January 9

Happy New Year everyone!

We are off to such a good start this year! Luke has settled in so wonderfully at KCS and is maintaining amazing behaviour. The first day back at school, he was integrated into the classroom for the majority of the day. The assistant, Ms. E. is so in tune with Luke that she knows when he needs a break before he gets frustrated or upset. He does not want to go into his own little room for one-on-one studies... wants to be in the classroom with the other kids as much as possible. Yay Luke. He still goes often to the "mini-gym" for sensory breaks (trampoline / basketball / balance beam) which is exactly what he needs to keep him focused. Wow. When I dropped him off at school this morning he got his coat and boots off, hung up his backpack and put his indoor shoes on all by himself and then went into the classroom. Apparently he sits at his desk and COLOURS. Did I mention he COLOURS... maybe not perfectly, but considering he barely knew how to hold a crayon, let alone had no strength in his little hands to properly impress the colour onto the paper; this is awesome. He plays with other kids during recess and lunch hour; and sits still as long as possible for class subjects or chapels (up to 30 minutes!!). The teacher also rearranged the seating in the classroom into groups of four desks (facing each other) which makes Luke more inclusive in the group (he was by himself with his back against the wall before... in a different position than all the other kids).

During our New Year's holiday at Mile High in a cabin, Luke was AMAZING. He cross-country skied every day for up to half hour each time; skiing on his own!! (no help) and going for quite a distance. He also tobogganned with his brother Joel and friend Riley (new toboggans for Christmas). At first we helped, but during the last few days Luke would go down on his tummy at a run down the smaller hills with no help. He would also get on the toboggan with R & J (in the middle) and go down the big super-bumpy hills laughing all the way. (BTW he often asks me to sing "Jingle Bells" haha). He had a blast. His independence from us is so thrilling to watch. He played somewhat nicely with the kids in the lodge, but still has a hard time with hide-and-seek (finding places to hide by himself and not being able to keep quiet), but the other kids just ignore him or try to help him. He'll figure it out in his time. For the most part, he played with their cars and/or joined the adults and ate snacks or played with the IPad. The IPad is a pretty big deal to him because he gets to watch "Max and Ruby" shows on it . We make sure he also does the educational games too (actually Joel's good about getting Luke to do them, lol).

Joel, BTW, has been awesome with his brother. He helps him whenever he can; however we try our best not to let much responsiblity rest on his shoulders. We do, however, encourage Joel to "teach" Luke how to play. We can hear them often sneaking out of bed; no idea what hijinks they're up to; but the pillows are often not where they're supposed to be (Luke's words: pillow fight?). Joel is both a Wii and an Ipad junkie at 4.5 years old; so we monitor that diligently. But he also likes to paint (and is so great at it!) and play with lego, train sets, do any kind of acitivity book (dot-to-dots, mazes, numbers). We had to find 6 things in a book one day and we found 3 and he said to me "just 3 more mom". He's kind of freaky about the numbers (slightly on the spectrum too, lol?). He also really wants to learn to read and is picking it up bit by bit. We don't push or rush him; he's not even in kindergarten yet! He has amazing athletic abilities (also confirmed by his teacher; not just his mother bragging). Loves to cross-country ski, play golf, can really throw a ball, and kick a soccer ball. And he can skate (no help!).

Luke's conversation continues to improve by leaps and bounds. The speech therapist has discovered an underlying issue with Luke's speech and will now focus on resolving this. He believes this will vastly improve his speech, as well as spill over into other areas of communication.

On the weekend we discovered Luke has figured out the Wii. He played bowling with Joel the other day and while we used to do "hand over hand" to help; he now does it on his own. The best part is that once he got it, he got 4 strikes! It was amazing. There are other skills to the bowling that he doesn't get yet, but I am certain he will learn them soon. He also just learned how to throw and pass the basketball on the Wii. Something is connecting in Luke's brain that allows him to understand, slow down and figure out things more successfully. It's quite exciting to be a witness to this after the many difficult months in the fall (his transition to a new school). While that was his one step back; we're in a step forward position and I am so relieved. Yay. We also took him "real" bowling this weekend and he lasted almost through two games. For the first time, as well, we didn't have to "hand-over-hand" help him... he took the ball and gave it a good roll between his legs. All by himself... which is his new catchphrase "I do it myself!" We also went ice skating and within half an hour of hanging on, he graduated to holding one hand and "skating", albeit slowly!

