Not Well

It's that time of year again ... the dreaded ear infections. You know Xander doesn't feel well when he curls up in the chair, lets you put a blanket on him, and even tolerates the puppy laying at his feet (they're not usually the best of friends). You just don't recognize this kid without his usual energy and constant motion. It's always pretty easy to tell when he's not feeling well.

On the plus side, he used his words to request help for the very first time at school today. He was sitting in art class, with his head down on the table. He looked up, waited for his aide to look over at him, and simply said "Call Mom." We had talked about how if he didn't feel well after he got to school, his teachers would call me if he needed anything. And he used his words. As soon as I picked him up from school, he said "Doctor." So we made a call to the pediatrician, and a few hours later he was seen and diagnosed with an ear infection. Medicated with the compounded antibiotic and on the mend now ...

A Night Out

There was a time when he didn't talk. When those first words he'd started to speak, just faded away until they were gone. They came back, eventually, but functional communication has (and likely always will be) somewhat of a challenge. He's come so very, very far ...

On a random Thursday night, I took two of the boys out to dinner. Dad was at work. Sawyer was out with Aunt Kelly. It was just me and Connor and Xander. And Xander had a plan.

"We wait for Connor," he told me.

Okay, I agreed. We will wait for Connor.

"We wait for Connor, then Buffalo Wild Wings. Chicken fingers, french fries, ketchup and a Coke."

And that was his plan. We would wait for Connor to come home from middle school (he rides the bus in the afternoons). And then we would go to dinner. At a very specific place. To have a very specific thing.

And I love it.

I love the words. I love the plan. I love the understanding that goes into all of those words and the plan. I love the functional communication that lets him tell us exactly what he's thinking and what he wants.

We don't always get that.

So we embrace the days we do. And when it's practical, we indulge him with what he wants. Not every night, but maybe once every week or two. We let him take the lead, and plan what we're going to do on our nights together.

Because there was a time when he didn't talk, when the words faded and went away.

And we are so incredibly glad that he's found his words, and his own way to communicate the things he likes and the things he wants. We'll keep working on answering questions, identifying emotions, appropriate conversations, and all those other speech goals.

But sometimes, we're just going to take him at his words. We waited for Connor. And then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Where he did, indeed, get his chicken fingers, french fries, ketchup, and his Coke (actually Pepsi).

Variety Show

While Sawyer was off getting his chronic ear infections taken care of with surgery for tubes, Xander was busy getting ready for his big performance in the school Variety Show. He was playing guitar and singing "Counting Stars" by One Republic. He rocked all three performances ... two at school for the students (broken up by age group to help overcrowding in the gym) and one in the evening for parents and friends. He is so fearless, and has come so very far. I still remember when he didn't talk at all, when the words faded and we only had signs and sounds. And here he is, eight years later, singing in front of the whole school like he was born to do it. The people who know him best, who have worked with him and seen his progress over the years, were all in tears. Happy tears. Because our boy has come so very, very far. Past teachers were in the audience, driving in to cheer him on as he performed. And he LIVES for the applause. He loves the spotlight and the cheering.

Progress

Progress comes in many different shapes and forms, especially when it comes to our boys. This little picture is a HUGE, huge step forward.

Those letters are Sawyer's.

Let me say that again. Those letters are Sawyer's. This is the little boy who hates any kind of fine motor activity. A kid who has never liked coloring or writing. A kid who has just recently, at the age of seven, shown an interest in letters at all.

And those are his letters. He wrote, from memory, "Viewers like you (in orange)" and "Thank you (in green)". He's learning the phrases from his brother's drawings and writing, but he's replicating it completely on his own from memory.

Letters. Words. Phrases. Write now it's just duplication. But someday ... someday it could be communication. It could be describing something he likes. Something he wants. Something he feels.

Huge.

None of this would be possible without all of the amazing people in place on "Team Sawyer" - both at school and at home. His teachers. His therapists. His aides. So many people have played a role in getting him, and us, to this point.

Special thanks are definitely in order to his private occupational therapists, Ms. A and Ms. J, who started him on a new writing program over the summer because they thought it would offer a meaningful way for him to communicate outside of his current signs, gestures and his iPad software. We moved away from just Handwriting Without Tears to a box and arrow system. The visual and spacing really made a difference for him.

