Thursday May 11, 2006
YMCA Tumble Tots
My initial reaction this morning during the class was that it was not going well. It is a parent participation class that he actually aged out of with his last birthday, but the gymnastics director thought he would fare better in that class than the one appropriate for his age. The normal teacher of the class has an autistic son, which is a bonus for us. (there was a sub there today, so we will meet the teacher next time). The last time we took the class I learned that I need to be front and center or he can’t establish focus on the teacher, so we sat right in the middle in front of the teacher. He was able to focus on the teacher this time, so that was good. However, the class starts with singing and doing stretching and exercise to the music. It was too much for him in short order and he sat with his legs in a butterfly position and collapsed down with his chest on his feet (his flexibility never ceases to amaze me) and covering his head to try and escape the music and movement. Every once in a while he would come up and join a bit, but most of that first part was spent on the floor like that.
When we broke for playing on the equipment he did much, much better. He was pretty good about waiting in line (with prompting) and did a good job performing the physical tasks.
Then they had parachute time. He got overexcited with shaking the parachute (thank goodness they didn’t have balls bouncing around on the parachute…oy, that would have been nuts!). We started singing some kid’s song (like ring around the roses or London Bridge…something familiar, but I can’t remember what it was right now) and walking in a circle, holding the parachute. Then the adults were supposed to lift up the parachute and the kids were supposed to run around under the canopy. Uh…yeah….he ran in happily excited, but then kept running out the other side and to the other side of the gym. I got him back about the time they lifted it again, but caught him sooner as he bolted out that time. I got down and told him that he needed to come back to me the next time he ran under the parachute (while she was giving instructions that I missed because I was talking to Zane). We hooked on again to the parachute and walked in a circle, like before, with me walking next to Zane to help direct him better, and they lifted the parachute….before I knew what was happening, they were all closing the parachute down behind them, creating a dome with everybody, except me, on the inside of the parachute. Total panic struck me. Zane was inside a chaotic, closed environment and I was on the outside. I ran around the parachute looking for a spot without the lump of an adult and ripped it up looking for Zane. Evidently, Zane had the same idea and had found a way out the same time I found a way in because all the adults pointed to where he had just left. He and I met as I ducked back out of the parachute. He looked pretty scared (I imagine I did too). That sucked!
We then played on scooters for a bit, and messed around on the equipment a bit more. The last bit was singing like the beginning. He wasn’t very happy, but wasn’t crying or anything either. He kept saying “all done, all done, all done”.
Now, you can understand why my initial reaction was basically…”it didn’t go well, but we need to keep coming to get him used to it” After I thought about it for a while though, I realized he really has made strides since the last time. The singing has never gone well, except that before he would do everything in his power to get away physically…it was like wrestling an octopus, interrupted by sprinting when he would wiggle away, for the first 10 minutes I was there and I would literally be dripping sweat by the time singing was over. He still didn’t like it, but he didn’t completely lose control and scream, squirm and run like last time. He also paid more attention. At the end, instead of the repeat octopus wrestling, crying, and bolting, he verbally expressed his desire to leave, but stayed there when I told him to wait, it wouldn’t be much longer. He didn’t actually cry once the entire class and I didn’t hear him screaming during the parachute disaster…he just found a solution and came to me, like I had told him to do. So, in retrospect, it showed progress. I hope it goes better next week though.
Occupational Therapy: Day One
This, in contrast, did go well. He had speech therapy right before it that went nicely too. This is the first time the therapist met Zane. She also had a grad student in tow doing her clinicals. We got to observe through a one-way mirror. Most of what today was just for her to get to know Zane a bit and see where he was at, skill wise. I could tell they were pretty shocked at his skills. They are so uneven…the things he is behind on didn’t really surprise her (because of the nature of her work), but the degree to which he had advance skills, without the verbal ability, I think knocked her off her feet. During the block building pattern matching they started out with something that *should* have been a bit of a challenge, but not too much. He got it…they looked pleased. They made a more difficult pattern, he imitated it immediately and they seemed pretty surprised. They then jumped up a bit, with a higher tower and more intricate design. He built two stacks of blocks instead of one that they did, and the phrase “that is almost correct/right” got stopped halfway through the word “almost” when he lifted one entire block wall, placed it on the other wall, creating the correct pattern. Their jaws literally dropped and both commented, obviously without thinking, that they had never seen a kid that age do that. It was pretty cool.
Later, when we talked, they said it was mentioned that he had ‘good block building skills’, but they had no idea he had that level of strength. Then we went through the things he was struggling with so she could make a plan of what to work on. Even as we were leaving, they were still shaking their heads and commenting about the blocks. I told them that was one of the primary challenges we were having with him….he demonstrates astonishing brilliance in some areas, but doesn’t have the verbal…plus, when people test him, they start with easy things. He is bored by those things and refuses to perform them, and the person assumes then that he wouldn’t be capable of the advanced tasks. We had to find the balance between challenging enough to engage him, but not frustrate him so much he gives up.
Finally, a funny story….Last night at bedtime
Zach took Zane through the evening routine…picking up his room, brushing teeth (dramatic improvement on his cooperation since the dental surgery…yay!), reading books, then going to bed. Zach initially forgot to brush his teeth and took Zane into the bedroom to read books. Zane picked up this book (really cool book btw. you can move the hands of the clock, press the ‘time’ button, and it displays the time in digital and says the time). The book has buttons that correspond to the story that say things like “Time to wake up/eat breakfast”…ect. Zach saw the tooth brushing icon and realized he forgot to brush his teeth, so he went back to the bathroom to get the toothbrush. When he walked in the bedroom with the toothbrush, Zane turned to him and opened his mouth wide open. Just as Zach touched his teeth with the brush, Zane pressed the button on the book that announced “Time to Brush my Teeth!” and then laughed heartily as Zach reacted. After a good laugh, Zach complimented him on the great joke, and both of them giggled through the tooth brushing. It was great!
