Moving on!

Spelling is going really well.  Still some problems with the 4 letter words but otherwise he's doing as well with spelling the real way as he was with the guides.  And he seems to enjoy it more.  I was really amused, and happy, when he set up the magnetic chalkboard for spelling one morning.  He really does seem to view it as a puzzle.  And he is starting to remake the connections between letters and their phonetic sounds. 

Reading is good.  Yesterday I laughed because he decided he wanted more reading and went to his bookshelf, got a book, and brought it to me.  So we had an extra reading session.  I really like when he prompts for activities.

Math is good.  He's still hit and miss with numbers as far as doing something so many times but he's got number of objects solid.  I'll keep working on both so that he learns them.

He really likes to make things.  So I'm working on ideas for educational arts and crafts.  Like the cards.  I'm slowly building up things he can do at his current skill levels so that he is encouraged to work without prompting as much as possible. 

He has made some amazing leaps in other areas of life as well.   He will now bring me the tea jug and a glass when he is thirsty.  He will "prompt" me for activities he wants.  Lately his favorite has been to walk behind me while guiding me to where he wants me to go - normally to the trampoline.   Tonight he want me to change into a dress that he likes.  It's one of my favorites but I'm not changing this late at night.

Words had faded for a bit but are now back as strong as ever with a few new things thrown in.  I can't share the new ones yet because I'm either not sure of the word or I have only heard it once.  I normally wait until I've heard it enough to know that he's making a word association before I decide that it is a word for him.

On other news, his eating schedule is finally settling into something like normal.  He no longer needs to eat lunch at 10:30 am.  Although if he's getting grouchy/grumpy I will make sure that he gets a snack to tide him over to lunch at 12.

Mark is also showing much better receptive language skills.  He is showing the ability to comprehend and follow two or three levels of instructions at a time.  Although sometimes he gets in one of his moods and I can only get him to do one step at a time.  He's got many things solid now.  Stuff like where his backpack goes, where his belt goes, where glasses go when he's not wearing them, where to put dishes when he's done eating, etc.   

And he's come to almost fully comprehend just what is allowed to be worn out in public vs what can be worn in the house vs what can be worn in the yard.  This has been something that has eluded him for many years but has begun to sink in lately.  Unfortunately, it also means that he's going through several outfits a day as he decides to change from activity to the next.  It really shows when he decides that we will be going somewhere because he will show up dressed appropriately for going in public vs going into the back yard.  It's also funny when he decides that he's done swimming and he swipes new clothes from the clothes line to avoid coming in the house.  He's also become very good at getting his shoes where they belong all by himself.

All in all, Mark is making amazing progress in many areas.  All of them parallel about where he is education wise.  I'm looking forward to him continuing to make progress.

Gwiet!!!

Gwiet is Mark's new word.  It's his combination of Quiet and Go Away.  He was talkative today.  I got told to go away, be quiet, and "love you".  And when asked a yes/no question he started chanting "yuppy, yuppy, yuppy".  That was completely new so we'll see if it happens again.  Regardless there was much joy over the talking and the new words.

I jinxed us.  Yup.  So I'm not saying another word because I don't want to rejinx us.

We are still staying on the number 3.  The plan was to start moving on again this week.  But then I discovered that Mark wasn't really transferring/understanding the number thing.  He's been ok with giving me things, including random objects but when I asked him to do something he froze up.  So we are working on transferring that counting skill to actions as well as objects.  For example, tap the table 3 times.

If you all can think of somewhere else I may need to work on that skill with him, please speak up.  I'd like to transfer this skill across as many areas as possible while we are still in the beginning stages, that way it will be easier for him to comprehend as the number quantities get larger.

Spelling took a leap at the end of last week.  I had already been leaving letters out and having him figure them out.  That was actually going really well.  Well he got aggravated waiting for me one day and took the board and spelled "do" without any prompting and no guide letters.  So, since he was in the mood, I decided to see how spelling would go with no written prompts.  And it's gone ok.  So far he's got three words that he'll spell correctly 90% of the time with no prompts at all - do, one, and see.  The rest vary from day to day.  And when I give prompts, it's the phonetic pronunciation of the letter, which is hit or miss right now.  I know that he was taught this at one point, but I think it's been so long that he's not remembering.  But as of right now we are working the original 10 words with nothing but verbal prompts, and only when absolutely necessary.  I'll start adding new words again next week and work them through the cycle.  First, word id with textured words so that he can feel the letters as they are traced - both hand written and printed.  Then partial spelling with written guides.  Then after a week of that, true spelling.  He seems to be viewing it as a puzzle, and enjoying it under that guise, although some days are harder for him then others. 

I might also start doing some things with the letters phonetically.  I have Hooked on Phonics but was holding off until he got further along.  I'll look through the materials over the weekend.  He also has a Leap Frog video that goes through the letters and their phonetic sounds.  And I'm sure if I go hunting online I'll find more resources.  I'm just not sure about adding yet another thing on top of the things he is currently struggling with.

