Creatures at my Door

Halloween

In a few days, a lot of creatures will visit your door. Be open minded. The child who is grabbing more than one piece of candy might have poor fine motor skills. The child who takes forever to pick out one piece of candy might have motor planning issues. The child who does not say "trick or treat" or "thank you" might be painfully shy, non-verbal. They are thankful in their hearts and minds. The

child who looks disappointed when he sees your bowl might have a life-threatening allergy. The child who isn't wearing a costume at all might have SPD or autism. Be kind, be patient, smile, pretend you understand. It's everyone's Halloween. Make a parent feel good by making a big deal of their special child. ♥

I never know exactly how Caroline is going to ask when we are at big public events.  Sometimes she gets overwhelmed by all the people and noise.

Halloween is no different.  I also get embarrassed because my usual polite child forgets to say "thank you" and she sometimes either gets too much candy or she tries to get candy when the home owner wants to give it out.   Saturday, we went to a "trunk or treat" type deal.  A local park had vendors set up tables and gave out candy.  There were two separate lines and they went in a "U" shape.

There was also an area for face painting, magic tricks, and some stuff I didn't see.  They also had a hay ride.    Caroline was frustrated a few times with the different way of giving out candy.  There were so many people that she plugged her ears some of the time and didn't say thank you.

It was so cold that night and my kids costumes were not winter proof.  Caroline, above, is a Hippy Chick.  Lauren, right, is Harry potter.  At least Lauren has a robe and can wear warm clothes underneath.  

Wednesday night we will go out in the neighborhood.  I hope it is warmer!  

We will have to go through a social story about the night.  Maybe about remembering to say thank you and about getting candy.  Caroline gets mad at me when I reminder her to be polite.  This makes the situation worse sometimes but I'm not going to stop.

Good luck to all those with special needs kids.

They grow up too fast

We went to Target tonight to look for Birthday and Christmas ideas.  I also needed to buy the kids winter shoes.  They have gone form a size 5 to a size 7 in two weeks.

We did not find shoes for two 10 year olds but they found shoes that they did like.  I...no so much.

So, although we did not find the robe one child wanted or the game the other one wanted, AND we did not find appropriate Sunday shoes; they did find some shoes that would drive me to drink!!

Stimming

Stimming

What is stimming?  Stimming is a number of different actions done over and over.

Echolalia is another kind of stim.

Caroline has both.  She smells her fingers, she imitates a laugh track, and she talks to imaginary people.  Some NT, neurotypical people stim too.  Have you ever twirled your hair, tapped a pencil, or chewed on a pencil?  Those can be categorized as stims.

One of Caroline's Echolalia stims is talking about back flips.  No matter how many times we talk about them in detail she still comes back to the subject that day or the next.  I put her in gymnastics and told her she would not learn how do back flip the first day.  Every day she asks when she is going to learn to do a back flip.  

Caroline is also "interested", her word, in construction.  There are several buildings under construction in our town and she has to comment on each one every time we drive by.

I've tried to catch her in her stims but she is smart enough to ask what I'm doing and she will stop. 

So, it is a constant battle with, 'Caroline, stop talking to imaginary friends. Caroline, stop using a laugh track.'

I don't let up.  Every time I hear her or see her do a stim I am on her to stop and start something more positive.

Social Stories

Social stories

Old social stories;  

When Caroline was younger she screamed all the time!! She was difficult to control at school and at home.   Here are some social stories that we had when she was in school

1) When I come in school with Mommy (Amy Self), I can stop and say "HI!" to the fish.  I will use walking feet in the hallway.  I will walk down the hallway.  I will walk down the hallway to my teacher's room.  I will not scream in the hallway.  I will walk into the classroom, put my backpack in my cubby and go play.

With kids on the spectrum, looking at other kids is difficult.  They are in their own world and they don't like to acknowledge others. 

2) We sit on the carpet and wait our turn.  The teacher sings to each friend.  When it is my turn, I will stand up.  I sill shake hands and say "good morning".  When the teacher says, "How are you?' I will tell her how I am feeling.  I can say "happy", "sleepy', "sad", "silly", "mad" or any other way I feel.  On Monday, the teacher will ask me about my weekend.  When the teacher asks me about my weekend, I will tell her some fun things I did.

