Okay - John Deere Green again. It's been a month - but I've thought about writing everyday - am tired so will probably forget something but I guess I can always add it:-)
First - this past weekend I was taking a drink of lemon water out of a 64 oz. jug type thing from out of the fridge - the rest of the family was sitting at the table and I hear "Woa - don't drink out of that you hippie!" - Yep - Samuel! We all died laughing!! I said - "WHAT - where did you hear that???" The old man in "Up" I guess......go figure!
Just when we were thinking he was doing soooo great at pretend-play/imagination - he throws me for a loop. We had the neighbor kids over - the boy is a little older than Sam and the girl is a little older than Nasya. Perfect! We were downstairs and the neighbor kids were pretending that Sam's tool bench was an ice cream stand - Sam freaked!! If I had not been right there - he would have for sure yelled in their faces again and again that it's NOT an ice cream stand IT'S a TOOL BENCH!!! And he might have even pushed them away or gotten aggressive with the situation. Today he said that Petey (our cat) could not be a princess....(Let me explain....Sya had a princess wand and she was going around tapping us and making us a princess) Well - Petey could not be a princess because he did not have a crown 'silly'; and Sam got VERY angry when Sya tried to make him a princess....I suppose most big brothers would not like that:-)
I went to an Autism Spectrum Disorder Convention a couple weeks ago - yes two nights of uninterrupted sleep in a quiet hotel room (hmmm, something my hubby gets quite often and needs to appreciate it:-)) - but for some reason I was completely exhausted when I got home!! Probably because we went non-stop the whole time we were there!!! 7:30AM until 8:45pm - LONG days! So - the first day starts off with a nationally known 'Social Skills' speaker/therapist and we are in the front seats (not by choice - that's all that was left:-)) She was talking about how 'neurotypical' people think about how other's think about them. Read it again - it makes sense and is something that Asperger's people REALLY struggle with!! Anyway - there are 800+ people at this conference - and as she is explaining this she steps down off the stage and quickly walks directly in front of - WHO??? ME! She proceeds to talk to everyone about what everyone is thinking - "What is she doing?" Where is she going?" "How do I look?" etc. Then she says, "There is ONE person in this room who is REALLY panicking right now!!" - yep - ME! She proceeds to walk back to the stage and as my heart is pounding - I decide to check my phone for a possible text from my hubby saying "Good Morning Lover" or something like that.......Which brings me to Amazing People....
My text actually read: "Jason got Samuel an iPad!" I was in total shock - and I started getting teary-eyed. Suddenly I didn't hear a thing this fantastic speaker was saying - and was trying to figure out how to fit in the session about iPads! There were 4 different sessions I wanted to go to during that time - but I made a bee-line for the iPad! I was staring at the people who had one to see what they had on theirs - It was helpful somewhat - I did get a great handout that had top education Apps.....we are still finding out it's potential and I am sure we will be for quite some time.
I do wish we could have held on to the iPad before introducing it to Sam - we needed/need to come up with a 'routine' or more of a structured plan - we will have to backtrack - right now he thinks its' primary use is for 'incentive' for him to play games. I knew this would be an issue - For example: he knows he gets iPad time in the afternoon when Sya is sleeping - he gets 20 minutes as long as he has not been naughty. He loses 2 minutes for bad words; not sharing; 5 minutes for hitting/pinching; etc. He can also earn them back - or earn extra if he has been exceptionally good!! HOWEVER - there is a much bigger picture here - I have slowly started to prep him for this - The primary purpose of us wanting an iPad was - using Apps that teach social skills - sharing, not getting in peoples faces, not hitting, lowering his voice, how to go places, turn taking, picture schedules, etc. I found a free App where you can choose - "How To Go To a Grocery Store" "How to Go to the Doctor" "How to Behave Getting a Haircut" etc. Things we all take for granted - but Sam struggles with big time! He is VERY possessive and when he thinks something is HIS - no one else can touch it - he will hoard/hide/and guard like crazy. So - we now are working on that aspect.....will keep you posted.
Nasya - she is getting sooooo big!! Now we hear her saying sassy things like - "Cool _____" "Wait a second!" "Mmmm, delitious!" "I all better now" (just so she can go outside or bye bye) and she has decided on "Sammy" as her name for her brother:-) I didn't think he'd go for that - but he said it was fine:-) There is more to tell - but I have nothing left at the moment - going to bed......
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