OVER THE FALLS IN AN AUTISTIC BARREL

What a week it's been at school and home for Jacob.  I've been at work this week and Jacob's behavior hasn't been very good since my return to the waterfront.  You can almost tell when I went back to work just by looking at his reward calendar.  The day I went back to work, Jacob stopped getting stickers for good behaviour.  This week he's earned:



Niagara Falls last Summer



4 OUT OF 10 STICKERS

Sometimes raising a child with Asperger's can feel like you're about to go over the falls in a barrel.  Thursday was by far the worst day of the week.  Shannie went to pick Jacob up from school and she talked with the learning resource teacher and the principal about Jacob's behaviour.  All day, Jacob was yelling and crying.  Both teachers were asking Shannie if something has happened at home because Jacob has been emotionally off the past couple of weeks.  My return to a more busy work schedule could be part of it, which both teachers agreed could be causing Jacob's tantrums.

But as we dug deeper into what could be causing all the problems, we suspected that the Easter break could be the culprit.  Since Jacob goes to a Catholic school, the Easter break focuses on the resurrection of Jesus after his death.  So recently Jacob's been asking about his old dog Max. 

"Will Max ever come home?"

Heartbreak.  It's so hard to explain that Max is with the angels and that he's never coming home.  It appears that the whole death and resurrection of Jesus has brought Max's death back into the forefront.    We're lucky that Jacob doesn't ask about Max all the time, but it does seem that the sadness associated with Max's death is always on Jacob's mind.  There's no question that this is the reason behind the recent poor behaviour.  And honestly, how could it not be?

Since Jacob's behaviour has been so rough, the school asked us if we'd be interested in attending some behavioural therapy classes with Jacob.  We're definitely willing to do what it takes to help our son, but the therapy places are a bit far away.  And Jacob suffers from motion sickness, so buses and car rides can be tricky.  Imagine taking your ASD child to therapy, only to have them puke on arrival.  What could we possibly accomplish with Jacob's head in a garbage can?  So we're not so keen on outside therapy.

Then today when I took Jacob back to school from lunch, the resource teacher told me that they can arrange to have visits either at school or at home, which ever we felt more comfortable with.  This is way better than car sickness.  The only concern we have is that Jacob doesn't exhibit as many issues at home as he does at school.  But to keep a positive relationship with the school, we're open to their ideas, but ultimately the school knows that it's our decision.

On a positive note, the learning resource teacher also asked if we'd be interested in letting Jacob attend a Summer camp during the upcoming break.  The camp isn't specifically designed for kids with autism, but Jacob would be supervised by a counsellor with experience in dealing with autistic children.  Shannie and I have thought about camps before, but it's hard to pay money for something that Jacob might totally reject, so we're both excited.  Let's just hope that Jacob is too when we talk to him about it.  I think some of his classmates attend the camp too, so at least he'll see some familiar faces.

After this week of work and school, I think we're going to just TRY and relax for the next couple of days.  Shannie has school tomorrow, so maybe Jacob and I will visit the art gallery or something like that.  But if Jacob wants to stay home, I'm great with that idea too.  I'd like to just put this week behind us and start fresh on Monday.  And maybe Jacob can get back on track.  We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.