Letters. Words. Phrases. That's my boy.

Finding Words

Communication is one of the main difficulties our boys face with autism. Both boys struggle with communication, though in very different ways. 

Sawyer only has a handful of very short, simple words - hi, bye, go, pad. There are others, but you get the idea. Right now, a lot of his speech therapy focuses on clear articulation of sounds and also combining and blending sounds. We're getting there. It's can be a painfully slow process, but there's been a lot of improvement from where we started. And he's always willing to try. Whether it's making a request for something he wants, or doing an exercise, or working on school work. He tries, and that's the most important thing. 

We also have his school iPad, which is locked into ProLoquo2go all the time. He can navigate the program like you would not believe. He has no trouble asking for the things that he wants or needs, and once you show him a routine, he can even breeze through a social interaction. One of our favorite requests he makes on the iPad is "When are we eating pretzels?" The kid is always hungry, and apparently he always wants pretzels (it's one of the extra snacks we send into school to help with keeping him focused). My second favorite is one that I wish we didn't have to use. "I'm sorry I pinched." The good news is that he uses it very functionally and also very consistently. The bad news is there are several variations on similar behaviors. It's a work in progress ... 

Beyond the iPad, there is also signs. From the very beginning, his early therapists and his early start teachers and staff used sign language in addition to spoken language. And Sawyer has always picked up on them. He understands most basic signs (especially in the school setting) and frequently engages them rather than speaking, though we still prompt for both.

This particular picture from this weekend made me smile, though he doesn't look too happy in it.

Sawyer's signing was mostly "please" and "more" because it usually was efficient to get him what he wanted. Simple, short and practical are the hallmarks of autism communication in our experience. But this sign is so much more. It's "help." He's seeking out someone and actively asking for help with something he cannot do on his own.

And that is HUGE.

In this instance, his shoelaces had come untied. He wanted my help to fix it so that he could continue bouncing on the trampoline. And I gladly put the camera down to do just that. 

An independent, unprompted communication. Huge.

And that brings us to Xander. 

Because he cannot stand to be left out or outdone in any way, he took matters into his own hands. Just after the photo of Sawyer above was taken, he quickly untied not one but both of his shoes. Clearly he will show us.

And he was quick with his words as well. "I need help shoes, please!"

Xander has words, lots and lots of words. Many of them are scripted and memorized, but many of them are also incredibly functional. You'll also notice that he tends to omit any unnecessary words. Who needs to use extra words like "with" and "my" anyway? Short, simple, and very direct. That's Xander. (The "please" and "thank you" have been forcibly required all of their short lives).

Right now in Xander's speech therapy, we work on things like receptive language, understanding what people are saying and what is being read in a story. We also work on expressive language, particularly moving away from the scripted language into spontaneous language. We work on abstract concepts, like directors and pronouns. We work on the impulsive behaviors, like the non-functional scripting.

We're hoping there will eventually be a day where Pixar movies are not quoted all day, every day. Right now he's particularly obsessed with Wall-E, so there's lots of references to "Ev-a," and, yes, you must do the elongated, robotic pronunciation that Wall-E uses. There is no other way, apparently. We also are still celebrating Christmas right now, because Prep and Landing is another obsession. "Rev up the engines. Instruments are holly jolly. Open hanger doors." I could go on. And on and on. But I think you get the idea.

And that's where we are right now. Moving forward, for the most part. Lots of trial and error, lots of practicing and lots of still scripting, both functional and not. Sign language. Technology. A little combination of all of the above. 

As long as they're saying something ... we're listening, or trying to.

Back Home

Our day started really early. Though 5 o'clock and I are not really good friends, Sawyer is generally awake that time of the day. And by generally I mean on any day that you don't have to be anywhere at a certain time. Because on those days, that's when he likes to sleep in. Like today. When I had to drag him out of bed at 5:45.

We arrived at the surgery center shortly after 6 a.m., where we filled out more paperwork and signed more consent forms. And then we waited. Once we were called back, they went over the procedure and then we signed more papers. And then we waited again. Then the anesthesiologist came in to go over their part. And we signed more forms. And then we waited again.

