February puzzles

A little list for the start of the month so I have something to aim for and remind me what's planned. We have decided to home educate Little Bird and although for the moment he is still at pre-school for 3 mornings a week until July, time will go quickly and I need a bit of a plan on how to balance our week with therapies and other learning opportunities. I still expect to have to justify this to various 'authorities' so hence the plan.

I have a stack of autism books to read, currently I'm reading one called The Siege which was written by Clara Claiborne Park. A mother that wrote about her daughter's autism - a daughter Jessica that is now a grown woman and one that produces amazing artwork. As I read the book there are many parallels with Little Bird, something that hasn't happened before. You soon realise with a child with autism that it can be very difficult to find a vaguely 'similar' child and one you can perhaps glean some ideas for therapies from or to help you decide what to do for the best some days. I know all children are different but typical children seem to follow a more set development pattern and autism can confuse you so much.

Anyway, this book has given me some hope. As I read it I'm nodding furiously as to how similar some of the quirks are and the ways Clara approached some of the challenges in the early days have been similar to what I have done already with LB so that makes me feel better.

Source: Artwork by Jessica Park

We are currently working on jigsaws as all of a sudden he is putting the pieces together. He can do very complex jigsaws on an iPad but actual ones he was just walking around with the pieces, perhaps picking all the pieces out with faces on and them and making a collection of them. Now for 2-3 piece puzzles he will put them together in the traditional way. He sat with a box of 6 x 2-piece different coloured dinosaur puzzles and I realised he was picking out the right colours and putting it together. Brilliant! Even better was when I said 'Can you do the yellow dinosaur puzzle' and he straight away fished the yellow pieces out of the box and pieced them together. I continued asking him for all the other colours and he did them all. This is amazing to me. It is like all of a sudden, something clicks and he's away with it. Very proud!

Lantern Magic

This week was Lantern Magic at Chester Zoo. A fabulous first time event for us and a favourite place for Little Bird since buying zoo memberships this year. Upon entering you are greeted by elves with glowing dresses and then go to the restaurant to make a little cup lantern. Daddy Bird made this as it would have been too frustrating for LB to do as he was raring to stay outside among the pretty fairy lights. We then collected our big pyramid lantern to light our way across the zoo and special glasses that cause all sorts of animals to be projected from the lights - bats, giraffes....a great idea. 

Star wishes were collected from pretty Lady Christmas and we made them as we walked past all the beautiful animal lanterns and through the magic icicle forest. 

Wishes were then hung on the Cedar Wishing Tree by the jolly elf.

Perhaps I had a wish granted as we walked around when Little Bird started commenting on what he could see. He's usually so quiet and unable to talk when out and confronted with so much sensory information. He was naming the animals. He suddenly said ' I want ti-angle' which confused me for a second but then I realised it was - I want triangle and it was the pyramid lantern he wanted to hold! On so many levels this is amazing as he is applying the shapes that he learnt from a book into real life to help himself to get the object he wants. It completed a magical evening for me. 
Joining in with Country Kids from Coombe Mill and Ethan's Escapades.

Little Bird Little Duck

 

A Little Bird update as developments are happening fairly quickly at the moment - huge achievements in fact for my little boy. I'm so proud of him.

Firstly he has been getting more involved with life. It's like his eyes have opened wide to the world. He is no longer as closed off or appearing to be oblivious to things around him. Not all the time I should add as that appears to be the way autism works. Some days he is away again, perhaps thinking to himself more but we have great days, really great and overall life is better. A box was moved into the kitchen when I was having work done in the house and it has now become a Little Bird perch to help himself to a banana or see what I'm doing. Major! Rushing to pick up the phone and pass it to me when it rings. Major! Having a go at making cakes with me - still fleeting but he's having a go.

 The words are still coming and I've given up counting. He's copying words. Sitting leafing through a picture book, naming to himself what he sees. All the colours, all the shapes, lots of objects. I didn't know he knew all this stuff! I underestimated him. But the biggy for me has been that he will sit still! Look at him at the table. Not strapped in to a booster seat but sat of his own accord. Not a big deal to most but to me this is fantastic. He has slowed right down, much calmer and interested in absorbing information with me, his beloved books and his iPad. We sit side by side for ages, looking, naming. Me watching him, him looking at me. Eye contact and a keenness to take on board new vocabulary. I feel happier each night as I reflect on things he's done and said or laugh to myself at words mispronounced. He was sat saying beach, beach but it sounded a bit ruder than that :) The words are a bit garbled but I hear him practising all the time. He has even started to say sentences - 'I want ......' and today at my parents he was saying ' Pu Du back'. I quickly tried to fathom out what he was saying. He then pointed up a shelf where a white wooden duck was. I motioned towards it and his eyes lit up ' Pu du back'. I then realised, this duck was normally in the hallway where he would play with it and at his request 'Put duck back' Probably one of my happiest moments ever!

