She must have been hearing us talk about school, getting prepped and ready, getting a new backpack, etc. that school was heavy on her mind. A few days before school was to start she came to her Poppa and said, " I made a bad choice." We talk about choices a lot....good choices for food, good choices for behavior, good choices for play, etc. So when he asked her what was the bad choice she made her response was, "I said good-bye to K" (K is her teacher's name).
Oh my goodness, has this child believed that the reason she didn't get to see her teacher all summer was because she had said goodbye? Poppa tried to explain to her that school was closing and everyone said goodbye, but we weren't convinced she was buying what we were trying to sell.
A few days later it was time for parent orientation. The kids are allowed to go and play in the library while parents listen to the principal and spend time with the teacher. After about an hour's time, the the child is brought to the classroom to look around and to see the teachers. It's a great set-up and experience for everyone!
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| "Mama! I'm at school!" |
We pulled up to the building and Nea was super excited. "It's my school! My school! We are at school!" She practically skipped inside and we went to the sign-in table to get her folder and information packet. I heard a voice behind me say, "Hi Nea." Nea peeked out from behind me and saw the teacher's assistant from her classroom. "MS. R!!! MS R!!!" and she jumped into her arms!! I mean this girl jumped from the floor to this woman's arms in a nanosecond. Thank goodness she was quick thinking and caught the super excited girl!! She nuzzled into her neck and hugged and hugged. It was a beautiful reunion.
Mrs. K was standing there as well, and said hello. I wish you could have seen Nea's face. Surprise, joy, dreams-come-true, excitement and gratefulness were all present. She jumped from one set of arms to the other and the hug-fest started all over again. Nea cried tears of joy as she held on tightly to the person whom she thought she would never see again. The tears in my own eyes were hard to ignore. Nea danced happily down the hall to the library with Ms. R to go and play with friends.
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| Making eggs in the make-believe station |
Many parents of special needs kids send in a letter prior to the start of the school year. It usually contains information that just can't be navigated in an IEP. I did this last year and decided to do it again this year. At this point, I am sure that I'll be doing this every year. This year's letter was a little easier because Nea has the same teacher and all I had to do was bring her up to date with our summer. Next year (when she starts Kindergarten) will be a much more difficult letter to write. I share the letter with you here for anyone who may be looking for ideas for their own kids.
Speech
It's been remarkable to watch her speech make leaps and bounds over the summer. The jargon speech is so minimal, the only time I notice it is when she's really excited. As we all suspected, she believed she was saying words and it was a matter of having the exact words that made the jargon go away. Sentences are 5-8 words and she very much wants things labeled. "Mama, what's this?" "Mama, what's his name?" We've been working on conversational speech, and that has been the hardest part. I send a diary of her weekend events into the Speech therapist and she talks them over with Nea. "What did you do?" "Who did you see?" that sort of thing. When someone asks her a question, she responds immediately with "I'm Nea".....and it's certainly not what they asked. She's not listening to the question or the conversation, but rather giving the answer she things is wanted. It's a work in progress, for sure.
OT
It's been remarkable to watch her speech make leaps and bounds over the summer. The jargon speech is so minimal, the only time I notice it is when she's really excited. As we all suspected, she believed she was saying words and it was a matter of having the exact words that made the jargon go away. Sentences are 5-8 words and she very much wants things labeled. "Mama, what's this?" "Mama, what's his name?" We've been working on conversational speech, and that has been the hardest part. I send a diary of her weekend events into the Speech therapist and she talks them over with Nea. "What did you do?" "Who did you see?" that sort of thing. When someone asks her a question, she responds immediately with "I'm Nea".....and it's certainly not what they asked. She's not listening to the question or the conversation, but rather giving the answer she things is wanted. It's a work in progress, for sure.
OT
Her core and upper body is much better these days. She will spend time with her head leaned forward, or crawling around on the floor like a cat. Holding a crayon still varies....she'll use the tripod position once, and then the next time she will power grab/hold it. I've noticed more that if she's had a long day, normal talking voice bothers her. "Mama....shhhh, that's too loud." Messy play is still not a favorite.
