Wordless Wednesday: New Bike!

RDI and Star Box

Last week we took a, somewhat impromptu, trip to the Tri-Cities to see our RDI Consultant, Christine. We had been on a bit of a "break" from our program when Christine had unexpected surgery. We kept our activities status quo for a bit and then got back in contact as she was feeling better.

Christine had planned on making a visit to our neck of the woods this time, but with some scheduling conflicts we decided a few days ahead of time to head down her way. Both Morgan and Piper LOVE visiting "the hotel" and sleeping in their peapods (mini tents). They were so excited to make the trip!

We have been in a phase of our program where Morgan, David and I were all assessed on our skills and current status of many things such as, our mental health, obstacles that may be in the way of making progress, as well as Morgan's areas of "deficit". I know that terms sounds odd, but this is something you hear a lot when kids with autism are evaluated. Common areas of deficit are social skills (can be a wide range), referencing, joint attention, etc. It is different for every kid. A bit of great news is that Christine didn't see any "outside" areas that needed to be addressed with additional therapies. Some kids need help from an Occupational Therapist or Speech Therapist for specific issues that can be obstacles to progress in RDI. Sometimes these things can show up along the way, but for new we are grateful to not have to consider this.

I also fully appreciate how this program really takes into consideration of the whole family, not just the child with autism. Since it is to be parent led, we need to be in a place where we are able to guide Morgan in the optimum way to help her make progress.

When we met with Christine she gave us a report that included her assessments in all these areas. We reviewed videos that had been previously recorded and discussed the positives and negatives. In the end we received our first three goals. We scheduled meetings through the end of July and are taking new steps forward. David and I have quite a bit of homework to do on our own in addition to working with Morgan. It's going to be busy summer in so many ways!

The picture above is on our scheduled stop at Starbucks on the way home from the Tri-Cities. Morgan refers to this lovely place as "Star Box." Usually the girls get a treat of pink donuts...but that day they didn't have them, so they chose to share a chocolate chunk cookie (see Piper's right hand). Happy girls, make happy car trips!

Promotion

Morgan has had a promotion, of sorts, for her preschool class next year! At the end of each school year the teachers get together to evaluate the progress and status of each student. It was previously thought that Morgan would stay with the same teachers for her integrated class as well as for her intervention class. Upon further discussion it has been decided that Morgan will have new teachers for both!

The teacher she had in her integrated class this year did not give a lot of time to the six students with IEPs, including Morgan. The lead teacher and aides from her intervention class were also involved in this class to keep the students on track and prompt them if needed in transitions and social situations. The teachers have decided that Morgan is ready for more independence and will do well in a class that will have less aide support. The new teacher for this class is more invested in the IEP students and can give her assistance as needed. There will also be aides in this class, but the lead AIM program teacher will not be available to be in this classroom as her teacher from this year.

They also made this decision based on the kids they have who are at a higher-functioning level socially. Morgan's intervention class currently will consist of herself and another little boy who joined her class recently. Oddly enough, this boy was in her first preschool class in Liberty Lake so she knows him already! He recently received an Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis, which is on the high end of the autism spectrum. It's so nice to hear that Morgan can be placed in a class with greater independence and they acknowledge that she is making progress with her social skills. Last year there were only two kids in her intervention class as well, but by Thanksgiving the class was full.

Her new classes will also be during the "afternoon" session which is from 11:15 am - 3:15 pm. This will require adjusting to a whole new schedule for our family. Previously with Piper in preschool next year for three mornings a week...I thought that I would get a little break while they were BOTH in school, but it is not to be. Instead I will be dropping Piper off at school, bringing Morgan home to meet the bus...then back to Piper's school to pick her up and then later in the afternoon, meeting Morgan's bus again. The positive side of it is that with Piper at school early I will get some good one on one time with Morgan to concentrate on our RDI goals...that did not exist previously as we always have Piper to contend with.

Overall we are so proud of what Morgan has accomplished this year in school and we loved the teachers and therapists we were able to work with! It is an amazing program and we are looking forward to getting to know our new team next year. Morgan does have five weeks of summer school with her current teachers...starting next week. It is a great bridge for the summer and retaining skills along the way.

