He was really hoping he could bring a friend like Diva does. The girls were really good about letting him join them in their space for awhile, but it wasn't the same. It was hard to explain that because he is younger, the kids he knows would not be comfortable being away from their parents for a whole weekend. He also doesn't have "friends" the way Diva does. We did find some kids on the beach who enjoyed getting wet and sandy almost as much as Frog does. He enjoyed keeping an eye one them.
Having a Friend has become a big concern for Frog - he worries about it constantly. When we have boys he knows over for play dates, he is excited - overly so - and can't bring himself to stay where they are, leaving them alone to "play" with his mom. We are working on small group activities - hoping to do more when the weather is nice.
At school he was asked to write to the prompt "When I opened the door I was surprised to see . . ." He wrote about seeing his friend T (T is Diva's friend's brother). The story went on to describe how they rode their bikes around the neighborhood then went to T's house to play. T and his mom were really honored. They invited Frog to come into their house. He wanted to, but just couldn't bring himself to do it - balking at the door and rocking for awhile before returning to the car to go home. We will continue to work on it.
When we asked him what he wanted for Christmas he said no to toys, books, clothes, candy, and yes to Friend (he said he wanted a 4th grader).
Santa is still working on that one.
Frog also spent last fall writing a book about himself. He said he wants to help other kids understand more about autism and about him. We are looking forward to receiving the published copy in the next month or so - watch for future post :0)
5 comments:
Goodness but he is a handsome boy!
Would love to read his book!
His interest in friends is nice - a first step, eh? You might try to find a book I described in this post: http://www.therextras.com/therextras/2010/01/earls-too-cool-for-me.html
Barbara
Hello Barbara,
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will check it out. His IEP team has been very accommodating - working social skills into his therapy sessions. We are really pleased with that he is expressing his desire for a friend - expressive communication is hard for him, so we know something is important when he makes the effort and is persistent.
Motor planning is still an issue. And I think there will need to be a lot of social stories about what it means to be a friend and to have a friend. But progress is a foot!
Hi!!!!! :)
I am so ecited and happy and thrilled and delighted you're back!!!!!!
Can't wait to hear more about Frog's book. Egg knows about his autism too but it seems that I am on my own with it (people I speak too at his school haven't told their kids). I am trying to find stuff that appropriate for my particular 7 year old but am finding nothing. It's really hard.
Look forward to reading future posts
xx
Hey Rainbowmummy! I've missed you too :0) I was just thinking about you the other day.
I'm excited to be back - don't know how I will fit this in, but I've not been very happy since I stopped blogging - felt like I lost my whole community. So I will make the time. I still have visions of a book in my future - the blog posts will be good resource material and memory joggers when the time comes.
I'll keep my eyes open for resources for you and egg. Frog has heard us talk about autism forever. What we struggle with now is pointing out to him how his "normal" behavior and perspective is different from other kids' "normal" behavior and perspective and that the other kids might be so surprised by what he does and how he acts that they won't get around to getting to know him. He and I had a very long talk about that this fall. He agreed that it would be a good idea to tell the other kids about him and why he does the things he does. I asked him questions about his behaviors and habits and he chose repsonses to explain "why" he does them - it was enlightening even for me. Then I asked him about other things he might want the kids to know about him. With his permission, I went to his class and gave a talk about Autism. Then Frog joined us and I told the class the things he told me. I also modeled "talking" with Frog for the class so they could see that I wasn't just putting words in his mouth. It went well. I have to say, Frog is more popular with his peers in general than I was at his age - but we haven't figured out how to play with each other yet - so deeper friendship is still elusive.
Frog reads and is starting to learn to type. Maybe we can get our boys together via e-mail in some sort of pen pal relationship someday :0)
Oh so much to say in response but can't find the words just now, for some reason! You're onto something with the pen pal thing. Exciting thoughts swimming round my head just now!
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