Busy But Good

We have been pretty busy. Today was a meeting with Samuel's preschool teacher and the head of student services for our school district to discuss him having a dedicated aid next year. It is looking like it will be a go for that. He is going back to his old preschool since he barely makes the cut-off for Kindergarten. He really flourishes when he gets one-on-one time and doesn't do well unless someone can be right with him to help with transitions.

Sarah, I cannot imagine going 12 years without knowing, 4 years were hard enough for me. Massive hugs and good thoughts going your way. I highly recommend attending your local chapter of Autism Society of America meetings. The one we are part of has given us a lot of insight. There are so many great parents who already have done a lot of research and have books and resources that they are willing to share. Not sure if it would help your son, but we started a weekly calender for Samuel that we keep on the fridge. We found a magnetized dry-erase board that has the days of the week already marked out. He has responded really well to knowing what will be happening in advance. We are also working on getting a schedule system set up for when we are out of the house shopping or traveling. We try to help him cope with day-to-day stress but have found that sometimes we just need to let him lay on the floor with a blanket on his head (seriously, he does this quite frequently and it helps). You are an amazing mother and I know you will do wonderfully with him. If you ever want someone to vent to let me know.

My favorite comment ever concerning special needs kids still comes from Vivian. We decided to talk to her about Samuel's diagnosis. We started to explain about some of the challenges and how Samuel is going to be a little different from other kids. She looked very puzzled and said "But he is just Samuel." I hope she forever has that attitude about him.

We have been looking into programs to help us pay for things but are finding that we make to much for almost all of them. We are waiting to hear back on a few.