This week Joey is insisting on not sleeping until it is dark outside, and having me stay with him until he falls asleep. Having me stay with him is a phase he slides in and out of; in a couple of weeks, he'll complain about me staying. The light thing is a little more worrisome. Summer is a long few months of waiting until 9 to be able to clean, work with my students, or take a shower.
Showers are one thing that has become a trade-able commodity in our household. There is little chance of getting one while Joey is awake, because he needs to be constantly supervised now that he can get out of his child-safe room. However, now that he is up constantly from 6 am to 9 pm, that doesn't leave much time for both a shower and sleeping. At least Andy still naps. But getting in showers this summer should be very interesting- there are only so many hours in a day. Sleep is another one of those valuable commodities, but I have insomnia on my side. However, if I don't get some sleep, its very hard to deal with Joey screaming the next day... and poor Andy! He's VERY two. That takes some patience to deal with, too. Plus, he imitates his brother- in fact, I often now have to go look to see who is raising the ruckus.
The fun part of all this is that I get to snuggle Joey to sleep. Allan gets to snuggle Andy to sleep (and Andy is now in his Big Bed, and very happy about it, which helps, too). Tonight we sang some songs together (would I have guess a year ago that my Joey would be singing songs now?) after reading some stories, and he settled himself and got to sleep. What a cutie. We're SO lucky that he likes being hugged and squished. I can't imagine the nightmare of having a child who didn't like being touched. Joey is into the hugging. I should probably get him a weighted vest when he gets a little older, but for now, I can hug him, and his teachers can hug him, and he really feels so much better.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Friday, May 19, 2006
Upcoming Class Visit
Last year, Joey's preschool teacher was all about parents and siblings coming in and participating. This year, our teacher was exactly the opposite- she actively excluded us from Joey's school life. Now she's gone to have her baby, and the sub is letting em come to see Joey! I am SO EXCITED! Christina is going to watch Andy, and I'll get to see what Joey can do! He always does so much more at school than he will do for me at home. I can hardly wait!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Pinky Dinky Doo
If you have a child having trouble with narrative and sequence, allow me to recommend a TV show... "Pinky Dinky Doo."
Its not what is sounds like. Allan and I were definitely skeptical when we saw the ads for it, but since it talked about telling stories, we decided to give it a watch and see if it would be useful. It's really a cute show, and includes some games about narrrative elements and sequence, some subtle positive messages about health and food choices, vocabulary, and everyday social situations. We were so pleased, we let Joey watch it, and he LOVES it! He's picked right up on the little games, especially the sequence ones.
A year ago, we were please to hear words coming from his mouth. Six months ago, he called me "momma" for the first time. Now he's starting to learn narrative- one of the great hurdles of language and communication. Woo-hoo!
Its not what is sounds like. Allan and I were definitely skeptical when we saw the ads for it, but since it talked about telling stories, we decided to give it a watch and see if it would be useful. It's really a cute show, and includes some games about narrrative elements and sequence, some subtle positive messages about health and food choices, vocabulary, and everyday social situations. We were so pleased, we let Joey watch it, and he LOVES it! He's picked right up on the little games, especially the sequence ones.
A year ago, we were please to hear words coming from his mouth. Six months ago, he called me "momma" for the first time. Now he's starting to learn narrative- one of the great hurdles of language and communication. Woo-hoo!
Monday, May 15, 2006
The Today Show
This morning the Today Show had a segment on an autistic child- more of an update on a child they've been reporting on. The child gets ABA, speech therapy, occupational therapy, special ed preschool, and about an hour a day in a regular preschool- he seemed to have a paraprofessional with him.
Its was a good segment, better than the normal "what is autism?" segments you see, because it shows these kids respond to therapies, and presented the therapies that were working for the child. It also did not even try to answer the question of cause, which I found very nice.
The fact that our school system does not have paraprofessionals for their inclusion classrooms is very disturbing. This leaves it up to each parent to request one for their child's IEP. Requesting anything for an IEP means going to war with the school- at least it always has before. Its a divide-and-conquer way of throwing away lives, and the casualities are not only our own self-worth and time, but more importantly, our children. Not just the disabled children.
Its was a good segment, better than the normal "what is autism?" segments you see, because it shows these kids respond to therapies, and presented the therapies that were working for the child. It also did not even try to answer the question of cause, which I found very nice.
The fact that our school system does not have paraprofessionals for their inclusion classrooms is very disturbing. This leaves it up to each parent to request one for their child's IEP. Requesting anything for an IEP means going to war with the school- at least it always has before. Its a divide-and-conquer way of throwing away lives, and the casualities are not only our own self-worth and time, but more importantly, our children. Not just the disabled children.
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