About 7:45 Sawyer was taken back. We let him keep his iPad with him, to make the transition easier. He looked back over his shoulder a few times, as if to say why aren't you coming with me, but he never cried or complained. He just went right back to his movie on his iPad.

Fifteen minutes later, I was called in to talk to his ENT. The procedure went well. Only one stitch required, just to minimize excessive spreading. It will dissolve on it's own, so no removal required. In addition to the anesthesia, they also using an injection to numb the area under his tongue. His doctor told me again how he thinks it will be beneficial long-term for Sawyer, as he had already seen increased mobility. Recovery is only expected to last through the day.

I was sent back to the waiting room for another 10 minutes or so, then I was called back into the recovery room. Having warned them that he could be aggressive if he woke up in a strange room with strange people, they wanted me there with him as he woke up.

Immediately we saw him sticking his tongue further out of his mouth than he had ever done before. He also was sticking his fingers into his mouth and licking everything in sight. Our challenge during the day is going to be keeping his hands out of his mouth and also to keep him from licking everything he sees. He definitely has a sensory and/or texture issue with the procedure, at least initially.

The good news is he seems fine. A little grump, especially with all of the reminders to keep his fingers out of his mouth. But he's already finished two Gatorade drinks, a few popsicles, and even some applesauce. He passed on the ring pop (very unusual), but picked it back up after he finished the applesauce.

We're taking the rest of the day easy - watching some favorite animated movies on the big screen and snacking at will. The free-flowing drinks and snacks, he's all for. The constant monitoring by Mommy to keep those hands down, he could do without.

All in all, a successful day. Most likely he will return to school tomorrow, and we will follow up with the ENT in a few weeks to make sure all is healing well. And we'll hope that the procedure not only increases mobility (which it already has), but that it also helps with long-term speech production.

Just another day in the life ...

Wish Us Luck

Silly, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Bright and early tomorrow morning (or actually dark and early, since the sun will not be up), Sawyer and I will be headed to the outpatient surgery center for his ENT surgery.

He's currently still dancing around in his room, which means he's probably not going to be awake at 4 in the morning for the first time in weeks. He's going to want to sleep in tomorrow, of course, instead of leaving the house at 6 for 6:30 check-in.

Wish us luck. It's a relatively simple procedure that will only take a few minutes. It will, however, require him not to eat or drink anything in the morning (which is not going to make him happy either). It also will require general anesthesia.

Recovery is only a day or so. Hopefully he will heal quickly. And hopefully it will help with speech production in the long-term.

Big Moments

One day. Two very big moments.

The first was Sawyer at OT this afternoon. We have been slowly working on an exercise the last few weeks that involves Sawyer using his hands to grip a "pull" and use his hand and arm strength to hold on while in motion. We have tried it in multiple ways - both while using the coveted swings and also the less-coveted scooter board. He generally lets go the minute he has to exert pressure to maintain that hand hold. The last few weeks we've been using modeling with Xander. The boys have separate therapists, but we have been meeting up at the end of the sessions in a single room. The exercise involves laying on your stomach on the scooter board and holding onto the pull with your hands and arms while the therapist drags you around the room (have I mentioned OT is actually a lot of fun?) Both boys work independently in these joint sessions, but we have Xander start each activity so that Sawyer can see what is expected. And it's been working very, very well. Last week Sawyer mostly watched. When it was his turn, he dropped the pull within a few seconds. This week he held on for the entire pull around the room. Not once, but on multiple attempts. He held on, using not just that all important hand grip but also his arms. Big, big step for him.

The second was Xander at home. He inherited Connor's old bike (the one with the training wheels) when Connor outgrew it and moved up to a bigger frame without training wheels. Up until today, he's only sat on the bike and used his feet to "walk" it around while steering with his hands. We have made numerous attempts to teach him how the pedals work. He would usually do it once, then drop his feet. Or worse, start trying to go backwards (which, of course, on this particular bike is the brakes). Today, after just a few minutes of help (don't tell my surgeon, but I may have bent over and used my hands to hold his feet on the pedals for the length of our yard). And that was all it took. From that point on, he was pedaling all on his own. Big, big step. We'll not worry about those training wheels just yet.

