Swingin on a Star: Looking for a Bear, Finding a Penguin.

First, before I get down to today's post, I would like to rant about a little something.....

*stepping on soapbox*

Alright, you jerks that park in parking spaces you are not supposed to....shame on you! I take my daughter to the pediatric rehab department weekly at the local hospital. The hospital has been kind enough to dedicate 5-6 parking spots in the front part of the parking ramp for parents who are bringing their kids to the rehab department. Each spot is clearly marked, "Pediatric Rehab parking". Seems easy enough. If you have a license to drive, I'm pretty sure you can read as well. Why did they do that? Many of those kids who come to the rehab department have devices such as walkers, canes, special strollers, wagons, etc. And when you're toting a kid with any of these devices, it can get pretty cumbersome. The shorter the walk, the much better. We are fortunate enough to not require one of these devices. However, my child is autistic and has bolted away from me one too many times no matter how tight my grip. I'm grateful that we only have to walk a short distance, and are out of harm's way quickly when we park in one of those spots. It's unbelievably disrespectful for you to decide that your personal "got a good spot!" need is rated higher than the need of a disabled child. Shame on you.

*end rant*

Alright, moving on.

A new year and a new round of testing in therapies! Everyone is gearing up for our upcoming evaluation in February by the school district. It's time to test again and see where she lands so that information can be shared with the school district prior to their own evaluation. Is she really going to be 3 in just a few short months?

Both the OT and speech eval will be done in different parts. Her OT session went well enough today. Nothing new or major as far as needs go. Nea still has sensory issues that will continue to need worked on daily. Her trampoline that Santa brought has helped immensely at home with pulling herself together when she feels out of sorts. The jumping is good joint compression, which my little sensory seeker needs to feel balanced. Last week we did not have OT but we did have speech therapy. As expected, it was a much more difficult session. There was a lot of head spinning and arm flapping to be able to stay focused. She was able to maintain, with Diana's help. In Nea's case, "help" means that Diana picks her up and sits her on her lap, giving her soft "squishes" to see if she can help her get herself back together. It usually works. I am grateful everyday that Diana is a part of her life.

Diana started the speech evaluation this week. The first test was the "articulation" test. Nea identified many pictures on her own and the ones she didn't she would repeat very clearly to Diana. Nea's VERY much echoing these days. Echolalia is a very normal language development tool that children use, but for a child Nea's age, it should be waning by now. We know Nea's behind in expressive language so it's no surprise that it's just making its appearance now. The point of all this is...Nea can SAY the words almost expertly, but when and how and why to use the words just isn't all connected as yet. More testing next week as Diana evaluates expressive and receptive language.

One of Diana's cards had a picture of a boy crying on it. Diana said, "What's he doing?"

Nea: "Awwww, he's sad."

Diana: (picking herself up off the floor) "YES! He is sad! What is he doing?"

Nea: "What is he doing?" (it's hard to say if she was echoing or if she really wanted to know)

Diana: "He's crying. The boy is crying."

Nea: "The boy is crying. He is sad."

And there I was, in the observation room sobbing.

All these months of reviewing, seeking out faces to explain emotion, over and over, repeating, reviewing pictures, books...on and on. Today we were able to see it come together.

It's not only that she recognized the face of sadness, but that she was appropriate with empathy. She had an appropriate response with "awww, he's sad" and not just a mechanical one with, "he is sad" It's such progress and I hope to see more in the weeks to come!

After our weekly trip to Jamba Juice (note to self: buy Jamba Juice stocks), we headed to the mall. Of course, we can't be in the mall without a train ride. The conductor knows us by now. We have a lot of punches on our card.

1st Train ride of 2013

Our next stop was the Build-A-Bear workshop. I've been in there a few times with friends' kids, but never with my own. This was our first time in. Nea's had a bit of a fascination lately with bears. She really likes the Bear Hunt story, as well as watching Brave. She calls the Queen (who turns into a bear) "THE bear" and the bad bear "the OTHER bear" She points out bears whenever she sees one (stuffed, drawn, on tv, etc.). So I thought we would head to the Workshop and make her a bear of her very own that she picked.

I also had an alterior motive. (Just so you don't think that I'm a mom who gives into every whim my child has, dear reader). I learned on one of my listservs for parents of autistic children that Build-A-Bear would help you make a weighted stuffed animal.

Remember, Nea is a sensory seeker. This means she likes deep pressure, heavy things, etc. to give her body feedback and information to her sensory system. When that happens, it starts making straighter pathways of information, instead of crooked ones. Crooked pathways require self -stimming, like flapping and spinning and squishes.

Of course my girl who has a new fascination with bears, fell in love with the penguin she saw in the bin. Admittedly, I loved it too! So we took it to the workshop gal who began stuffing it and then she added the 2lbs worth of poly pellets that I had brought with us. The new stuffed penguin, who normally would weigh a quarter of a pound....was now topping the scales at 2.5lbs!

She loves it. It's good for her to carry it around. She lugged that thing through the entire mall as we made our way to the exit. 2 lbs of penguin is a lot of work for the girl. But it's good work and it's work that keeps her grounded. I've never seen her walk such a straight line in all my life.