And no, I'm not talking about snow. Although we DID get our first snowfall yesterday morning. Only amounted to 1 1/2 inches, but given that they'd only predicted flurries, it was a surprise. Although not entirely unexpected given the time of year. So of course we had to run out to buy snow boots for the boys. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
No, what I'm thankful for has to do with this. This is J (on the left), in a cooking class at the children's museum. I'm going to take a minute to let that sink in for those of you that know all about our journey with J. For the rest of you, let me fill you in briefly by saying that of all the issues we've faced with J's Autism, the "food thing" has been the most persistent and troublesome. So although J has been loving all of the museum classes he's done, I've been avoiding the cooking classes like the plague. We've not mentioned the "A" word to anyone at the museum, so up to this point they've just assumed he's your typical adorable enthusiastic Kindergartner, and we've been a bit reluctant to put him in a situation where his lingering issues surrounding his sensory and regulatory challenges might come bursting to the surface. It's the one place we go where Autism hasn't figured into anyone's perception of J, and we'd really like to keep it that way.
But for some reason, I decided that now was the time to take this whole remediation concept for a spin and test out really how far we've come in the past 3 years. So I signed him up for the Thanksgiving Feast class -- a COOKING class -- and cheerfully left him in a classroom full of strong aromas and unfamiliar foods. But despite my outward bravado, my stomach was churning, and I kept sneaking peeks through the classroom window. And, lo and behold, I saw amazing things. Like, for instance, J joyfully scooping gook out of a large pumpkin!!
And J eating a pumpkin cookie that they made in class. Yes, our J made pumpkin cookies from scratch. With walnuts and cranberries. And then -- ATE THEM. (In this photo he's commenting to the teachers on how delicious the cookie is.) After class the teacher, totally unaware of any of this child's history, took me aside and told me how much he enjoyed cooking and that she wants me to sign him up for all of her future cooking classes too, because she believes this is something that he really enjoys.Well, what do you know. Maybe he IS just your typical adorable enthusiastic Kindergartner after all! And if that's not something to be thankful for, I don't know what is.
A bit lower on the scale of miracles, but amazing enough and also worthy of thankfulness this season is how well our dear Lacy is doing right now. She's gained back all the weight and muscling that she'd lost when she was in the throws of problems from her DSLD, and seems to finally have stabilized on the experimental treatment. In fact, she looks as good as she ever has since I owned her. Here's hoping that continues for a good long time!Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May we all be thankful for the many blessings in our lives.
4 comments:
Hmm! someone else who peeks. And there was me thinking that is was just me.
Happy Thanksgiving - we're pretty thankful too.
Best wishes
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing.
These truly are blessings!!
Does "A" ever rear it's head now, or are you just dealing with typical
child kind of stuff? poohder2005
I believe my daughter is ON the correct developmental track now, but unfortunately she is 11 1/2 and on the track of more like a 5 or six year old as far as social development. But I am believing she will catch up sooner than later!!
poohder, the only thing obviously left of the Autism is the food thing (which will be a work in progress for quite awhile, but this was definitely a HUGE step in the right direction!), and the verbal stimming/scripting which still goes on on a daily basis. I actually asked him about that the other day (why he does it), and he said "because it's fun!" So I'm leaving it alone. If anyone is paying close attention, he's still struggling with putting his thoughts into words, but I believe it's a word retreival problem, which I'm considering having looked at by an SLT at some point.
I don't think his brain works the same way neuro-typical kids brains do. I don't think it ever will, and actually, I don't think I'd want it to even if we could make it. He's got some pretty amazing gifts, seems to me that if his brain worked differently, he would lose some of that. But
developmentally, he's on a good, balanced track. Still not at a 7 yr old's level in some things (social sophistication, comprehension, dynamic problem solving, etc), and still well ahead in other academic areas that play to his strengths (music, art, reading, math, and anything aided by instant memorization). But overall he's right where he belong, working on Kindergarten type skills. I don't expect him to catch up, I just expect him to continue forward from where he is now.
Glad to hear your daughter is doing so well!! HOORAY!!!
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