                 This took many weeks to get right.  Caroline did not want to touch another person and did not really know how she felt.  We would practice on the way to school.  

3) When it is rest time, I will rest quietly.  I will not take toys from home living.  I will not talk loudly.  I will stay in my area and rest quietly.  I will not kick the wall.  I will lie on te floor quietly.  If a teacher tries to help me, I will not scream.

         Many of Caroline's social stories had "I will not scream" somewhere in them.

Social stories today  These are either posted near where the social story takes place, such as the bathroom or a t.v., or Caroline holds it and takes it with her such as walking down a hall or going to Sunday school.

 

1) When we watch T.V. it is okay to sing along with the songs or to answer questions that the characters ask.  When the t.v. show is over it is not okay to repeat the lines of the show. This is called T.V. talk and it is not okay to do when you are playing with friends, sitting in class, or listening to a story at school.  If your mom says it is okay, you may t.v. talk at home.

 2)  When sitting down in a chair you sit on your bottom, not on your feet.  When you sit on your bottom you are able to sit still and able to listen to your teacher.

3)  T.V. shows  have what is called a laugh track.  This is used on T.V. shows instead of a real audience.  I will not walk around home or school and tell jokes to myself and use a laugh track.  

 

4)  Games are fun.  The Wii and the DSI XL are okay but you can only play games after you study.  School work comes first and if you study a little every day then you don't have to study so much the week or the night before the test.  To play your Wii or DSI you must have homework done and anything else mom says.

5) When taking a shower I will wash all body parts and rinse off the water completely.  When washing my hair I will scrub my scalp to get all of the hair clean and I will rinse my hair until all the shampoo is out.  Taking a quick shower is not a good idea if I don't get my hair rinsed completely.

Rhythm and Rhymes

Eye hand coordination

Here are some of the fun rhymes that the kids do to engage each other and to work on hand eye coordination.

 

Decorating

 I'm trying to decorate for Fall.

My first project is a fall wreath.  I need to add some more leaves around the edge, it seems to have lost some ummph.  I bought the "S" from Hobby Lobby and bought the brown paint from Ace Hardware. It doesn't say what color the brown is on the can so I'm not sure....

My next project is to hang pictures and two shadow boxes.  Hmmm. That sounds like a lot so maybe I'll just cook some holiday treats. ;).

Massage therapy and working every Saturday

I'm a massage therapist....not a masseuse, and the downfalls of my job and me working every Saturday.......

I have to correct people who call me a masseuse.  No, those are people who give "happy endings".  We are Massage therapists and if you can't remember that we know 200 ways to hurt you and 200 muscles that can be hurt. :)

 Things to remember when getting a massage

1) take a shower

2) shave your legs.  One day growth is not bad but when I cut myself on your leg hair, we have a problem.

3) IF YOU ARE PREGNANT....FOR GOD SAKE........TELL THE FRONT DESK PEOPLE OR THE THERAPIST.  some therapists do not do pregnancy massage and it is best to wait until the second trimester.

My parents take care of my kids one Saturday a month.  The other Saturdays they go see their dad.  My mom said she didn't see them enough so she asked if she could have one Saturday.  Sure, no problem.  In the month of September, there are 5 Saturdays.  I called my dad to remind him that they had the kids this Saturday and he says, "OH NO.... I thought I told you."  no, i say.

My dad then tells me he and my mom are going to Tenn to see my nephew's football game.  Ok. 1) I wasn't invited and my other sister was.  I wouldn't go but I'd like to be invited.  2) they could have gone to any other game...

 So, I had to call about 8 people to see if they could take my kids on Saturday.  Most people are busy and some people just can't handle both my kids.  Caroline is a picky eater and Lauren will talk your ear off. I know if you have kids of your own then it is a task to take on two more but help a friend out just one Saturday!!!

I finally got in touch with one of my babysitters and she was glad to do it.  The only thing is since friends couldn't help me out I lost money today.

The kids had a great time.  They went to the park and played hard. They got McDonald's and they got to come back home and play their electronic games and watch youtube.