She also said she feels like connections are starting to be made more so than last year. She said she doesn't know what has changed and wonders if he has matured(they notice the difference there from last year) or if it is the fact that they have more one on one time this year so that he is getting more time or what. I wonder if it could be STEM CELLS, but of course she doesn't know that! I am not taking away from what they have done for him, because they are amazing and are working their butts off to help my child so I know without them we would not be where we are today! It seems like the "connections" she talks about started being noticed by them not long after we went to Panama the second time, so even though we have felt like we aren't seeing a lot of improvement, this made us think otherwise! I seriously love his teachers and they are some people I will never be able to Thank enough for the time and effort they put forth for my little Dyl!
The one area that they are not seeing much of anything is very obvious, speech! I wish, hope, pray(to be honest me and praying doesn't happen much these days and maybe that is my problem) that this is something we will see! The one thing that I really want! I can handle different, that does not bother me one bit, but this nonverbal stuff really eats at me! I know he has got to be so frustrated and wanting nothing more than to tell me which episode of Team Umizoomi he wants to watch, but instead we play the guessing game and have to turn on 4 different episodes until A.) I found the right one or B.) He just gives up and accepts whatever one is on. She does feel his receptive language(understanding) is coming along. She said that usually comes first and once they have a good grasp on it, then speech comes along. Sometimes quick and sometimes not so quick, just varies for each individual.
This month Utah finally got the bill put in place to have insurance companies cover treatments for Autism. It was actually passed around the same time that Dylan regressed, so I have anxiously been waiting for January 2016 just for this reason alone! I asked her what type of therapy would be good for him and she pretty much said anything with speech, but not to get him in too much and overwhelm him. She said they do ABA type therapy there at school, but that might be something to try. I have been trying to figure out this insurance stuff but haven't had a lot of luck on exactly what and how it will be covered. I was thinking before the meeting thought that I wanted to look into getting him into speech therapy, so I need to figure that out!
Overall, they think he is doing pretty well and moving forward, just at his own pace! She is excited to have him through next year too so that they can keep working with him before he enters the education system completely.
They have been working on imitating a lot and he has got to where he will do as they say. Things like patting his tummy, thigh, head, clapping hands, raise hand, etc. He is starting to play with toys correctly(a little bit) but not with imagination. He is getting really good at matching identical items, even when throwing in several different items. They want to start having him match similar items like give him a red frog and a cookie. He will then be given a cookie that looks a little different(like a different color or something) then he will be expected to be able to identify that it is the same object as the one they already gave him and match it with the cookie.
Funny things she told me that Dylan has done:
1. He is a sugar addict and they love that fact because that is how they get him to sit, listen, do as they ask, pretty much anything. He loves going to the stations(which is where he usually gets these rewards) more than going to recess. What kid would rather do school work than recess? My sugar addicted boy, that's who! We were discussing behaviors and how neither of us really think that is an issue for Dylan. She wants to watch and make daily(or at least more documented) notes on his behavior. From her just thinking about it, she didn't think he has any, but she wonders if his are so mild that some of the others make it look like he has none. She is going to watch that closely, just to be more accurate. I think she is right with what she said tonight, that he really doesn't have any, except the occasional head bunt or grab out of frustration! So back to funny, they have been working on "raise hand" as one of the commands. So before going out to recess they ask something like, "Who wants to go to recess?" The kids have to raise their hand before they can go. Dylan raises his hand while crying because he wants to go to the station area. He unwillingly goes to recess!
2. While eating lunch, they have a PECS(picture system) thing going on. They have binders with pictures on it. They get the pictures of what is in their lunch that day. The kids have to grab the picture and hand it to the teacher when they want more or something else that is not on their plate. Dylan has got the system down quite well. So well in fact, he has started looking through the rest of the pictures and requesting things that are not in his lunch such as chocolate cookies! I laughed because that is definitely him. They decided to take the additional pictures out so that it was not tempting and for the fact they can't give them what they don't have!
Words they have heard Dylan say:
"Bu" for bus! He hasn't said that one since we got back from Panama
"Hi"
"Down"
"Hi Daddy!" They are pretty sure he said this when trying to get them to pretend to talk on the phone! I knew Brandon would love hearing that, but I almost forgot to tell him!
Some things I have noticed him doing lately, that are small but big for him, are:
Pointing at something he wants! He has, ever since he regressed, used his whole hand to show us what he wants. I have noticed in the past day or two that that pointing finger is out and showing us just what he wants! I love it! I don't know the reason behind that but that is a normal Autism trait.
He has been looking at himself in the mirror and smiling! He was even opening his mouth and letting out and "O" sound today. I started to copy him a bit and we kept that going for a while!
I don't know if because he has all female teachers, that he is used to going to females for everything or what. But lately he pretty much insists that I am the one to help him with things. Don't get me wrong I love it, but sometimes I need to get things done such as make dinner, and I can't help him right then. He very rarely allows Brandon to help him when he is in one of these moods, so that makes things hard sometimes.
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