Social
The hardest part, and the part that breaks my heart. She loves to be around other kids, but she just doesn't know quite what to do once she's there. She may walk up to a random kid and yell, "Tag! You're it!"....without any other words. No introduction, no request to play, nothing. I hope school helps more with the social part of how to insert into play. She just doesn't seem to get it. She tends to gravitate to younger kids on the playground because they are more forgiving. Peers and older kids are less so about her "odd" behavior and loud talking. We've also been working on eye contact by playing the "What color are her eyes" game. Right now it's just with family (Mama, Poppa, Grandma, her cousin, her aunt, etc.) and she does pretty well.
High energy without a doubt in new environments. At home, she will sit and focus on a show or reading a book or her ipad. But out in the big world, she amps up and I worry about anxiety. When she's mad or frustrated, she does a lot of foot stomping and yelling her favorite phrase "It's not fair!". The polar opposite of that is when she fully understands what she did/said was not okay and she'll cry out, "It's all my fault!!" bursting into tears and crumbling into pieces. Needless to say her emotions run all over the place some days.
She is fully potty trained! She does very well with poop and pee and does not announce. She just goes on her own. If she is someplace new, she will say, "I have to potty" and I take her. She had only 1 accident all summer and that was at the park. She was much too involved in play, and waited too long. Other than that...it's been a very wonderful thing. What did we do? Nothing. You guys had set a routine, we followed that format and then we just let her lead. It worked!!
She still uses the paci at home to self soothe. It's the one thing I would really love to get rid of. She doesn't use them (yes 3 at at time) unless she's tired or she's stimming. She uses one to suck, one as a squeeze ball and one to flick her nose. The leash on the paci she will drape around her mouth. It's the crazies self soothe I think I've ever seen. We don't send them to school, and we need to figure out how she self soothes there to try and mirror that at home.
Eating
She does well. Even new things she will at least pick up and touch her tongue on it. Sometimes she will say "No thank you" and not even try it. We've been lucky in that she hasn't had the gastric troubles that so many kids with Autism have. She's been on a chewable probiotic for about 5 months now which I think also helps. Milk is still her favorite beverage....God forbid she ever develop an allergy to it!
High energy without a doubt in new environments. At home, she will sit and focus on a show or reading a book or her ipad. But out in the big world, she amps up and I worry about anxiety. When she's mad or frustrated, she does a lot of foot stomping and yelling her favorite phrase "It's not fair!". The polar opposite of that is when she fully understands what she did/said was not okay and she'll cry out, "It's all my fault!!" bursting into tears and crumbling into pieces. Needless to say her emotions run all over the place some days.
She is fully potty trained! She does very well with poop and pee and does not announce. She just goes on her own. If she is someplace new, she will say, "I have to potty" and I take her. She had only 1 accident all summer and that was at the park. She was much too involved in play, and waited too long. Other than that...it's been a very wonderful thing. What did we do? Nothing. You guys had set a routine, we followed that format and then we just let her lead. It worked!!
She still uses the paci at home to self soothe. It's the one thing I would really love to get rid of. She doesn't use them (yes 3 at at time) unless she's tired or she's stimming. She uses one to suck, one as a squeeze ball and one to flick her nose. The leash on the paci she will drape around her mouth. It's the crazies self soothe I think I've ever seen. We don't send them to school, and we need to figure out how she self soothes there to try and mirror that at home.
Eating
She does well. Even new things she will at least pick up and touch her tongue on it. Sometimes she will say "No thank you" and not even try it. We've been lucky in that she hasn't had the gastric troubles that so many kids with Autism have. She's been on a chewable probiotic for about 5 months now which I think also helps. Milk is still her favorite beverage....God forbid she ever develop an allergy to it!
Nea was thrilled to ride the bus, to be back at school and to be with her friends. I have always said that Nea will thrive as long as her network and support system support her in every way. We have had amazing experiences at our early learning center and look forward to another wonderful year. I'm not going to lie....I am starting to think already about Kindergarten. Which school will she go to? Will the teacher be as invested as Nea's teachers have been thus far? Does she ride the bus with bigger kids? Do they mainstream her? Pull her out for therapies? Both? Is it a separate special needs classroom? There are more questions right now than I have answers. And I remember feeling this way before she started her Pre-K time as well. I was scared as hell.
For now, I 'm going to remember that I'm an integral part of Team Nea. I plan to enjoy our year with Mrs. K, the rocking school she attends and watching progress.
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| 1st Day of School |
