was quick especially when Thomas entered the conversation.
Oh and this is what else I found out in Dallas....Ryan gets home sick!!! The 2nd day we were there he would say "back...home...please" with his little lower lip pouting out. It was adorable and heartbreaking at the same time.
Update on Eric
Here is the original email blast that I sent with some names altered so I can't be accused of slander.
Interesting enough I looked up OCPD and it doesn't describe Eric or Terry, but fits me almost to a T! Ha ha!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jennifer P Higgins;
Date: Jun 29, 2007 9:00 PM
Subject: Update on Eric
To: Terry Higgins;
Hey! I know that each of you have gotten bits and pieces of the "saga" we've gone through this past year, and I'm happy to say that we finally are at a point where we can move forward!
Background on psychologists: Dr A is the most well respected child psych in East Tenn, so much that he is very difficult to get in to see (and his office is over an hour's drive away). When we found out that Eric may have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in January, we call his office to get on the waiting list in February (we waited because we were in denial that Eric's quirkiness could be anything less than 3 year old quirkies). At that time they gave us a time frame (not an appointment) of "June-ish" - that they would call us then when his schedule opened up. Geez! So we waited and waited and waited and then Eric's therapist suggested another psych Dr. L who used to work with the KCS for like 11 or 12 years and had access to the ADOS testing which is the "official" test for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. We got into her office almost immediately. She saw Eric for a total of 3 hours of testing and finally came to the conclusion of nothing really. The GADS testing scales are specifically for Aspergers testing. On that he scored "High/Probable" and "Borderline." But she confidently ruled out Aspergers because the ADOS said so (no real explanation), she ruled out ADD, ADHD, and ODD (oppositional Defiant disorder). She did say that based on his intelligence testing, his Verbal and Non Verbal reasoning was above and well above average and his Spatial reasoning was on the low end of average which would contribute to frustration and therefore behavioral issues. We were probably looking at a personality disorder like OCPD, but that cannot be diagnosed until he was an adult. She referred Terry and me to other psychs for parenting help and marriage counseling.
Meanwhile, Dr A's office called us and we decided to go ahead and go see him as a second opinion since we finally got "in" and he was so reputable. After that appointment, we really liked him as a doctor, he made us feel validated in our concerns and he didn't make me feel like I was an inadequate parent. As for Eric, he immediately didn't suspect Aspergers based on observation of interactions and did all the testing that Dr L did except for the GADS and ADOS. He didn't have any background information from Dr L or the therapist when evaluating him so completely unbiased of previous evaluations. Today we went for the follow up (after all the test scores were compiled) and he was positive and optimistic about Eric. He went into a little more detail about his IQ, in nonverbal he scored 98th percentile (7 years and 4 months age equivalent) and IQ of 130 (127 is the cut off for giftedness). However one category (which I can't remember the name of it) he scored in the 68th percentile but what Dr A showed us was that is a composite score of basically his listening skills and his speaking skills which had a very wide margin, so the composite score was misleading. Basically his listening skills were low and speaking skill were high. In other words he could clearly tell us about an event (if it originated in his own mind to tell us) but if we asked him to tell us about an event, he couldn't process that to be able to tell us. Dr. A pointed out that that was an unusual pattern that usually people have stronger listening and comprehension than speaking (for example when we learn a foreign language, we tend to understand it better than we can speak it at first). So in combination of that, some sensory observations he made in his first evaluation, his high intelligence, some quirkiness he observed (hand flapping, for example), and Eric's intense focus on Letters, Numbers, and Trains, he concluded that he does indeed have Aspergers. Fortunately Eric's social dysfunction is very mild and he believes that with occupational and speech therapy that by kindergarten Eric will be totally integrated (for most it takes until 2nd-3rd grade). By that time, the only thing that Dr A predicts will be obviously aspergers will be his IQ.
So we are pleased to have a solution and a next step. I'm personally pleased that I don't have to feel like the bad parent who let's her children run wild. We know things could be worse so overall this is a good thing and I feel like we can close this chapter and move on with therapy and feel positive about our son instead of frustrated knowing that SOMETHING is going on but not know what it is nor how to handle it. We have already seen improvement since he began therapy in January and again in the last month (i think as he is "maturing" as next weekend he will be 4 - sniff). Gratefully Eric doesn't have a clue, he thinks therapy is "school" and with his speech improvements he did wonderfully in VBS and getting along in the classrooms! Who knows - he may fully integrate this year instead! =o)
Thanks for prayers!
Jen & Terry
For more information on Aspergers, Dr. A recommended the book by Tony Attwood.
299.80 Asperger’s Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria for Aspergers Syndrome
- Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
- Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors, such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
- Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
- A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
- Lack of social or emotional reciprocity
- Restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
- Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
- Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
- Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
- Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects
- The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
- There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).
- There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.
- Criteria are not met for another specific pervasive developmental disorder or schizophrenia.
Since Eric's diagnosis, I literally have been liberated. I think because of the validation in my feelings and frustrations I've had in the last 6 months of "not knowing" as we were waiting to see a reputable child psychologist. I feel like I can move forward, especially knowing that it could be a lot worse. Eric is such a joy and though it is hard to believe at first glance that he is an aspie, when you look at the diagnostic criteria, it is obvious (on paper) that he is. I'm just going to go through the criteria and describe Eric in those context...
