FIRST SCHOOL DAY IN 2012

Today is January 9Th, 2012 and it was the first school day back to school in  the new year.  We thought that it would be rough considering that Jacob was still awake at midnight yesterday.  We as parents of a child with Asperger's, know that sometimes transitions can be challenging and difficult.  I don't want to say that we don't care if Jacob has a rough first day back; we are just more understanding if he doesn't.  Today however, didn't quite turn out as we expected.

We got up at 7AM, as usual for a school day, without an issue.  Jacob was very friendly when I woke him up and Jacob was in a great mood as he ate breakfast and watched cartoons.  He got dressed and ready for school without much redirection and he also got his winter clothing on without any fuss.  As we walked to school, Jacob and I enjoyed a game of tag, I didn't do too bad because Jacob had his backpack on.  We got into the school yard and Jacob spotted his EA, whom he hasn't seen in 2 weeks and whom he has a great relationship with too.  He goes running towards his EA, yelling her name, so every one's looking.  And about 10 feet away he trips face first on the pavement.  As my heart was pounding I noticed that Jacob wasn't really crying, so I let him get up on his own.  Jacob stood up, checked for blood on his knees and hands and said "let's try that again."  He took a few steps back and again ran to his EA and gave her a big hug. 

We weren't sure how his morning was going to be, but we hoped for the best.  Jacob was able to regain his composure and control his emotions after falling down in front of at least 50 people.  That was a positive sign to us that he may have a good morning.  But we were expecting the worst considering the fall.  When I picked up Jacob at lunch time he told me he only had 3 sentences to do for homework.  We thought that was great considering what occurred earlier so Jacob was rewarded with a sticker for the morning.  We know that 3 sentences equals about 3 minutes of homework. 

So now it's time to return to school for the afternoon period. As we are heading down our walkway, does Jacob not fall down face first again?  Jacob stood up right away, checked again for any broken bones and began walking as if nothing happened.  We played tag on the way, again.  We had a secret weapon in our arsenal for the afternoon.  You see, this afternoon Jacob brought his new pencil case to school.  I think he recovered from the fall so quickly because he was so focused on showing his EA and teacher his new pencil case.  This year Jacob received, as a gift, a new pencil case which we hope will help Jacob stay focused more in class.  If Jacob loses his pencil, he can get derailed for an undetermined period of time.  The more continuity Jacob has in class, the less likely he'll become disruptive and have homework.  But again, because of a fall, we expected a less than perfect afternoon.

At home time, I lime to arrive at the school a bit early because sometimes Jacob gets ready to go early, or should I say quickly.  So all of his classmates come out to their parents and still no Jacob.  Now I know through experience that if there's an issue, the staff members will ask for my assistance right away, so I knew there wasn't an issue.  But I still wondered what was taking so long?  As I look through the door, I noticed Jacob talking to a group of teachers.  He was telling them all about Christmas and what Santa had left for him. As I approached the group, Jacob shouted "I finished all my homework!"  As it turned out, Jacob not only had a great afternoon, but he caught up on his unfinished morning work.

What a relief.  Here we thought today was going to be difficult, yet it turned out to be a 2 sticker day.    I wonder how of good a day he could have if I could just stop him from hitting his face on the ground?  Hopefully the rest of the week will be just like today, only minus the crashes.