It's SO Simple

Griffin and I were so privileged to go to TEACCH on Monday and I say that because people get on waiting lists for months even a year or more at a time to get in so I am pleased to work with them. We have worked with them before my foot surgery but the results have never been so great as they are now. Griffin worked with Ann and he later told me that they talked about feelings happy and sad but he did not want to elaborate any further. She did not tell me what they did while working together but Jon is going to send me a summary of what we talked about. Jon is the individual with whom I spoke to about what was going on with Griffin lately and what was most important, that I really wanted to target right now. Those areas included: aggression and meltdowns which kind of go hand in hand but for someone dealing with autism knows that they can be separate all together and have nothing to do with one another.

So, Jon helped me simplify the schedule that I had been using by telling me that all I had to do is to use a small notebook to carry in my purse and to merely use a checklist and put only one to two activities ahead of time just so that he would know what was coming, that I didn't have to be so detailed as I thought I had to be all this time. I had been lagging behind in keeping up with Griffin's schedule because as a bipolar person or as myself I find it personally very hard for me to be organized, and detail oriented so now that the schedule is limited to a simple notebook with just a few items it works better for both of us and there have been no meltdowns so far since then I am happy to report!

We go back next week to continue to do more work and I am so excited. Griffin seems to enjoy going there too. I am also going to keep a journal on his meltdowns: when he has them, where, what the apparent trigger was or alleged trigger was, what the environment factors were, who was around, maybe not even that detailed but just for me to put some headings on my note pad and jot down some data for future reference and data collection for the experts would help to figure out what might be going on in his mind and to decode his behavior.

I am so proud of him and the patience that Griffin has most the time, he can really hold it together....it truly amazes me! He sits in the doctors office while I have my appointments and uses my phone to play games, sometimes getting frustrated but when I tell him that it is time to take a break he does not argue and moves on to something else. Right now, he is taking a break from the computer so that I can use it and he is being creative with his time being patient, I shouldn't be surprised because he is an intelligent guy with a great imagination.

We are still praying for my Aunt Patty and her family and that they will get to move here soon, if you could offer your prayers too that would be appreciated. She has stage 4 cancer and she lives with her daughter and three granddaughters. They mean the world to me and I would love nothing else than to have them to move here to be near family because where they live they are all alone and have no support. My former husband had cancer years ago, he had it for a long time before going through remission going through chemo and radiation so I understand the hell and pain of it all.

I understand how important it is to have support because neither my husband or I had support when he was going through it and that makes it 10 times the hell that it is in the first place. I love you Aunt Patty and Mindy you are so dear to me!