Well I missed my first week! James was sick sick SICK with a stomach bug and was out for most of the week. Poor kid, it was not pleasant. Funny, I can't get him to pee in the toilet but I got him to puke there! I guess if he peed as frequently as he was vomiting last Tuesday, he might understand better. Thank God this week is proceeding more normally.That said, life is far from "normal," of course. James is having great school days (yes, I said great) and manic evenings (with flashes of brilliance). I know, what the heck does that mean? For instance, last night, he was so focused on self-stimulation (aka stimming) that I had be with him every second. Hold the YOU SHOULD BEs for a second. I mean I had to be interacting with him, every second: no bathroom (for me), no answering the phone, no walking over to the other side of the room and blowing your nose. Other moms will nod their head and know that I am lucky. Some kids are violent or self-injurious and this type of evening is the norm. Forget redirection, nothing focused him, it was constant. I slept without moving last night! Well, except for when James climbed in the bed.
Now for some examples of the "great/brilliant" part: James is doing great in school. No whining. Decent eating. Amazing transitioning to the auditorium and the lunchroom (only child in his class who could, actually). Great reciprocal language and actually anticipating the next activity. At home, while James was in the tub, I was blowing bubbles in the bath and trying to get James to blow (he has attempted a flute with his speech therapists and had a little success lately YEA!). James looks at me and smiles, puts him mouth the the wand, and SAYS "blow" beautifully and clearly. Moments later it was happy squealing and the word "bubbles" escaped from his beaming face.
Update on the test front, every genetic test - and there were a lot, specific (like Fragile-X) and general chromosomal ones - came back NORMAL! How cool is that? One less unknown. I know, now what do we do with this information? And he's got all the MMR antibodies in his bloodstream. Of course now the Board of Ed wants a copy of the actual blood test as a doctor's note is insufficient. How can the BOE trump a medical doctor? I think this is a legal point here, but I think I'll eventually get it for them. I just want to talk to my doctor first.
Also, we are starting James on a communication book with PECS symbols as a stepping stone to a talking board. It's so new I don't know all the terms yet. BUT so far so good, James has the "more" and "finished" symbols down pat. He's not interested using the symbols of ideas that he can express physically. Like "eat" or "drink." He'll go and get the bag of pretzels or the juice. It a good sign though, he gets the concept.