On a personal note, I am restless. I do not quite know what to do with myself. While I continue scheduling and researching help for Luke, it is with less and less intensity. There are longer gaps between the stressful times and I am finding I have more and more time to myself. It is needling at me to write a book about this journey... perhaps now is the time? Hmmmm.... Will need to pray about it; and try to relax and focus on myself for a while, which is much harder than it sounds. I've been "fighting" autism for the last 4+ years and have turned into such a Mother Warrior. There have a been a few incidents in the last few months where I've taken on unnecessary "battles", still looking to pick a fight I guess; in true defensive fashion. I've had to take a look at myself and I've realized my social skills need a little finessing. While our family of four is very tight-knit, supportive and sustaining, I now need to reach out more to people; expand my social field. Not easy when you are branded the mother of a child with autism. I do, however, want to gratefully acknowledge the many people who have been there for me the past few years (you know who you are); with a special and specific shout-out to my mom (and dad) who have not only prayed for us regularly, but also bought and provided many a gluten-free / dairy-free / soy-free food and/or meal. Love you both! So... we shall see how this new year unfolds and where God will lead me? Back to the university part-time? full-time Signet (my home-based graphic design company)? or a new career/adventure? In the meantime, I will do my best to breathe and enjoy some serious down-time!!

January 31
Still doing great... in fact, Luke was the example on "how to behave" in circle time last week. I laughed. Yay Luke. Apparently all the kids were being rambunctious and grabby and the teacher finally stopped everyone and told them to sit still and behave like Luke (he was sitting quietly with his hands in his laps). Heehee...a one-eighty, woo hoo! He is pretty much integrated in the classroom all day. Does not like to do to his "own room" which they created in the fall (the place where he could scream and not disturb anyone... btw the screaming stopped within 2 days; not so much fun if no one hears or reacts to it!). He is learning, however, how to self-regulate. He now goes to the "mini gym" (therapy room across the hall) as a reward for good behaviour or as a place to take a break if he's feeling overwhelmed. He's at the point where he can look at his assistant and say "I need a break" and then he goes BY HIMSELF to the mini gym for a few rolls on the big ball, or he goes to the water fountain for a drink (he loves the water fountain). The assistant just stands at the classroom door and waits for him to return, or just waits in the classroom somewhere. He no longer needs constant attention. He also is left alone to get dressed or undressed for recess or lunch; and is ironically often faster than the assitant in getting boots, coat, toque and mitts on. Who knew.

We went to visit Mrs. R. the other day (eye tracking queen), and she was astounded at Luke's progress. She kept repeating: "The isn't the same boy I saw month ago". He still does have a few issues with his eyes, but his regularly practicing eye tracking (following a moving object with his eyes) to strengthen his eye muscles. We have a few more exercises from her that we do every day; and we continue to visit with her every two weeks. Our goal with her is teach Luke to read. The last time I went I mentioned he might have Irlen Syndrome, so she suggested that we use different coloured papers instead of white (one of the issues of IS is that when a person sees black words on a white paper, all they see is the white between the black). Anyways, turns out Luke prefers the pink paper, so she mentioned to find him some cheap dollar store pink-tinted glasses to see if that improved his sight-reading. Interesting.

Luke still has Ms. S. come by twice a week to work on conversation, reading and eye tracking exercises. This past week he asked "Where are you going?" and she answered, and then he said "When are you coming back?" which was neat to hear.

Luke continues to have scheduling anxieties about "what happens next".. but it's improving. We have a schedule on the fridge for him to refer to, as far as what day it is and where does he go. He's been a bit disruptive lately, pushing our buttons and when we get angry he giggles (fear and laughter are sister emotions). It's hard not to get more angry, arggghhh. Hopefully we're assuming correctly that it's an incorrect expression of emotion and not him being intentionally cheeky, lol.

Joel, btw, received a "progress report" from Junior Kindergarten and is excelling in all areas. He knows all the colours, knows how to pattern, counts to 100, knows all his letters, know hows to rhyme, etc. etc. He is, as his teacher said "one sharp boy". He is also very considerate and has been impressing us with his kindness (taking Dad's empty bowl to the counter without prompting), opening doors for people, hugging my friends, and sharing his snacks (even his candy and chocolate). I really enjoy being with him and will miss him when he's in school full-time in the fall. I tell him that he's good people.

Luke also, is well-loved, especially at Chris Rose. J, the speech therapist, came by to say hi to Luke this morning; and commented how he "loves Luke"... Luke had three of us gushing over him while he got his coat and boots off. At KCS, he is just one of the kids and while there's a few "girls" that want to help Luke (yes, he still plays the helpless card around some people... if you want to do it for him, he's going to let you). These girls tend to baby him a bit, but he doesn't mind, haha. He's just such a sweet kid to be around; a real keener. We are very proud of our two sons.