WELCOME TO JIM'S AUTISM BLOG





Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.


"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980



Monday 16 April 2012

WHICH DO YOU PREFER, A FERRIS WHEEL OR A ROLLER COASTER?

I can't believe it's Monday already.  Last week flew by so fast that it took the weekend with it.  I didn't even get a chance to do a post about Jacob's week at school.  Last week Jacob earned: 










4 OUT OF 6 STICKERS

Last week was very strange.  Monday was a holiday and Tuesday Jacob came home after filling the learning resource room with vomit.  So we expected the rest of the week to be rocky, as Jacob can sometimes take a week to get back into the routine of school, especially after an illness or holiday.

Wednesday was about half and half.  Jacob had homework from the morning session because he simply refused to do the work in class.  All he had to do was colour a picture of a polar bear, which isn't that hard when you think about it.  But his afternoon was very good and he did all of the harder work in class.  I don't know what the problem with colouring is, but Jacob never wants to colour pictures.
Then a miracle happened.  Jacob had a great morning and afternoon.  His day was so good that his teacher came out and told me that this was one of his best days all year.  What a good feeling.  It was so nice to see Jacob exiting the school with a huge smile.  We tried to reward him with a family outing, but he just wanted to relax at home.  Having Asperger's and behaving must make a kid tired because Jacob fell asleep right away when he went to bed which is unusual.

closed eyes tired 2 clip art
Exhausted

Then on Friday he did a complete 180° turn.  His morning was filled with yelling and even some aggressive behaviour.  The school had a fundraiser and Friday morning there was an assembly filled with singing and dancing, so that might explain some of the behaviour, but Jacob knows that aggression isn't acceptable at school.  Jacob used to be more aggressive in school, but that was before he was diagnosed with an ASD.  And as soon as he was diagnosed, and we began to implement certain strategies at home and at school, the aggressive behaviour began to decrease right away.  Jacob's morning EA is great with him and she met Jacob before he was even in school, so although she hadn't seen his old behaviour first hand, she was still able to regain control.  Then in the afternoon Jacob was great again and he did all his work from the morning and afternoon, leaving his weekend open to do whatever he wanted.

What a week of ups and downs.  Whoever the first person was to describe autism as a roller coaster really nailed it.  Shannie had school on Friday night and Saturday, so Jacob and I spent a lot of time hanging out this weekend.  I tried to talk to him about his behaviour, but Jacob wouldn't budge.  All he said was "Let's just forget about it."  Luckily I know that he knows that he was acting inappropriately, so I didn't have to have a stand off with him.  Jacob was well behave this weekend and he got a good night sleep last night so hopefully today is sticker worthy.  And if it isn't, I'm still too tired to argue. 

     

10 comments:

  1. I've always called raising a child with a disabiltiy, lots of hills and valleys. Your son is young. It will be many trials and tribulations. I'm glad you have a strong support network. I'll share with you the story of my son. Michael was diagnosed at the age of 2 with ADHD. I refused meds at the time. Then when he entered school, I was told he couldn't attend without meds. As he got older, besides managing his behavior(as a male with ADHD, he also was a fire starter. Tried to burn his brothers bed on fire when his brother was slepping in it) I think the hardest thing for me as his mom was the rejection he got from his peers. Now this was before the big push in schools with special ed. He didn't get it until the end of his junior year when I took him off meds. He graduated and then enlisted in the Navy. I was horrified! He still sucked his thumb which his doctor said was a calming mech. for him. The recruiter reassured me it would be fine. Well, he stayed in the Navy for 14 years. He recently married and is doing well. Now with his ADHD, he wasn't the most ambitious person on the planet, but I'm proud of him. Be proud of your son for all the little accompishments.

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    1. It must have been tough choosing to put your son on meds. We too have said that we'll never do it and luckily for us, we don't have to.

      Like your son, I hope my son will find something he enjoys. We always tell him that he can be whatever he wants. And because of the Asperger's, he can become fixated on something he finds interesting. We hope he goes to college, but we do enjoy when he gets a sticker for a good day at school.

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  2. Yes and the decision to take him off when he was 11 was just as hard but he needed to learn to control his behavior. Those stickers your son earns are the little baby steps to treasure. I've worked with various autism clients and I know it's not easy for the parents. You have so many resources now than when Michael was growing up. Does he have a sticker program for home?

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    1. Thanks for following my blog. Jacob has a reward calendar for home. Each day, he can get 2 stickers and depending on the number he gets per week, we'll have an outing together like to the library or the art gallery. The calendar sounded silly to us at first, but it can be very effective at influencing Jacob's behaviour.

      We do have many resources and my son's school is great. We are very lucky to have a great support network.

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  3. Actually I just found your blog today! That is so cool he is earning rewards at home. Oh, I can tell ya from rasining Michael, enjoy each and every little success. I wish I would have had the support then that people do now. BTW, you mentioned before about your dog attack being in the media? Do you have a link for it?

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    1. Here's the link. http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/306028--christmas-day-tragedy-hits-north-end-family

      Here's the link to the story I did on my blog about it.

      Yohttp://jimsautismblog.blogspot.ca/2011/12/christmas-to-forget.html

      You may have to copy and paste them.

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  4. Thanks. I've noted this on my blog:
    http://educatingpeopleaboutpitbulls.blogspot.com/2012/04/old-article-but-worth-repeating.html

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    1. Thanks for the support. I'm going to check out your blog right away.

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  5. Oh God, as soon as you said Assembly I knew what was going to happen. There are sooooo many sensory assaults when all the kids get together. We had Alex not go to any assemblies or school gatherings in the gym until he was 1/2 way through the first grade. They were too much for him. Even now, he goes for a sensory break before and after and wears his headsets.

    I hope today is sticker worthy as well!!!

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    1. Strangely enough Liz, there was another assembly this morning, but Jacob still received a sticker. His EA told me that towards the end he wanted to leave and go back to class. So they did and he was fine.

      The trick is to use what works right? If headsets help our sons avoid meltdowns, then why not use them.

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