A Name Surprise

Morgan has been learning to write her name all school year. Each day she brings home a slip of paper where she has written her name over a light tracing of the letters the teacher has provided. At the beginning of the year her name was only slightly legible, but has improved vastly since. More recently she has been writing her name independently, as you see below. She has been doing this for a few months, so when she did this I did not take a picture of it on it's own. This particular day I randomly asked her if she could write Piper's name too...



Well, would you look at that!! She CAN write Piper's name! I was so surprised and proud of her. For a girl with challenges with her fine motor skills, I had no idea she could do this.

Here's my girl looking quite proud of herself. Sorry for the blurry pic...it was the only one where she didn't make her goofy smile.

Then, I decided to ask her if she could write my name, Mama. Well, of course she can! Look below the "Mo" in her name.

Finally, this one was more challenging for her. If you look just to the right of the tail of the "g" in her name, Morgan wrote "Daddy"...sort of. Close enough! What a superstar!!

Morgan "isms"

Morgan's language takes leaps forward at times and at other times leaves us totally puzzled. We are grateful that she seems to be continually making progress, though not without her challenges. Many children with autism are non-verbal, so we feel very fortunate that Morgan communicates as well as she does. Here are a few anecdotes from the lest few days.

On Tuesdays our neighbor's daughter spends some time with us while her mom works. One of her first requests that morning was to watch Tinker Bell. She knows we have all the DVDs and looks forward to watching it at our house. This request came as I was getting Morgan ready to go meet to school bus. I decided to pop the DVD in so the "little" girls had something to watch while I finished with Morgan. As I put the disk in the DVD player the machine told me "disk is dirty". I was in a hurry, so I was annoyed with this. I pulled the disk out to clean it and Morgan came over to me. She put her hand on my shoulder and said "Oh Mama, I know it's frustrated." Of course, she meant "frustrating", but the fact that she was trying to actually console me was amazing! She's never said anything like this, so I was pretty shocked. David was still home at this point and we looked at each other, thinking "Did she really just say that?!" I gave her a hug and thanked her for trying to make me feel better.

The same night we were eating dinner and Morgan had finished her meal and was restless to get down. She absentmindedly started poking at the divider in the leaf table with her (metal) fork. We told her to stop and she told us "No, it's yummy!" Huh? She then tried to lick, or possibly chew on the table and we again told her to stop and that we don't bite the table. Annoyed she looked at David and said "No Daddy, it's yummy and I want to eat your chair, too!" Huh?! (again) Eat the chair? We suspect she was trying to talk back somehow, but the language she used really made no sense. On one hand it's good she is showing these developmentally appropriate reactions, but she struggles with being able to connect that emotion with appropriate language. Hey, one step at a time, right? In the meantime it makes for some funny commentary. Since then, David and I have been using the phrase "It's yummy, I want to eat your chair, too!" just for the funny factor.

Sister Time

Morgan and Piper are currently playing in Piper's crib. I sent Morgan upstairs to "get" Piper when she woke up from her nap. When I got up there, Morgan had climbed into Piper's crib and was VERY proud of herself.

They are playing together very nicely. Every time I go in the room to check on them, Piper waves at me and says "Bye Mama!" until I leave.  Yay! Bonus blog time.

Piper has a stinky diaper though. I don't know how Morgan can stand that. Ick.

Rigidity

It just breaks my heart that Morgan goes through such anxiety from day to day. It is so hard for us to manage, and so many times there is nothing we can do about it.


We took the girls to the local "Jump and Bounce" today. They always have a great time there. Because of the holiday it was packed today and I'm sure both girls were completely over stimulated by the time we left.

When we got home for lunch, Morgan refused to eat any of the mac and cheese I made. She then choose to go right to "quiet time"...but once she was there she got upset again and wanted to come back to the kitchen to eat. By that time we had let Piper sit in Morgan's usual spot, which completely threw Morgan into a tizzy. Can we say "rigid"?! We finally got Piper to switch back to her own spot/seat (I know, so not fair), but once they were seated in the appropriate places they both melted down. Morgan could not calm herself, so we decided to just put her upstairs again for quiet time. Piper calmed down pretty easily and ate a little...then went down for her nap. Morgan is still upset and crying in her room. At this point we just have to leave her there. There is no reasoning with a child with autism. Either she'll finally calm down or cry herself to sleep.