And yesterday was kind of a big moment, too. Our private speech therapist has been in the process of doing an updated evaluation of Sawyer's speech goals. Last week I picked him up from school and took him to an early session so she could work on some of the standardized evaluations (which our usual after school session is not particularly conducive to, since he's sometimes done after a full day at school). His scores had of course improved, but they are still far behind a typical six year old. And we've still been working on some other segments in our after-school session. A few people had thrown out the idea that in addition to autism, Sawyer might also have apraxia. And his scores on some of the evaluations seem to support the theory. We'll have to do a few more evaluations and also make an appointment with the twins' ENT in the coming weeks.

Okay, maybe it was two days and three moments. It's hard to keep track, they seem to happen so much lately. Life is busy right now, but it's also good ...

The Fiesty One

Fierce, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Yesterday Xander was in rare form. He was opposed to absolutely everything that we did.

The good news is that his aide told me he had a good day and was cooperative for her. The bad news is that cooperation ended the minuted he climbed into my truck after school. And it was Tuesday, which meant we had a busy afternoon to get through.

First was speech therapy directly after school.

All the way there, he kept telling me "No speech! No Shanna!" His therapist, of course, is Ms. Shanna. "No speech! No Shanna!" It was forceful. And repeated.

Speech itself was probably the least productive session we have ever had. He was angry and uncooperative. He spent more than half of the session sprawled across the floor telling us "No!" to whatever we were trying to do.

"No cards!" for the flashcards we use to work on categories.

"No story!" for the book we were trying to read.

"No game!" for the board game, though he did eventually warm up to a game called "Ned's Head."

Let's just say there were a lot of "no" moments during speech.

After speech was not much better. He did cooperate long enough to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel. Pancakes were the only yes of the afternoon. We'll overlook the fact that pancakes have gluten, just this once. It was a hard enough day without trying to find a GFCF dinner at a restaurant on the south side of town.

Our next stop was the baseball field for Connor's first game of the season. We've had lots of practices the last month or so, but this was his first actual game. As soon as the fields were visible a little voice piped up from the back seat.

"No baseball." Again it was loud. And forceful. And repeated.

We stayed for just over an inning, long enough to watch Connor to make it up in the batting rotation.

On the way home, he decided he wasn't ready to go home. We were taking our normal exit off the highway when he offered his standard "No thanks!"

He also offered a random "Xander swim!" as an alternative. There was no context, as we weren't even close to one of our usual swimming pools, much less the indoor one that we frequent.

I explained it was time to go home, because we needed to take baths and get ready for bed.

Can you guess what I heard?

"No bath! No bed! No thanks!"

Yes, it definitely a day for no. And for clearly voicing his opinion on everything.

Have I mentioned he's the feisty one?

A Tale of Two iPads

We bought our first iPad nearly a year ago. It was bought for two reasons. The first was that we wanted to explore communication options for Sawyer, who is still largely non-verbal. The second was that we wanted to have a touch-screen computer in the house, also for Sawyer, because he has not yet mastered the use of a mouse. I guess you could say we bought the first iPad for Sawyer. His brothers could also use it, but it was primarily for him.

Right after we bought the iPad, we bought two applications. The first was an inexpensive PBS Kids application (which I bought only after realizing iPad does not support Flash player, which is the base of the PBSKids.org site all of our boys like to play games on). The second was a rather expensive communication software, Proloquo2go.

One iPad, many functions. That was our thought. Or perhaps our hope.

Six months in, we began to see the error of our ways. Sawyer absolutely understood the communication software. He could manipulate it as well as any of his favorite web sites or any other computer program, finding items buried four or five screens into the program with no trouble and very little time.

The problem, you see, was that it was his least favorite part of the iPad. Who would want to use communication software, when you could easily tap out to a screen full of fun apps for puzzles and art and games and animated stories and even movies?

Both of our twins have struggled with verbal communication. But it has been many years since either of them have struggled to communicate. Xander uses a lot of memorized but still functional scripts. Sawyer has always used pushing or pulling or pointing. They have no trouble letting you know what they want, or making a choice that is presented to them. They also have no trouble letting you know if they like something or they don't. It is the words, the expressive language, that have been so incredibly hard.

