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!

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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!