There are a lot of things we are doing with/for Morgan to help reduce her anxiety/rigidity and make her more flexible, but as with all therapies, they take time. We are barely at the beginning of our marathon.

Let me give you another example of what we see often. The other day Piper wanted to play with the cookies and cakes in our little kitchen play set. Morgan came to join us. We had a fun little game with the cookies, but when Piper went to get the cake all hell broke loose. When we usually play this game we sing Happy Birthday together and blow out the candles, then remove the candles from the cake and cut pieces for us to pretend to eat. This time Piper, being the flexible kid she is, decided to just bring the cake over to us, leaving behind the plate and wooden box we keep it in. Morgan became upset, so I grabbed the plate as I thought that would help. Apparently that wasn't good enough, we needed the box too. I kept telling her it was okay if the cake was on the plate without the box, but that did no good. With Morgan, we have to play the game exactly the same way each time, or she loses it.

There is no flexibility for our girl in her play, no creativity, no real "pretend." Same means "good" to Morgan. If she knows how it goes, she likes it. Anything new or different thrown in can cause total meltdown. Occasionally I throw something in that goes over OK, but I find I have to build it up before I actually do it, so she has some warning. This is good, but then the next time we play if I don't do the "new" thing the same way she freaks out. She locks in on anything she likes and can't venture outside it. When I play with her alone we can sometimes manage these issues so we can still have fun. When she plays with Piper it is more difficult because Piper has no clue what Morgans needs or what her issues are in this area. Unfortunately she is starting to learn this and either will accommodate her or just not want to play with her. Truthfully, it's not a lot of fun to play with Morgan. Piper is taking a jump forward in her creative play and I'm really enjoying it, but when Morgan wants to jump in...total buzzkill.

Last example of rigidity. This one is food related. I'm sure I've mentioned Morgan's beloved "dinosaur" sandwich. If not, it is a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into two dinosaur shapes with a special bread cutter. She has a particular technique to eat this. She pulls the bread apart, eating the honey side first. While she eats the honey side, she holds the PB side in the other hand. I know...so odd. Lately we have had a few bread issues, such as one time the head just fell off the dinosuar and another time the bread was had some odd creases in it. Wouldn't most kids think that he head falling off was just hilarious?! When this happens Morgan demands it be fixed, which generally is impossible. Or, she asks for a new one. We accommodated this for a while, but lately have just told her if there's something wrong with it, don't eat it, and we're not making a new one. Depending on how hungry she is determines whether she'll have a meltdown or just not eat the offending sandwich.

This is exhausting.

Pipey

Morgan has decided that Piper's name is now "Pipey" (or "Pipie"?). The majority of the time she calls her by this new name. At first I thought this sounded really odd, but it's grown on me. I don't plan on calling her "Pipey", but it sounds pretty cute coming from her sister.

Morgan tells us directly, "she is not Piper, she is "Pipey" She has even gone as far as pointing out Piper's name letters in her bedroom, telling us to take down the "R". I've asked, "How do you spell it?" She says it's "P-I-P-E." Explaining that this, in fact spells "pipe", not "Pipey" is totally lost on her. She insists this is how it is spelled.

We'll see what this morphs into next week...

The Spa at the Allendorf's

Who knew Morgan would be into this? I sat down in the afternoon yesterday to start the process of doing a pedicure...for myself. Usually I do this after the girls go to bed, but this time I thought "Why not? I'll see what they do."

Well, Morgan was fascinated! Really, they both were...but Piper just wanted to splash around in the foot bath with her hands. Mmmm...not so much. I asked Morgan if she wanted to paint her toes and she said "Yes! I want purple toes!" She pestered me so much I cut my pedicure short (before the polish part). As you can see from the photo I modified things with a kid-sized stool, but she stayed there so patiently. She even liked the vibrating/massaging part of the foot bath. (This, coming from a kid that ran screaming from the spinning Dora toothbrush the other day. I thought it would be fun...no dice.) She let me trim her nails, but was not so keen on any other "treatments". Of course, she has beautiful, non-callused girl feet, so there was really nothing else I needed to do. She did really well with the polish part too, occupying herself with the TV while I blew on her toes. I had to do a few repairs to some smudges, but nothing too major.