And both of the boys are incredibly rational. If they can communicate without those words, why should they make that extra effort. Why use the communication software to say "I want some milk, please" when they can simply walk to the refrigerator and make the selection.

And for right now, perhaps that's fine. But we have to look at the bigger picture. As scary as it sometimes is, we have to look down the road into the future. Communicating with family is one thing. They know you, they learn your behaviors and understand them. But communicating with the rest of the world is another thing. And you have to work toward that independence, toward the opportunity of a life of their own that someday will no longer include you.

So we bought another iPad. We were determined that Sawyer would not only know how to use the communication software, but that he would actually begin to use it on a regular basis. It will open up so many possibilities for him, not only at school, but also in life.

The first iPad, the one with the white drop case, is Sawyer's communication iPad. We have taken absolutely everything off of it that we can. It has no games or puzzles or remotely fun applications anywhere on it (we had to turn off iCloud, of course, to prevent all of our apps from automatically reappearing every day). It has Proloquo2go. And that's it.

This iPad is significantly less fun, and it is also in less demand. It can be left out without fear of fighting or disappearing. It still goes with Sawyer every day to school in his back pack.

The second iPad, the one with the black drop case, is the touch-screen computer. It is also mostly Sawyer's iPad, though all of the boys have the option of requesting this as their screen choice from time to time. It has all of the fun apps installed - the puzzles, the games, the drawing programs, the WordWorld video series, PBS Kids, Angry Birds ... you name it, it probably has it. The second iPad, the fun one, stays at home.

And though we were not crazy about the expense of two iPads (and two expensive but totally worth the investment drop cases), we have seen dramatic improvement. Sawyer is using his communication software much more than he ever has before.

There is some other good news. When you use the same Apple ID and iCloud, the apps appear on all of your Apple devices, even your iPod Touch. So we actually have Proloquo2go on three devices at home, and we only had to pay for the expensive app once. We can also customize each one differently if, for example, we wanted to set up one of them for Xander.

Right now we just use Proloquo2go for Sawyer. We use it to let him make choices, like what he wants to eat or drink. We use it to help him with his private speech therapy. It has choices for free play, and folders for taking turns or answering yes or no questions. We use it to help him at school. He has folders for calendar and weather - two of his favorite things to do at school. He has folders we can use for learning and testing - like uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, colors, even money.

It's still a balancing act. We encourage the use of the software, but we also still work toward verbal language. He is doing very well with beginning sounds, and even a few blended sounds. Just yesterday, his speech therapist told me he is following the appropriate progression of sounds, just at the very delayed age of six rather than one. He is working very hard, both at trying to communicate verbally and to use the communication software. We ask for and expect both. We are happy to provide the communication device and give him more ability to express himself with words. But we also hope and work toward the day when his words will eventually come back.

Snapshot Sunday

"Peaz", a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Number One, Baby

Letters. It was one of his first obsessions. It was one of the first things that started coming back after his words disappeared. This picture was taken in December 2008, more than three years ago. He was three, and he was already telling us his letters.

Today he is six. He still loves letters more than anything. He knows them all - uppercase and lowercase. He even knows what sound all of them make. He can sing not only the alphabet song, but also the Letter Factory alphabet song complete with letter sounds.

And it doesn't stop there. He knows words. He loves WordWorld and SuperWhy. Any word that has ever been spelled on either of those shows, he knows. He knows them in order, by episode. The boy can spell hundreds and hundreds of words. He can out spell big brother easily. He's even starting to read on his own.

He is absolutely rocking kindergarten.

We worried so much about both of the twins starting kindergarten this year, about how they would do in the regular classroom and how much they would be able to participate in the regular curriculum. Xander wants us to know that he's got this. He's totally got this.

Back in December, all of the elementary school kids took the state standardized test. Guess who got the highest score in reading comprehension? Not only the highest score in his class, but the highest score for all of kindergarten in his school. Yes, that would be Xander. Our spell boy.

