#344 Saturday 13 August

Well .... it WAS a bad night .... Kaylia slept all night but I couldn't! I was awake from midnight to 3am. Then in the morning Naomi was too sick to work ....

Kaylia's had a good day with swim, library ... Then a long drive to York and Northam.
Of course all playgrounds were visited.




Now it's bed time and I think I may have caught the bug from Naomi!

#343 Friday 12 August

Naomi has had a bad day .... she's really, really not well. Unfortunately the people she sees are often in a bad way too .... and so it is very hard for Naomi to take respite at their expense. She's gone to bed early and maybe that will help. I hope so.

Kaylia is happy as larry .... quite normal. She loves being at school. Last night at bed time she was asking to go to school!

The full moon is two days away! Horrors! Tonight will probably be bad. She will be noisy and stay up half the night. This is not good when others are sick.

My wrist is a lot better ... I had a physio session this week but I've managed to avoid excessive exercising after the session. So my hand actually feels better now. The pain is nearly all from the muscles and tendons ..... I've been given a ball of "exercise putty" .... sort of like play-doh. Kaylia saw it and I had to battle to retain possession! I'm learning to do the exercise just till I start to feel pain. Usually I do the exercise till I can't take any more pain.

#342 Thursday 11 August

Another significant event!! (These seem to be coming faster ... do you agree?)

Last night around tea-time I was on the phone to Maxine .... Kaylia came up (en route for a walk with Kat) .... I gave the phone to Kaylia thinking that the "talk" with Auntie Maxine would be the usual one sided affair where Kaylia just listens.

Instead I heard her making clear responses to questions that Maxine was asking .... it was a real conversation that went on for about 4 or 5 sentences! I think this is another "first"!
It is also a basis for other play activities pretending to use the phone .... I'll look for a toy phone that actually transmits voice.

Another "event" that I'd forgotten ..... during the review on Tuesday, Kaylia was using the "play-doh" and pretending that she had a stethoscope .....



It was clear imagination! Zoe and others will recall how we have struggled to teach her to use imagination in play ... and constantly failed ..... and here we saw a clear example that she had initiated! Breakthrough!!

#341 Wednesday 10 August

Census is over. Now we wait to find out the number of the faithful .... how many Jedi have declared themselves?

Yesterday was also a review day ... Kaylia's therapy program review. She is doing very well. The rate at which she is learning to think is rapidly accelerating. We see this in the time it's taking her to master new therapy exercises. 12 months ago when she had a new drill or exercise, she would be at it for weeks and months while her success rate slowly increased. Now the time needed is single digit sessions! As this occurs her ability to acquire knowledge is growing. (this is an ability which autism has taken from her. The therapy program aims to rebuild that ability.)



One of the welcome aspects of this success is increased verbal language. The acquisition of language is a key component of being able to think .... To think we need to be able to label objects/ actions ... we need words to be able to think about concepts and processes.

We can see this growing.

#340 Tuesday 9 August

It's been a good night. .... and tonight will be census night.



This Jedi household will once again strike a blow for the cause of reality tolerance as we join with all the other Jedi homes across the nation ... striving to have the very existence of the Jedi accepted by evil power which still strives to bend the very nature of reality .... the dreaded "Booro of Sturtistiks"!!
Jedi Princess K begs that you join her .... acknowledge the miticlorians within you and shout out ".... I am JEDI!!"



.... and the Ewok (Teddy) says WOOF!

#339 Monday 8 August

Significant event ... I think .....




We're at Bunnings in Ballajura ... We're on our way to a dental checkup. When we collected Kaylia from school I said "Do you want to go home?" "No!" she says ... and takes me over to the wall displaying her afternoon schedule .... points to it.

My interpretation? She's saying "This is why I want to stay at school." She didn't get upset .... instead she communicated! Wow!

Next? I say "Do you want to go to the dentist?". "YES!!!". .... Off we go.

#338 Sunday 7 August

It's nearly tea time (the evening main meal for all you heathens!) and Kaylia is happy. It's a big change from the afternoon when we had an actual temper tantrum! Not a melt-down or an anxiety attack .... it was a full blown "normal" spac attack! She wanted shop NOW and she didn't like not getting what she demanded. It wasn't pleasant but it was good for a change .... in a way.
In the morning we've been swimming at the Ballajura pool again ... it's a nice pool run by very pleasant staff.