Here's the result! Pretty purple toes! She really likes them. I can see this being a regular thing for me and my girl. As for Piper...I gave her one try on the polish. She did not want anything to do with putting her feet in the foot bath. The polish part was a disaster as she didn't get the concept of having to wait for them to dry. Oh well, we'll try again in a while.

Morgan Tidbits

A few things from the past few days. David is at his annual trade show in Las Vegas and we are missing him. Morgan loves it when Daddy gets her up in the morning and is woefully disappointed when I've been showing up in her room each day. That's alright. There are plenty of other things she prefers that Mama does.

On Monday night I was talking with David on the phone as I was putting the girls' dinner together. I told them dinner was ready and to come sit down. Then I watched, mesmerized as Morgan went to the refrigerator, opened the door and pulled out the milk jug. Keep in mind, she can only do this when there is not a lot of milk in it...way too heavy otherwise. Then, she put it on the counter and pulled a stool up to it. She then got on the stool chose two glasses from the drying rack and set them side-by-side on the counter. Still amazed, I watched her open the milk and pour an equal amount of milk into each glass (basically using up what was left in the jug. Wow. She has never done this before, nor did I know she could if she wanted to. Well, I knew she could, but I'd never tested out the theory. She was so proud of herself and praised her and gave her big hugs. I had been giving David the play-by-play, so he praised her via speakerphone. I've got to figure out a way to put the milk in a smaller container so she can do this whenever she wants!

Morgan's teacher called today during school time. At first I was worried something was wrong, but she reassured me that Morgan was fine. She usually emails me information or interesting things Morgan does. Today they were working on "why" questions. They would give specific examples like "Why do we wear a jacket?" Answer, "Because it's cold outside." Or, "Why do we eat our hot dogs?"..."Because we're hungry." Her teacher decided to have one of the assistants ask Morgan the question again about the hot dog. She asked "Morgan, why did you eat your hot dog?" She had asked it a little differently so they wondered how she'd answer. Morgan answered, "Because I wanted a cookie." Ha ha! This is great because she wasn't just memorizing a rote answer, she was thinking about it and answering spontaneously! This is also so Morgan...she has some things she'll eat no matter what, but some foods she'll eat if she knows she'll get a treat. This was apparently one of those!

Finally, during the NFC finals on Sunday David was really fired up about the 49ers. He always is, but with the Super Bowl at stake he was even more passionate. Morgan (and Piper too), get a little upset when David yells at the TV, players, refs, etc. even if it's something good. Morgan was trying to get David's attention for something and suddenly busted out "SERIOUSLY!!!" She had the total sarcastic inflection too. She knew she was saying something funny because she immediately cracked herself up. Maybe we have a little comedic personality coming through?!

A Random Dr. Visit

Morgan stayed home with a cold for a few days last week. About that time, or a bit later, she started to do some odd things pertaining to her potty habits. She would have to go pee several times in a row. A few occasions she would pee a little in her panties, which threw her into a tizzy and she'd have to change her panties immediately. Finally on Sunday it dawned on me that this may be something we need to see the Dr. about. A possible UTI (Urinary Tract Infection, I know...gross)? This is something we'd never dealt with before and I haven't experienced it much myself. In fact besides a few colds, Morgan has not had any illnesses/issues that required medication since she was six months old. Pretty good, in my opinion.

With Morgan's autism we struggle with communication over little and big things. I asked her this weekend if it hurt when she went potty and she said "Sure!" in her silly way where I don't know if she really means "yes" or if she's just agreeing with me because she feels like it. She has never complained of pain or anything bothering her (though we've noticed her adjusting her pants/panties a lot).

So...I called the nurse at the pediatrician's office and she said to come in. I gave Morgan lots of liquids to be sure we'd get a good sample and she did manage not to freak out when they had her pee in the "hat." I do think she had to go so bad by that point it didn't really matter. When we saw the Dr., there were no other issues (as possible from her cold), but the preliminary test did say she had a UTI. It made sense when they said how this happens...it's sometimes due to basic anatomy and not wiping well. Morgan has been wanting to wipe herself lately and I admit to not being as diligent about it. Ooops. So, off we went to get our antibiotic and she'll hopefully be feeling better soon. She's back at school today and besides a few extra trips to the bathroom, her teacher said she's doing great.