No, kindergarten is not typical for him. He has a full-time aide who works with him - and she is pretty amazing. Mostly she keeps him on task. And keeps his temper in line. She also helps regulate some of the sensory needs and breaks that he requires. And she helps him move between his many different classrooms - regular, resource and specials. Frequently, she adds tasks into his day, to give the rest of the class time to finish. Because Xander flies through everything. He is always ready to finish the work, so that he can move on to the next best thing. He hopes that will be computer or recess. He's less excited about science class or more work.

But the point is Xander is doing great. Letters. Words. Numbers (to 100). Counting by ones and twos and fives and tens. Colors. Shapes. Coloring inside the lines. Cutting and gluing. Spelling tests. Little Reader books every night. And all the other kindergarten skills.

Xander has come a long way from that picture. Letters are still an obsession, yes. But he's added so much more. Number one or number one hundred, it doesn't really matter. We are proud of him, every single moment, every single day.

Going, Going, Gone ...

Every year it seems the holidays get busier and busier. They are not my favorite time of year. There is simply too much to do and not nearly enough time to get it done. And now that winter break has officially begun for the kids (as of 3:15 this afternoon she says with a little sigh), my free time just disappeared.

So here are a few of the moments I've been trying really hard not to forget but that I simply haven't had time to write about ...

The Falling Tree. Do you see where this one is going? Oh, yes, it is. We put our Christmas tree up in our family room, right in front of the three big picture windows that face the street. Seems like a good place, away from the main activity of the house but still in view most of the day. Except that it's not a good place. Because that's the exact spot Buster likes to sit during the day, watching over his yard and the neighborhood, barking like a crazy dog at anyone who dares to set foot on the public sidewalk or actually just walk into view. Did I mention Buster is a 180-pound English Mastiff? Or that we put the tree in his spot? Because one day while we were out, he decided the four inches between the tree and the picture window was a big enough space for him to walk. And bark like a crazy dog at some passerby or perhaps even a squirrel (also a dreaded nemesis). Yeah, the tree went over. The water - because it's a real tree - went all over the wood floors (though thankfully most of it was soaked up by the tree runner). Ornaments came crashing and shattering down. There were three total losses, and about ten that required super glue. Good times.

Three School Parties in One Day. Yes. Two of them - the two kindergartners, of course - at nearly the same time. Sawyer's class play started at 11:00 o'clock, Xander's at 11:10. I managed to stay in Sawyer's classroom long enough for his aide to lead him through his part in the gingerbread man, then ducked out early to head into Xander's class. I ran into them marching down the hall for their grand entrance, and had to run in ahead of them. I watched as Xander pretty much ignored the production in favor of drawing letters, though he did say his line with prompting from his aide - "Yum, yum, you smell good, I want to eat you!" - and then go back to drawing more letters on his page. He also may or may not have said several other people's lines for them when the notion struck him. His memory is an amazing thing to behold sometimes, though the other parents might not have thought so. I got to have lunch with both twins, and even see Connor in the lunch line before taking Xander back to his class and then heading upstairs to Connor's holiday party.

The Early Christmas Present. Daddy swears part of this one is for the boys, but I think it's for him with the added benefit of the boys most likely enjoying it too. We now have an xbox kinect. Call of Duty is definitely not for the boys. The other games probably more so. And we may or may not have bought a new 60-inch big screen television and sound bar to go with it. In fairness, it does replace the nine-year old version that we bought when we moved into our first house many, many years ago. And it also makes room for a desk in our bedroom (our dresser was moved into the family room as a base for all the gadgets and storage for the things that go with the gadgets). Which brings us to another bit of news ...

Probation is Over. Daddy took his final fire test earlier this month and got to trade in his orange "probationary" fireman hat in for the real deal. He's an official fireman. And he also tested into and was accepted into the next paramedic class. It's an accelerated class during his work hours, so he's going to be very busy next year working, studying and doing clinicals. Which is one reason we moved the dresser out of our room (see above story) to make way for a new desk (which we're still currently shopping for). Go ahead and consider me a single parent for the next year. I already do.