Reading has been holding at the current level while the things were going on with spelling.  But I'm glad that he made the jump because I was running out of reading material.  I have a very extensive collection of primer readers but even that was getting exhausted.  So also next week, we'll start moving up to new books with the new words. 

The Sparks blog has added reading sentences that focus on sight words.  So I'll be adding those to our reading as well.  I might add pictures where possible but I'll spend this weekend exploring the options before I print anything.

Anyways, sorry for not updating sooner but it's been busy around here.  I'll try to do better.  I hope you all are having a good day.

Bubble bath ???!!!

Mark is full of mischief.  But one of the behaviors that he has dropped in the past few months is that of stealing my dish detergent so that he can smear it.  So I've gotten out of the habit of hiding the bottle.  We've even managed a compromise on bar soap so that he only uses it in the shower.

Imagine my surprise when I came out to check on him the other day and found that he had turned the pool into one gigantic bubble bath!  He was grinning like a maniac and having a blast!  So I retrieved my now empty bottle of dish detergent and left him to it.  Fortunately the bottle was most of the way empty before he got to it.  But the bubbles lasted all day.  And I cleaned them out the next morning.  And then there was enough detergent left in the pool for him to make a whole new batch of bubbles that day.  And then they were gone....   And getting the pool in balance again make take a complete water swap out - but he's much more relaxed and happier so it's worth it. (And I'm so, so, so glad that I make sure to buy cleaners that don't have any of his food allergens as cleaners.)

And that seems to have satisfied his urge to play in bubbles since he has been leaving the new bottle of dish detergent alone.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  (No new jinxes!)

And yes, he's still using Quiet and Happy quite frequently and appropriately.  I'm waiting to see what he decides to say next.

Help me!

This was a completely new phrase, used appropriately (I think) in the middle of the day a few days ago.  Mark was running around doing one of his "Be Happy" chants while he seemed to be very distressed.  He was running back in forth in a tight pattern through the living room.

I was keeping an eye on him to see if I could figure out what had triggered/was triggering this when he suddenly stopped.  Stopped running and stopped chanting.  Then he very clearly said "Help me" and looked at me.  I looked at him and said "What do you need?"  Mark then very quickly climbed into my lap and had me give him big hugs.  He didn't give any signs of hurt or pain, just a need for contact and pressure.  He then pulled me in so that we could lay down on the bed and he could cuddle under the covers.  The silliness of the cuddling was that he was under the covers pressing hard against my back curled into a ball, but I was not allowed under the covers or to roll over and pressure hug him.  Every time I tried, he rolled me back over and went back to the same position.  Silly, yes, but it seemed to be what he needed and he was running the show.

I have yet to figure out what was wrong or why he needed the contact and pressure, but after about 15 minutes he was back up and bouncing.  But I truly hope that he realized that little phrase was important and that he will use it again when it's needed.

Be Happy!

Last week was a little rough for me in one way.  In another way it was a reminder about how things affect my son.  My son has no understanding of what occurred last week, and I worked very hard to keep him from knowing just how much it upset me.  But not all of it could be hidden.  And my son, in his unlimited loving way, decided he would help.  So "Be Happy" has been his chant for over a week now.  Happy was a word that the aide's at school taught him a couple of years ago.  I've never been sure, until now, that he understood what the word meant.  But his use of it has been just as expansive and dead on as his use of "Quiet".

It all depends on his tone of voice and body language.  He will chant "happy, happy, happy" while bouncing up and down because he's truly happy with what we are doing.  He will chant "be happy, happy, happy" when he seems to think that he, or I, are not happy with what is going on.  He will distinctly look me in the face and say "Be Happy" when he seems to think that I am not happy.  He will give me silly grins.  He tries to tickle me.  He instigates tickle/wrestling matches.  He sneaks up behind me and gives me big hugs.  All while looking at me and saying "Be Happy".

Now please don't think that I've been down in the gloomy dumps for the past week or so.  I haven't, even though there was a rough day or two.  But it was the reminder of how things affect my son.  We've been doing very, very well for the last couple of months, and that has been drastically reflected in his behaviors.  Without the continual overstimulation and headaches Mark is behaving like a normal boy his age with little to no stim behaviors.  But if I get badly upset, he knows it and the tension goes up.  And his bad behaviors return because they are his way of dealing with stress.  Fortunately for both of us, since he was doing so well beforehand this episode has taught us both new things.  Mark has learned how to try to "cheer up" mommy and that he can do positive things to help his stress.  So, despite the severity of the occurrence for me, Mark is recovering from the stressors very quickly.  I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend he will have settled back down into his "new" level of wonderful behavior.  And mommy has learned to let her beautiful son "cheer her up" in his own unique ways.  Even if she's not ticklish.