My Quirky Boy

It is grey and wet here in Western Mass, and I don’t really mind today. It is quiet, and peaceful and all the critters, including the baby, are taking full advantage.

We are continuing to work with Fin on his emotions and yesterday he and I sat in front of the computer so that he could see his face while expressing an emotion.

For instance “Angry”,

Or “Disgusting”

And “Grumpy.

As much as we were being silly and goofy, I think it helped him to see his own face reflected back with an expression of emotion. He had a session with L yesterday, and those have not been going as well as they used to. She took him outside and they were on a blanket in the yard playing games. Usually if they are in the house one parent, or the other stays in close proximity to make sure he stays focused. After a few minutes I looked out side and Fin was wandering off, not listening. I went out to try to get him back on track and asked L if he was participating. The look I got told me no, and she had to use the threat of a time out to get him to listen to her. At that time we decided it was better to come inside so that I could try to keep him on track for the session. We were able to keep him going for about another 1/2 hour or so, but after that all he wanted to do was line up the blocks in a truck to dump them out over, and over. He was actually picking up the toys, so I was not to disappointed with that, but L and I both knew he was cooked.

During reading times at night he can tell us all the letters in a word, and we tell him what the word is. He is recognizing small words now when we read to him. We are going to keep doing this, and before long we expect he will be reading. We are also working on his numbers with him, and this is kind of a mixed bag. A lot of ASD kids have an obsession with numbers, and Fin could easily fall into that. It is hard to tell how much he knows, due in part to the Floortime play therapy. Part of it is that the therapist will say, or do the wrong thing in an activity, (using a puzzle, or in a game) to get Fin to do it correctly, and to engage. I think this has backfired a bit, and now he incorporates this into his play regularly. Often when playing he will purposely do the wrong thing first, he thinks this is how you play.

I hope today he has a great day, school tells us that everyday no matter what really happens. He has swimming, which so far he tells us he likes. But often when we participate in an activity with him, in the moment of it he is not really liking what he is doing, and afterwards, when asked he will tell you, “It was GREAT”. His headphones are coming this week and we are going to give the movies another shot.

In an effort to help with the sleeping issues we covered his windows with cloth over the blinds to make it really dark. I think it helped, he slept an hour later than he normally does. I’ll take that….. even though I was up with a cooing baby, he needs the sleep.