The picture above is while we were waiting for the Dr. This is a brand new office that opened the same morning, so I figured "how dirty could the floor be?!" They were playing "Night-night" and insisted their coats were blankets. Hey, we had to wait forever for the Dr. and they were occupied!

Lastly...so odd. Morgan was unusually affectionate with the Dr., randomly giving him hugs and sort of "pawing" at him. I think he was a little thrown off by it too. She usually keeps her distance. I think the Berenstain Bears and the "Visit to the Doctor" book has helped tremendously with any fears of doctor visits. She even said "Just like Dr. Grizzly" when the Dr. was checking her ears. Good girl!

Plateaus and Connections

Sometimes I think there is a bit of a pattern to Morgan's development. It is possible that most kids develop this way, but I'm not sure. Piper may more of a sure and steady girl, taking a gradual approach, but Morgan is a bit more complicated. But, how can we expect anything different from her?

Currently, I think Morgan is in a "plateau" stage at the moment. In this stage, in the past, she sort of levels off for a while before she makes a big jump forward. Preceding the jump is usually what I call a "crisis of frustration" phase where we seem to struggle more with communication and see more outbursts and tantrums. I know we are not there right now, though she has her moments, so now is the plateau.

During last summer she had a huge jump forward in her expressive language and once she started school in the fall, she took another leap. She has much more spontaneous language, less scripted, though some is still there. I find she makes these leaps as schedules/routines change, as this is where she is challenged the most. She likes her routine and fights to stay in it...but that is not life and she is forced to make changes, thus she takes jumps forward, whether she is willing to or not. Thank goodness!

Now we are back in the school year as our winter break is done. Maybe we'll see another jump forward soon? Dare we say there is a "pattern"? Once we think we figure something out, it changes again.

We are taking steps forward in our RDI program as well. In just the last week I have worked very hard with Morgan to incorporate techniques and "activities" into our routine. Though it is hard work to keep her engaged, when we do it there are great rewards. I must admit, that at times I have a hard time "connecting" with my girl. She is high-functioning enough that she never completely retreats into her own world, but she is satisfied with more playing on her own and loves to watch her favorite TV shows (again and again). Since I have been working with her more consistently I have felt more "connection" with her. When we are in the midst of what we call our "projects" she often will stop to give me a hug or kiss. I'm sure she feels much more connection with me as well. Some of this is due to the one-on-one attention she gets and I am down on her level...but some of it is due to the strategies of helping her to become more dynamic in her communication.

With RDI we try our best to use more "dynamic" communication with her. We avoid questions and commands. These things require rote answers, not forcing her to think and make more dynamic pathways in her brain. We use "experience-sharing" language, talking in detail about what we are doing and seeing, whether we are sorting laundry or putting away the dishes. We also work side-by-side in a way that we are dependent on each other, no one working completely independently. It is truly what the name is "relationship development." We are still at the beginning of this journey, but I am thrilled with the progress so far.

I'm off to work with Morgan some more and hopefully lots more hugs and kisses along the way!

The Car Wash

Morgan and Piper have a love/hate relationship with the car wash. Basically this means Morgan loves it and Piper hates it.

It had been quite a while since our last trip to the car wash. It had been snowy and slushy and the car was filthy! The girls would brush up against the doors getting in and out and their jackets were a mess. I hate spending the money on it, but there is no way I'm washing my car in the driveway in a Spokane winter. It had to be done. Morgan was so excited when she heard where we were going in. She'd say "We're going to give the car a bath!" Piper was unaffected until we made the turn to the entrance and she heard the roar of the machinery. She suddenly panicked and started pointing in the opposite direction saying "Go that way, go that way!" I kept telling her it would be fun. She started whimpering as we got closer. Morgan just got more excited!

We managed to avoid a major meltdown. I carefully explained as the car maneuvered through, that it was getting rinsed and then the soap was coming (just like washing her hands), then scrub scrub scrub, rinse and dry. Finally at the end I asked them to look for the yellow light to change to green which meant it was all done.

As we exited the car wash and made the turn onto the street Morgan said "Yay, we did it!" and Piper said almost simultaneously "Whew! We made it!"

Dancing Queens (or not)

Saturday morning Morgan and Piper had their first dance recital! We were so excited, but apprehensive as well. We have one "dancer" with autism and the other is technically too young for the class she's in. Anything could happen, right?

