Today was Kaylee's 'day with daddy' - Naomi was working a near full day. Kaylee spent 2.5 hours in the swimming pool and was very happy! I noticed (while at the pool) a good demonstration that Kaylia is now able to think sequentially - that is she expressed a desire for "X" but worked out for herself that she would need to do "U","V", & "W" before she could get to "X" ... and she went ahead and did it without prompting.
This was a confirmation to me of something that had been said in her therapy program review (yesterday). The clinical psychologist is very happy with Kaylia's progress this year and we are seeing behaviours that show a blossoming ability to think.
You might wonder "So what ... don't all children learn to think?" ..... No .... my understanding of autism is that the child can be so wrapped up in their own world that they never notice how we adults do things .... and that is how children learn - by watching us. So for Kaylia .... if she had been left without therapy ..... she would never have watched how we 'do things' - and so she would never have learned to think.
On the medication front, we are going to try 'weaning her off' Risperdal to see if the Lovan is sufficient alone. She is on a small dose of Risperdal but it still seems to be producing an undesirable weight gain. A few days to taper off the Risperdal and we will watch for any increase in stimmy behaviours. If this increase is seen (about Monday or Tuesday), we will try a different drug to see if we can control the stimming while avoiding the weight gain.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday 25th August 2010
Life is back to normal and she is so happy to be back at school. Each morning she looks forward to getting there and she loves the routine. Despite the trials and tribulations of 'autiness', she is a joy to have around us. (I'm told - on good authority - that much of what we are experiencing is common to all 6 year olds .... and it does get better .... I hope they're right!)
Communication is a big hurdle for us almost every moment .... so often we wonder what it is that she is trying to say .... and we have to resort to "Show me!" so she will take us by hand to show us what she wants.
Counting backwards (10 minutes .... 9 minutes ..... and so on) is a great tool for helping her to accept a change or a finish.
Her weight is a concern .... one of the side effects of the medications is weight gain .... I have started recording her daily percentage weight gain to get a grasp of how it is going .... this has varied from 0.03% per day to 0.2% per day. When this is matched to the medcation record, a picture is developing.
(Do you like the new background? Billiard balls - one of her favourite things!)
Communication is a big hurdle for us almost every moment .... so often we wonder what it is that she is trying to say .... and we have to resort to "Show me!" so she will take us by hand to show us what she wants.
Counting backwards (10 minutes .... 9 minutes ..... and so on) is a great tool for helping her to accept a change or a finish.
Her weight is a concern .... one of the side effects of the medications is weight gain .... I have started recording her daily percentage weight gain to get a grasp of how it is going .... this has varied from 0.03% per day to 0.2% per day. When this is matched to the medcation record, a picture is developing.
(Do you like the new background? Billiard balls - one of her favourite things!)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday 22nd August 2010
Bali day #9
The night was good and the last day began with the usual breakfast and then 'slee-poo-poo'. Then it was final packing and checking out from Novotel. On arrival at the airport, it finally sank in to Kaylee that we were going on the plane ..... and the response was 'car, car'! We spent the waiting time at the Prada Lounge (very good value at Rp 200k/ person .... you get comfortable quiet waiting with food & drinks on tap) . The flight home was perfect and customs in Perth was uneventful. What a change from the last trip! There were a few anxious moment when a badly behaved child behind us was making a rukus ... but she handled the stress OK and went to sleep for about an hour. The iPods have been the best! Kaylia spends ages playing her games .... she uses the calendar to practice counting! (I wish iPads didn't cost so much!)
Tina was waiting and then it was off to home. Kaylee wanted to go straight to bed!
Overall? The trip was good ... much better. Still hard work and we'll have to work on a strategy to make it feel like a 'holiday'.
We seem to have the anxiety management in control at present.
The night was good and the last day began with the usual breakfast and then 'slee-poo-poo'. Then it was final packing and checking out from Novotel. On arrival at the airport, it finally sank in to Kaylee that we were going on the plane ..... and the response was 'car, car'! We spent the waiting time at the Prada Lounge (very good value at Rp 200k/ person .... you get comfortable quiet waiting with food & drinks on tap) . The flight home was perfect and customs in Perth was uneventful. What a change from the last trip! There were a few anxious moment when a badly behaved child behind us was making a rukus ... but she handled the stress OK and went to sleep for about an hour. The iPods have been the best! Kaylia spends ages playing her games .... she uses the calendar to practice counting! (I wish iPads didn't cost so much!)
Tina was waiting and then it was off to home. Kaylee wanted to go straight to bed!
Overall? The trip was good ... much better. Still hard work and we'll have to work on a strategy to make it feel like a 'holiday'.
We seem to have the anxiety management in control at present.
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