Joining in with Ethan's Escapades - Small Steps Amazing Achievements

Happy Talk

So speech has been slowly coming over the last couple of months and I didn't want to say anything for fear it would disappear. It hasn't! So far Little Bird has around 30 words that he says frequently. He says more but I don't count them until I've heard them many, many times but he is copying words all the time. I am so happy! I started a Pinterest board for his words so I can look at it and see it grow pictorially for fun.

 Joining in with Ethan's Escapades.

Pool Time

We are very fortunate in my little town that we have a great outdoor paddling pool. This is the first time we have been, as in previous years Little Bird's sensory issues would have made such a trip quite difficult. This year we decided to chance it.

Little toes dipped quite cautiously at first into the shallow blue water filled with excitable children charging around, laughing and being very noisy. A few walks around with Daddy and then Little Bird was ready to let go of hands and join in. I was so immensely proud and felt very emotional.
 Splashing, laughing, watching the other children. He loved it so much that we have been back every day, either after Daddy Bird finishes work or I've taken him when it opens at lunchtime. There's a small kiosk selling drinks and ice creams, also a play area next door so it's a gem of a place. 

Trees line the edge of the fence to soften the view of a busy road with retail park shops opposite but really it does not matter. It's a pretty place for the mere fact that it looks so incongruous where it is positioned amongst shops and houses. 
A lovely clear paddling pool, shining in the sun.

Many people take picnics and set up camp on the grass or under one of the trees. Little toddlers play on the edge with stacking cups, watching many an inflatable creature drift past. LB took a liking to a crocodile but its little lady owner became quite a bit haughty about things :) I've noticed that Little Bird seems to like the little girls. Bless him, he really wants a friend.

 He was playing with an abandoned beach ball until its owner, a pretty blonde girl stomped over, took it off him and lifted it high above his head. My little man took it all in his stride, looked at her with a gorgeous smile and chuckled, waiting for her to pass it back. When she didn't, he just tootled off, no tears, no big deal. It's occasions like this that really make me realise that there's more to my boy than what his assessment reports states. I see a boy who understands more than what people think, especially those who write those reports. Another post, another time I feel......

Little Bird has been very brave and ventured into the deeper middle part of the pool, joining in with the bigger boys and girls. He has been watching with great interest what the other kids are doing - 6 months ago he wouldn't have appeared to notice and 12 months ago he would have been so anxious we would surely have ended up leaving. Time is improving his emotions and although delayed, I see progression every week. A while ago it was like other children did not exist to him. Now he approaches children to try and play. Passing the ball back to other tots and tapping their arm to say, you throw, your turn. It's been so special to watch him try in a non verbal way to join in. Laughing when they splash, imitating and then also sending droplets flying though the air.

At the end of our pool party as we call it, LB is always happy to cooperate. No tantrums, helps himself get changed and then we go to the playground and onto the swings. Another achievement as he wouldn't go on the swings for such a long time and would panic. It's so lovely now being able to do these sorts of activities with him. We now have a PECS card for pool and guess who brought it to us before bedtime last night? Another day Little Bird.

Joining in for the first time with Country Kids from Coombe Mill

and Small Steps Amazing Achievements at Ethan's Escapades

Happy Smiley Communication

• A lovely sunny week and some little trips out locally.
• Little Bird's first time to eat ice cream here - not had a sweet tooth until recently so a first. How pleased was I, my little boy finally enjoying an ice cream.
• Celebrating LB's speed of picking up PECS to communicate with. Flying with it faster than we can print and laminate new cards. Symbols for different toys, foods, going out in the car, into the garden, for dancing with us and for his beloved iPad. It's made him so happy to be able to communicate without whinging. Changed our lives. 
• I was on a course for three days earlier this week, all about the TEACCH approach - to help LB start to learn, to do activities. A structure to build upon. Daddy Bird was looking after him and they had a lot of fun. As I left one morning, LB grabbed the car picture and ran to DB. He found his way to communicate - 'Take me to Mummy!'