Morgan loved being on the stage so much it was hard to keep her off of it. In fact she broke away from us just as the teacher/director, Miss Michelle, was welcoming everyone and introducing the first dancers. Morgan ran right on the stage and David had to catch her halfway across. I'm sure the audience thought it was funny, but we were sweating it backstage wondering how this would all go.

Here's Piper's first performance:

Yes, we are "that" family, with "those" kids.

She ran right to me when she exited the stage. I tried to get her to go back out once, but then she just sat in my lap and watched. When they finished she clapped and said "again!" Sorry, not so much Piper.

And we will not be showing you her second "performance"... as she did manage to sit in the stage... in her spot... the entire time... but did not move. Hmmm. She did go out at the end for the finale, but ended up crying and her sweet teacher managed to mostly calm her down until I came and got her. Well, we knew she was the youngest. We'll be curious to see how she does at the next performance. Really, I didn't have high expectations for this and was just glad she got to be there. Everyone commented on how cute she is though!

As for Morgan, check this out:

She turned in TWO, yes TWO amazing performances! Really! She ran out there and went right to her spot and danced with all the other girls. It was backstage that was tough. She did not want to hang out and wait her turn to dance. She finally interacted a little with the other girls, but she mostly demanded to go find Miss Michelle, or go potty, go home or go on stage. This involved a lot of tag-team running after little girls. Exhausting.

Oh, and Morgan capped the show off in and interesting way. We were in the wings wait to go on for the finale and we heard some little pops coming from her. Usually she just says "I tooted" and laughs. This time she persistently tried to get her teacher's attention... "Miss Michelle! I tooted!" Again and again. Luckily Miss Michelle was too busy herding girls onto the stage to notice.

Whew! We are constantly amazed at what Morgan can do when she wants to...but that's the trick, the motivation. It's a constant juggling of pushing her limits as well as giving her space and allowing her to be in her comfort zone. I think it works this way with most young kids, but with the ones on the autism spectrum we have to deal with the extremes.

Overall we are so proud of both girls. They will learn and grow from these experiences their own ways.

The Nutcracker

I had the privilege of escorting my Morgan to a performance of the Nutcracker this year. I considered it last year, but ruled it out pretty quickly. I wasn't even sure she was ready this year, but after discussing it with David we decided to give it a go. Morgan loves her dance classes so much and I wondered if she could make the connection between her classes and the dancers on stage. Here's how the evening went:

The ballet was performed at the Fox Theatre in downtown Spokane. It is a beautiful art deco building which was restored just a few years ago. We made our way in through the crowd and found our seats. They were perfect for us. In the first section of the balcony right on the aisle and next to the exit. This came in handy as Morgan had to use the potty once during each Act. We also wanted to make sure we had a quick escape route if a meltdown ensued. If you noticed, in the picture above, Morgan has a pink weighted lap pad across her legs. Her teacher was kind enough to loan it to us. She uses it at school during her circle time to help her sit with less wiggling. It worked great!

Here's Morgan checking everything out while I was trying to get her to smile. The theatre also has "booster seats" for kids. How genius?! They are a couple of inches of foam upholstered in the same material as the seats. It give the kids a bit of a lift while helping to keep the folding seats from popping up.

Unbelievably she made it through the whole performance! She really seemed genuinely interested in watching what was happening on stage. I explained the story as we went along. I'm not sure how much she "got", but she definitely listened. I think the best part for me what just being there with her. Occasionally she would want to hold my hand or put her hand on my leg. She loved when everyone clapped after the groups of "sweets" performed (bon bons, spanish chocolate, etc.) and joined right in. She got a little fidgety at the end and I knew she was really tired...the performance started when we usually start our bedtime routine. She handled it well though.

This is the best shot I could get with one of the Nutcrackers in the lobby. There were a ton of people standing around after the performance and she was fascinated with it all. Once we got back to the car she told me "I want to see Christmas lights and Tinker Bell and have lunch!" But before we got out of the parking garage, I saw this:

Out for the count. We had a great night. Oddly enough she does not talk about it and does not respond much when asked. David's theory for this right now is that, for now, we need to live in the moment with Morgan and just have a good time. She currently does not draw on these kind of experiences for future use or reflection...but we hope that comes with time. We might be surprised one day when she says something about the evening or the dancers. We would like to make this a tradition and will bring Piper too in a few years. It's the perfect Mommy-Daughter date night.

