Having a Great Summer

I tried to upload an image of Griffin's new kitty but for some reason it wouldn't work so I will try later in another post. Griffin is having a wonderful summer and staying pretty busy. He loves going to gymnastics and is improving with each visit. Of course he is still going to and loving swimming each week. I found out that the theater is showing free movies for kids each Tuesday and Wednesday which we are going to start going to on Wednesday. He seems to be making great progress even though he is not in school, in fact, since he has been out his vocabulary has increased a lot and his understanding of concepts have also increased, he is growing up so fast. Griffin even has a tooth loose and he is so excited for it to come out, he knows that it means that he is a big boy and that he is growing up. Our case manager for DDSN got the Cuddle Swing approved by Medicaid which was about $$200.00-$300.00 or so and it has made a huge difference in his life. He spends so much time in that thing and between that and his huge ball that he bounces on, his behaviors have been next to nothing.........extremely rare. When Griffin went to school in Alaska the teacher there was so awesome because they started each day with an obstacle course of sensory toys, tubes, etc......and there was always music playing that they danced to at circle time. Griffin would come home each day singing his songs from class. That teacher became a very dear friend of ours and she should have won teacher of the century award! We miss her so much. What helped me a great deal in knowing what he was and wasn't doing, was that she would write to me nearly every day to let me know all the GOOD things that he did as well as the less desirable things. That way we could work together as a team in working with him in order to contribute to his success. The teacher Griffin first had when he was 3 years old did the same, we worked together and I was always informed of what was going on with him. They both had two helpers/assistance and they all worked together to make a well organized environment for the kids. It is a good feeling being involved in my child's education especially since he spends so many hours away from me, it is a good thing to not be left out of the loop. Griffin has learned a lot since we have been here, mostly his language and social skills have improved. I look forward to him spending some time in the 1st grade class in the fall. I am sure that he misses his teachers and his classroom buddies, they are so nice and I believe that he really likes them. When I go with them on field trips he seems to get along well with everyone and it seemed that the teachers were well organized. The class got to do lots of fun things in the classroom and on their trips. I've got to get back to work on the book which is coming along nicely. I just finished reading Temple Grandin's book, Emergence, and it was very enlightening but kind of scary at the same time because she really went through some tough times socially and a lot of internal conflict. I highly recommend that anyone who works with or has a child with autism has it is in their library (at home) because I have found it to be useful and I can use it for reference as Griffin grows older and approaches high school then college.

Griffin's Summer

So far Griffin is having a great summer, he had his first gymnastics class yesterday and he loved it. He certainly gave it all he had and was a pretty good listener for the most part. Of course it being his first class he needed some extra help just as the other kids his age did. I think that we will be busy this summer doing various activities such as going to the library for story time, going bowling, swimming, gymnastics, and his group (OT & Speech). I have been reading a lot of books about autism lately and learning so much more and besides it makes for great research material for the book that I am writing. It is constantly "A work in progress" but I am really quite satisfied with how it is going. It certainly does take dedication and lots of patience but it is going to be so worth my while. Griffin makes a great subject, I shall not run out of material. It is just a matter of knowing when to stop and to be happy with what I've got.

Speaking of......it is time for me to get back to writing, I will attempt to keep the blog updated and share all the news of how/what Griffin is doing. Perhaps next week I will have some photos from gymnastics.