Happy Friday!!

I love Fridays! Today at work we went to a retirement ceremony. My old supervisor (not the un-liked one, but the one before him) retired after 21 years of service. It is amazing. You think that all these men are just macho type guys who never show emotions, but every single one of them I have seen retire has choked up. You go through your career working with some wonderful people who end up being a part of your family. I find myself choking up about retirement sometimes--in the 15 years I have been in, I have met some truly wonderful people, and some inspiring people. There really is nothing quite like being in the military. After that we went back to the shop and did a little work until it was time for PT. We went and played football-yes, even the four girls played--and really, it was fun. Normally we do calisthenics and running, but today was a "sports day". Mike brought the boys to visit me this afternoon and told me about their day. Nick had apparently said two words at therapy, but noone can remember what they were. One of the kids there said something and pushed Nick. Nick, thinking it was a game, laughed, said what the kid said, and pushed him back. Mike went to get his hair cut at a barber shop that had a rotating fan. Nick absolutely freaked out! We dont know if it was the noise or the fan that upset him, but he was in total freak mode.

Michael is doing good. He has a doctor appt. Monday to check his growth again. They might also increase his doseage if it looks that he has "outgrown" his current dose of 6 "clicks". He has been eating like a horse lately, so we shall see! I know for a fact that he is now over 40lbs.

Well, it looks to be a quiet night around here. Nick went into his room and put himself to bed again. He does that when he is tired--he will go into his room and crawl up in his bed and go to sleep. I had to fight Michael tooth and nail to go to bed when he was 2! Now, he still does not like it, but he goes. Tomorrow I am doing some volunteer work for the community, so I have to be up early. We are helping to paint an elderly persons house with the "Paint Tacoma Beautiful" project. Have a great weekend!!

Echolalia??

Today as Mike and the boys were leaving Nick's class, the teachers told Nick Bye-bye and waved. Well, when they got into the car to come home, Nick said "Bye-Bye" and waved! He does this sometimes. We will say things like "baby" and Nick will repeat it. This does not happen very often, which is why we still consider him "non-verbal". He does not use words or gestures to get what he wants. He will make the sign for "more" when I prompt him, but he has yet to initiate any "conversation" on his own. He HAS started to babble more since beginning the group therapy so that is a positive sign. I took more video of him today eating at the table, and waving his hands in front of his face. I will send that soon. Nothing much interesting going on here this week. I am tired right now so I will keep this short. We are all doing good!

What makes Nick different?

That question was posed to me today. What is it that makes Nicholas autistic vs. a normal two-year old? All I can say is that it is not narrowed down to just ONE thing that puts him in a different category. It is MANY things that when combined, make him stand out. Yes, a "normal" 2 yr old MIGHT walk in circles once or twice, they might even spin some toys every now and then or get fixated on something. With Nick, all of these are done to the extreme. He walks in circles around the house daily, he gets so pre-occupied with spinning that nothing else matters. The only person he is concerned about is Nick. Other senses can be heightened-he cannot stand public restrooms-everything there echoes. He also cannot tolerate the barber shop-the clippers drive him out of his mind. He has never brought us any toys or books that he is interested in, verbally he is an infant. ALL of these are signs of autism when the pieces of the puzzle are put together.

On the other hand, his intense fixation has lead to many surprises. Yesterday he put his pegs in upside down(he had the board turned over) and decided to spin the board with them on it. He has also figured out how to get bowls to spin by dropping them a certain height from the table. He can find every light switch in a house in a matter of minutes. He is a very concrete thinker. An example of this is when I was playing with a trashbag and handed it to him to play with(supervised-of course). He took it and carried it to the trashcan and put it in. He could not think of a trashbag as a toy. It is a trash bag, and it is meant to go in the trash. This of course has also led to some funny things. For instance, yesterday I was folding laundry and it got quiet in the house. Everyone knows that is when things could get ugly when dealing with kids. I went to check on Nick. Nick had put himself to bed. He was tired, so he went in his room, climbed on his bed, and went to sleep. What TWO year old would do that???

Nick started his group therapy today, and so far it is good I suppose. He got mad when he was not allowed to spin anything. Michael says he likes the other teacher "better" because she has a swing in the room(used to "wake" Nicks senses up). Michael is still "bored" every day. He spends the days watching tv, calling his friends, or playing video games. Ahhhh, summer.

Sticker boy

Nick has an obsession with stickers. Everytime he sees them he MUST peel them off. Over time he has managed to peel off all the stickers that Michael put on his bed around three years ago, all the stickers that were on the playroom door, and is now working on the stickers that are on Michael's dresser. Today he managed to peel off the big sticker on the a/c in one big pull. He has also done this with the stickers on his own bed. He likes the feel of the stickers on his hands. I have come home many times to find he has them stuck everywhere on him. On his clothes, on his arms, hair, etc. It is quite fascinating how he will sit there and keep plucking away until the stickers come off...he will do this activity for 30 min or more. Today he has been quite vocal as well. He speaks in his own little funny language, and ocassionally it will sound like an actual word. Today he was going around saying "UH!" followed by running to me with his arms wide open as if in a hug. We have been doing this for several weeks now where I would sit on the floor with my arms outstretched and he would run into them. I would then say "H-U-G Nicholas!!" and squeeze him. So, today when he started saying "UH!" in this manner I think he was trying to say "HUG". I have some comfort in the thought that he IS trying to communicate on his own terms, and that hope is not lost. Maybe he will say A word by Christmas. And no, Michael does not mind his brother pulling all the stickers off his bed :)

A very "stimmy" day today

Nicholas has been "stimming" much of the day. It started this morning with him spinning his peg board, then progressed to him walking in circles around the living room for a good 4 minutes! I captured the whole thing on our digital camera, but the video is 100MB and is too big to send anywhere. Even Mike said it was a great video and he usually has very few comments on videos I shoot! Anyway, it went into Nick walking on/off his peg board, and you just see him doing things over and over again. If anyone knows of a way to get this file to them over the internet, I would be glad to send it. I have since charged up our video camera and will shoot more with that. I feel that the video will give you a sense of how he truly is better than the pictures. You cant tell how fast he gets things to spin through the pictures! Then we went to the grocery store-Nick got excited over all the lights and that is when he started stimming with his hands-mostly flapping them up and down. I have relented into buying him baby food again. He refuses to eat so many table foods and I did not want him to become deficient in any vitamins. He will only eat soft foods or bread. We have figured out that Apple juice gives him the runs, and now so does the white grape juice. Water and Milk are pretty much it. Well, I better go for now. The boys are still up (thanks to late naps) and I am sure Nick is hungry.