John Update

It's been so long since I updated the blog, so I thought I would write about what John has been up to.  First of all, John will be turning 5 in November and we have kept him in preschool this year.  He is attending two schools.  La Verne Parent Participation is a co-op preschool that he attended last year and is continuing for 2 days a week this year.  He stays for an additional 2 hours in the afternoon for a pre-K program.  On the other days, John is attending the "Little Learners" program located in the local My Gym facilities.  He goes for 3 hours and it's a great setting for him because the equipment in the room gives him a little bit of self-directed OT (complete with ball pit, trapeze bars, balance beam, monkey bars, slides, bridges, tunnels, trampoline, etc.)

Last September, John visited with Autistic Specialist, Dr. Bauman, at Casa Colina and she recommended a few things for us since John wasn't qualifying for services.  To address the problem of separating from me, potty training issues, and behavioral issues in the home, we hired a therapist to come in the home.  For most of the year, she came weekly and helped John work on conversation skills, feelings, changes in feelings, writing his name, a few exercises for body awareness, and set up monthly and yearly goals for him.

After months of working together, we realized together that what John needed more than anything else was OT.  He was excelling when it came to one-on-one activities and has been reading for a year.  Sensory problems and lack of body awareness seemed to be the reason for most of the problems we were encountering (which we had known for years, but finally were able to get the appropriate program for him).  We had an OT evaluation, which resulted in a recommendation of 2 times a week.  While we waited on the waiting list for therapy, our in-home therapist worked with the OT to come up with activities we could do in the home to help John.

Once we started OT, we changed his in-home to just once a month.  It's great to continue having someone help with goal setting, charting progress, and recommending new programs.  There are a couple of huge things that helped John make leaps and bounds and I'll detail them below.

BASEBALL
John discovered Major League Baseball this year.  After going to a minor league Quakes game, he was hooked.  He follows the stats, the scoreboard, the game, the players, etc.  He quickly became an Angel fan and a rowdy Dodger fan.  What is so significant about this is that prior to baseball, John would not play ball (any kind of ball), wouldn't play catch, couldn't catch a ball, etc. Since baseball, something clicked in John's head, and he started surpassing his monthly/yearly goals.   He is obsessed with dates, scores, and stats.  Every morning, he is up before anyone else and he is on the computer checking MLB.com and checking the scores.  He gives us the update on who won, what inning the home runs were scored in, and what player hit them.   To him, Dodgers are the "right team" and everyone else is the "wrong team".    He has attended about 15-20 major league games so far this season and last night went to batting practice at the Dodger game and came home with an official MLB baseball that a Giants fan gave him.  He turned to my husband and said, "Daddy, some Giants fans are nice!"  Yes, John, there are some. ;)    (to quote my husband's Facebook status today). 

CASA COLINA KIDS CREW
Casa Colina has this amazing program to teach social skills.  It's an 8-week class that John is about 5 weeks into.  John has learned and applied each lesson he has learned at this class and it's such a delight to watch.  The first week was about greetings and salutations.  The second week concentrated on body awareness while talking to others.  They discussed body position (direction facing while talking), eye contact, etc.  The third week they talked about personal space and used the concept of being a "space invader" when they got too close to someone else.  John took this lesson to heart and spent the next week self-regulating himself.  He didn't like the idea of being a space invader.  He'd put his feet on me an then ask, "is this a space invader"?    Every lesson concentrates on social awareness and skills that are used during everyday communication.    It has proven to be so useful for John and is something I'm so glad was recommended to us.  We have 3 weeks left of the program. 

NOW THAT SCHOOL IS BACK IN
From the first day of school, I realized how much we've progressed over this last year.  John is a different kid this year at school.  He is social with the other kids, stays with the group, able to hold focus and attention, and learning to write his numbers. (since he has had very low fine motor skills, controlling a pencil is difficult.)   I can't wait to see where this next year takes him developmentally.  This journey we've been on has been very tough at times, but it has also been one of the most rewarding things our family has been through too.   This next year is going to be a big year for John.  We've come so far and I'm so proud of my little guy.