A BOAT LOAD OF ASPERGER'S

What a strange week it's been for us.  The weather here has been crazy as it's rained, snowed, hailed and then got really warm and sunny.  I think Jacob's Asperger's is somehow affected by the weather.  This week at school Jacob received:

4 OUT OF 8 STICKERS

This week started out terribly.  Jacob had to be picked up from school on Monday and Tuesday.  And Tuesday was the worst day of all.  Jacob's school called at 8:55AM which is about 15 minutes after school starts.  My poor wife got her winter gear off and then she had to put it back on and go back to the school.  We debated on whether or not to send Jacob back in the afternoon, but we decided that he should go.  The last thing we wanted to do was reinforce poor behaviour.

Before we left we tried to get Jacob to explain why he had such a huge meltdown so early in the school day.  As it turns out, Jacob had a sore toe and he managed to hit it a few times before school and one time in school.  So, he had a meltdown of epic proportions.  I love how Asperger's can make the smallest thing seem so huge.

Then on Wednesday and Thursday, Jacob was great at school.  He behaved in class, but he didn't do much work.  We were happy with the fact that he stayed in school.  This week reminded us of when Jacob first began to go to school.  He'd have daily outbursts filled with yelling and hitting and all we'd wish for was to NOT get a phone call from the school to come get him.  So this week really put things into perspective.  We've begun to take for granted the fact that Jacob goes to school without much fuss and this week really brought us back down to earth.

It's like Monday and Tuesday were grim reminders of how rough things can get and Wednesday and Thursday were our rewards for making it through without losing any sleep or hair.  I have this morning off work because the vessel that we were expecting to arrive had a mechanical failure before it could get docked.  So I think Jacob and I are going to go out for a muffin or something like that.  After reading Liz's post at Four Sea Stars, I've learned that it's okay for a child to have sugary junk for breakfast.

I am so glad that today is a PD day at Jacob's school because even though this was a short week it felt longer than most others.  We all need a long weekend here and one couldn't have came too soon.  The nice thing about Jacob is that he can sometimes put bad experiences behind him.  Hopefully this week will be forgotten and Jacob can get back to having more productive days at school.  And if not, we're ready to buy a big box of muffins.