Finding Words. Sawyer has made some exciting steps in speech lately. We are hearing a few more random words here and there - "hi" and "bye" during greetings, "want" and "bear" for wanting gummy bear treats, and a few other things. But more exciting is his increasing willingness to mimic beginning sounds of words. For instance, when he wants to play his iPad, when say "p" for "pad" and he will repeat it. He will frequently come to me unprompted and say "p" and attempt to get his iPad from it's resting spot (on the top of the refrigerator). We are getting lots of different sounds, many of them on the first try, and some of them beginning to show up spontaneously. He is also offering true greetings to people, often prompted, but sometimes completely spontaneous. He responded to a little girl in his kindergarten class when she waved and said "hi" to him. She frequently tries to interact with him, and his aide told me she was completely surprised to see him respond.

Quirky and Cool. Sawyer's newest sensory seeking issue is that he feels the constant need to chew on his sleeves. It's one of the more annoying habits he's developed, because it largely means that I don't put him in long sleeve shirts. Even on days like today, when it was 30 degrees and snowing outside. Even his jackets are not safe, though I do put those on him and just resign myself to saying "hand down" about a thousand times a day. Xander's newest sensory seeking habit is equally annoying. And it's also painful. He craves deep pressure under his very pointy chin. Know how I know his chin is pointy? Because the back of my hands have bruises to prove it. He likes to take your hand and press his chin hard over the bones, rubbing it back and forth. And surprise, it will leave a bruise after a few days of this. I learned the hard way. Who knew you could actually bruise the back of your hand? So here's hoping these are short phases in our quirky and cool diaries. Because I'm ready for them both to go.

There is probably a lot more that I should write about. I do have a list (of course she does), and I will eventually get back to writing more frequently. After I plan, shop for and coordinate the family holiday party that's happening at our house on Christmas Eve. Or wrap the presents that will not be placed under the tree until Santa arrives (see above story about puppy and then add three nosy little boys if you're not sure why). Or finish baking cookies for a few remaining recipients. And after I label and stamp the 90 Christmas cards that just arrived (you know, after I design and print the invitations for above family holiday party).

The holidays can't last forever .... can they?

Looking for Words

Double Trouble, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Tuesday is now speech therapy day. During the school year, every school day has some component of speech therapy that is provided through the school system, both in the traditional classroom and also in special education settings. But now, every Tuesday is also speech therapy day, as in the day we take the boys to a private speech therapist for additional services.

We have long debated adding additional speech therapy for the boys outside of what the school system provides. Part of it was trying to find that difficult balance between giving them the therapy and help that they need without making every moment of their life scheduled and monitored. It was also a question of finances and insurance, and this year we finally decided it was time.

This week marks the third week in the boys' new speech therapy routine. The first week was simply evaluations and observations - all those fun forms and questions to respond to - but the last two weeks have been actual sessions. They are short, only 30 minutes long, but held every single week.

The boys are quickly learning the routine. Sawyer already tries to leave the waiting room as soon as we check in. He's not a huge fan of the waiting part, though he usually does pretty well in the sessions. Xander is hit or miss. His first session, he was really cooperative and calm. Todays' session he was a bit feisty and combative. I'm sure they will both have their days.

The good news is we really like the boys' new therapist. She is young and energetic, and on the very first session recognized something very important about Sawyer and Xander. They are stubborn. They know much more than they will show you at any given moment. Xander was tossing out one and two word phrases when he clearly knows that we expect sentences from him at this point. He KNOWS this. But he wasn't going to give it to this new person who was making him work and play by her rules. And Sawyer also knows more than a single sign, but he's taken to trying to use "eat" as his "I want" and not offering anything else unless you make him.

Today's session was also a bit of a departure. We joined a session with an older child who also has autism, and he and his therapist showed Sawyer a little about his communication software (and other software as well) on his iPad. This was one of the main reason we got an iPad for Sawyer (and why we are considering one for Xander as well). It was interesting, watching the other little boy show him things and seeing Sawyer watch what he could make the screen do. It was also nice to see the software in use by someone who was familiar with it and used it on a daily basis.

The boys are definitely ready to leave when the session is over (and there is waiting, because they are scheduled back-to-back with the same therapist). But they at least come willingly out of the truck and into the office. They also usually come willingly into the back area for the session.

Just another twist and turn on our journey. The boys are getting used to adapting to new and different things, which is a huge step in and of itself. So Tuesday afternoons, you'll find us taking time out to look for a few words ...