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Hey Pretty Girl! You are four years old today! We love you so much. You give us joy and challenge us so many ways each day...some are tough, some are to be expected. Your sister adores you and you love her more than we imagined. You have given us new perspective on life and make us think about what really is "normal." We love that you love the color orange and you wake up requesting "dance class" every morning (though always have a fit if you hear "it is not Friday yet). Though it may not be every day, but we promise you will always have you "dinosaur sandwiches."

Hugs and kisses our Boo Boo Girl!

The Annual IEP Meeting

We had Morgan's annual IEP meeting today. It was a whirlwind of discussion and juggling teachers, therapists and two little girls as we sat at a "kid-sized" table in Morgan's classroom. Overall it went well. Morgan has met all of her goals (at least to the 80% requirement..) and now has completely new ones. We are so proud of her! She seems to have especially come a long way since she started the AIM program in September.

I won't go into details of her new goals quite yet. I am still working out clarification on one of them. It needs to be amended or possibly another goal added. She has some good challenges for the next year that currently seem daunting...but her goals last year felt that way at first and she did great.

I was impressed with two things at this meeting. The first was that the school principal participated. He was not involved last time, so I was surprised to see him when we walked in. He seems to genuinely care about all the kids and I like that he is so involved in the details. I guess I hope that this is the case with all school principals, but I'm not familiar with how involved they are day to in these sorts of meetings. The school psychologist was not there this time, but this made sense to me as I believe overall we have confidence in Morgan's placement for now and really we did not discuss anything that the other teachers and therapists couldn't handle.

The other thing was that the Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) attended as well. She did have to split her time between two IEP meetings, but the fact that she was there was amazing. If you remember Morgan does not technically qualify for speech therapy per the district's evaluations. During the AIM parent night I discovered that the SLP really does work closely with the kids in the intervention classroom, so Morgan is receiving these services in an way I was not aware of. At the home visit I brought up a point that concerns both the social and language areas... so I was thrilled to see they incorporated this into her IEP and involved the SLP in a greater way than I thought they might. She also agreed to meet with me at a separate time to discuss our RDI program. These therapists are certainly not required to do this, so I am excited that she agreed to it. Now I've got to follow up and get it scheduled!

We continue to be impressed with Morgan's school and the AIM program. I always hear horror stories about school districts and their refusal to provide services. Unless the wool's been pulled over our eyes, we think we've got a good deal so far. Let's hope this continues.

A Home Visit

On Tuesday, Morgan's AIM teacher as well as her OT (Occupational Therapist) came to our home for her parent-teacher conference. There has been no school this week to allow the teachers to do these visits. At the beginning of the school year Morgan's teacher from the integrated class came to our house to introduce herself. I believe they do these home visits to also assist parents in issues at home. If they share about how they conduct the class this can be adapted in many ways to the home. Also, I think it also helps the teachers get to know the individual child better, so they can enhance their learning experience.

Well, overall Morgan is doing really well in school. They said she is happy and flexible in her routine and her peers really like her....huh?! What?! Is this the same kid we have screaming at us at bedtime that she doesn't want to give her sister hugs and kisses goodnight and then when we close the door of her room she screams to give Piper hugs and kisses? The same kid that MUST watch Tinker Bell RIGHT NOW and has a fit if we say no? Hmmm. Well, we know enough about kids her age that this is not uncommon. Even for typical kids, at home they push the boundaries and up the demands. Really, it was great to hear that her behavior is so good at school. We can deal with the home issues, we know she has it in her to behave well and we do see it at home...but we know developmentally there's a place for the challenges as well.

Morgan's teachers showed us where she is at with her IEP goals. These are up for review/revising next week, so it was nice to have this meeting to give input on next year's goals. She has surpassed some goals and gotten close on others. We are really happy with her progress, especially these first few months of the AIM program. Whatever they are doing, and we are doing, it is really helping her progress.