A1. Eric is described as "serious" by Cris our Au Pair. He also has an incredible ability to relax every muscle in his body which makes him extremely flexible but also make it extremely hard to move him as it is dead weight! He tends to slump over as if he is disappointed in inappropriate times. Like I'll say, aren't you excited about ____, and he'll just slump over like he's depressed and he may or may not answer. We do have problems with eye contact UNLESS it is something that interests him, namely Thomas the Tank Engine, or his favorite board game, book, etc. When I do get eye contact it is hard to maintain it through a sentence. However the "impairment" for this criteria I'm not sure I would describe as "marked." I lot of observations in the past year I have written off as "childish ways" until I began my research once his OT saw his ASD tendencies.
A2. I don't think that this describes Eric. He has 3 friends that he will mention by name when asked to name his friends and those boys love Eric just as much. His only drawback was that he bit his best friend several times before we physically separated them for weeks until he got evaluated for behavioral problems back in December 2006.
A3. This totally describes Eric up until a few weeks ago. Eric was so content to be by himself, play by himself, not needing social approval (and his Dr noticed this too in the evaluation). Now he points out Thomas or trains or racecars or anything with wheels at the drop of a hat. However I've begun to notice lately that he asks me to play with him, sit with him, etc and also asks his dad to as well.
A4. This is probably the most difficult thing to deal with for me. I am the kind of person who needs feedback and conversation and Eric (nor his dad) are naturally inclined to do this. (His dad has learned that that is what I need and has adjusted, sometimes with prompting, nicely to my love language!) However, with Eric, in order to get feedback from him, you often have to pose it in a multiple choice fashion. Ask a questions and offer choices of possible answers. When there isn't a choice, then I usually end my words with "ok?" and repeat that until he says "ok"back. What is hilarious is that now that he is talking more (Speech Therapy is amazing) he ends all of his sentences and requests with "ok?", for example, "Mommy, we gotta play Clue, ookay?" Imagine it drawn out-cracks me up!
So he meets 1 and 2 halves of these criteria in my opinion.
B1. See A3. Anything with wheels (we've caught him watching NASCAR on TV) but mainly trains. Thomas and Friends is his favorite but any train will do. His other obsession is Letters, Numbers, and signs or warning labels especially with the red universal "no" circle with the slash through it, but if it is a sign he HAS to stop to read it. It began with Stop signs at age 2, then went to No Parking signs, to Exit and Enter signs, Men and Women restroom signs, to aisle numbers at the grocery store, to anything that has a Letter or Number on it. Pretty impressive to see a 3 year old read.
B2. He has his routines and rituals that he enjoys. He used to be inflexible and get really stressed out and throw tantrums when he was thrown off schedule, but now with proper explanation and logic he copes much better.
B3. Finger twisting is his thing. I like the way his OT described it....Imagine crumpling up a piece of paper or crumbling a piece of cake, but there is no paper/cake there. (His dad was a hand flapper as a child and as an adult when we first got married but he adjusted - I must have fussed at him enough about it, because I viewed it as rude, but now I know it was a neurological reaction.) He also does complex body movements but I can't honestly say I think it falls under this criteria.
B4. Two things come to mind when I read this. Eric's obsession with strings - pulling and picking them out of clothing, bedding, throw pillow, furniture. Drives me mad! We have fluff falling out of every pillow and my jacquard comforter is "hairy" from all the broken strings hanging out of it. The other thing is his intense fear of buttons, though his dad and I just realized that it might be the button holes he dislikes. We might have to test that theory.
C. The main thing that impairs Eric is his sensory integration issues. He refuses to eat or touch certain colors, textures, patterns. It's like it gives him chills or sometimes makes him gag. He has supersonic hearing and can hear a train miles away but he cannot stand public restroom's loud toilet flushing and hand dryers or anything else that is "too loud." We bought him earplugs but it "tickles my ears, mommy, I'll just use my fingers." I am not seeing a lot of social impairment right now but I can see that without therapy, how it could really be affected later in life especially the adolescent years.
D. True. We actually didn't start seeing "issues" until a few months before his 3rd birthday. The month before his 3rd birthday is when the biting started happening and then shortly afterward it became ridiculously challenging. The only things he really said where repeated words, or sentence structures that we taught him but he didn't start developing his expressive language skills until he started Speech Therapy in March, which worked wonders.
E. True. Very bright at a very young age. We actually would "show him off" to friends and family..."Look what Eric can do..." Even now, his nonverbal reasoning is at the same level as a 7 year and 4 month old (98th percentile of children his age).
F. True. He doesn't meet the full criteria of another PDD. There is a lot of overlap, like with OCD, but typically there isn't a fear attached to not having his routines.
There is so many different nuances about the autistic spectrum and I'm learning them slowly. The good news is that he has had 6 months of therapy and his dr sees him fully integrated by kindergarten!
See A More Down-to-Earth Description by Lois Freisleben-Cook on the OASIS Website at http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/
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