They shared that she does well academically. Morgan does not have any "cognitive" goals on her IEP. This means that she is keeping par with typical kids on her overall understanding many processes and knowing facts. She can sequence pictures, match like objects, of course her counting, number recognition and such things have always been good. This gives me a lot of peace of mind as I hear the better "outcomes" for kids with Autism tend to be for the ones with average and above average intelligence. We have been reassured many times in the last few weeks that Morgan falls in this area of at least average intelligence.

Her fine motor skills are improving. She struggles the most with her "grasp" of writing instruments. She automatically wants to put her fist around it instead of holding it with the tips of her fingers. This is something we can work on at home as well. She is getting better with scissors on cutting straight lines, but will soon graduate to working on cutting shapes. The OT gave us a list of activities we can work on at home. I always have a hard time coming up with these things at home, to having this tool with really help.

I loved it most when they said her peers like her and like to be around her. I'm pretty sure this is mostly the kids in her intervention class. I didn't think to ask about kids in her integrated class. I'll have to ask in her IEP meeting. I shared one area I wanted to see added to her goal and that is working on pretend/imaginative play. She just does not do this much at all, individually and with peers. There is so much socially that is learned from pretend play...making up games, problem solving, role playing. Really, it is real life stuff. If they can help her to develop this area, it will help her so much.

I'm sure there is more that was said, but memory is failing me now. We are just so glad that Morgan has this wonderful program and such support around her at school. I know families struggle so much with school districts and the services available. We may encounter issues in the future, but we are grateful for what we have right now.

Tinker Hell... I mean, Bell

This little sprite-ly creature has managed to take over our house lately. This can be good and bad. I bought the first movie and costume for Piper for her birthday. The idea came from the fact that Piper loved to wear Morgan's Sleeping Beauty costume, but it was just too long for her and she'd trip all over herself. One day when shopping at Toys R Us I saw the Tinker Bell costumes and thought, hmmm, that just might be right for Piper since the skirt is so much shorter. Friends had told us the movie was cute, so we tried it out.

So, three more movie sequels since, we are now in Tinker....Hell. I love it because they love it. They ask to watch one or more of the movies (only about an hour and ten minutes long) each day and they are still totally entertained by them. They like to wear the costume and have Daddy "fly" them around the house. But...I don't like it because if Morgan doesn't get to watch it she throws an absolute fit and it keeps her from doing other, more social activities. So, it's a challenge to keep things balanced and make everyone happy.

A bit more info on the movies. We also love them be cause they are a nice length and the plots are not too scary or complicated. Sometimes Disney goes a little overboard in those areas, especially introducing the topic of death at an age where kids can't possibly understand what's happening. The Tinker Bell movies are fun and sweet with just the right amount of conflict, but always with a happy ending and wonderful music to enjoy.

That said, Morgan and Piper did get their first glace at the "Disney Fairy" toy section at Target this week. There may be a few more items appearing at our house soon, but hopefully ones that will encourage some imaginative play and not just fill the house with junk. So, family members, if you are reading this and think you may wish to include a Tinker Bell item in a holiday or birthday gift...please ask me which one would be most appropriate and I'll be glad to provide you with the information.

Morgan's First Movie

A few weeks ago David had the privilege of taking Morgan to her very first movie!

First, I will explain this picture. It was taken by another parent and it was pretty dark in the theater at the time, thus the blurry shot and the fact that David's head was cut off.

David called me right after and said he was almost crying...they had SO much fun! We have hesitated to take Morgan to the theater because we fear it would be too loud, crowded or just too long for her too stay seated.

Our local Autism Society informed us of the AMC Theatre's "Sensory-Friendly" movie screenings. They are offered the first Saturday of every month at our downtown Spokane location. They are wonderful!! I think any kid/family would benefit from this. The showing is at 10:00 am, so convenient that kids are hopefully not too hungry or tired. They keep the lights dimmed, but not totally dark and sound is only projected from the front of the theater, thus it is not as loud and the surround sound doesn't come from all sides. The kids are also free to get out of their seats and roam/move about as necessary.

David got Morgan a small bag of popcorn and he said she munched and watched happily for the first hour or so. Then they took a bathroom break and she roamed a bit, then watched the rest of the movie. When she got home she said she liked it and that she saw a movie with a "Cat and Humpty-Dumpty." It was Puss in Boots. Ha ha!!

We'll be attending the next movie The Muppets on Dec. 3rd with the whole family. Can't wait!