#686 Saturday 1 September

Kaylia has her holiday bag ready to go!  This bag has her small supply of dingle-dangles, her pink pillow, a small blanket and a few balls.  (the essentials!)  I think she understands that we don't leave immediately ... but she forgets very quickly and soon she again wants to go ....NOW!.
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Therapy has been a good session again today.  She is currently working on being able to identify people and their task .... fireman,  pilot, nurse, teacher, doctor .... and so on.  Once again this seems so basic ... she just isn't aware of other people.  She has no trouble with Naomi and I .... but she can mixup just about every one else!
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AJ took her to the pool first thing today ... and had to cut the session short because a toddler's swimming class began .... she can't stand the sound of babies.




 (photo courtesy AJ)
In the afternoon, AJ took her back to the pool for a second try  .... very successful this time.
Then it was time for a visit to the Junction Ice Creamery .... followed by a drive round the 'op shops' ... one of our favourite haunts / jaunts.

#685 Friday 31 August

Happy birthday Anne! .... a birthday shared with Maria Montessori! (GH ...!!!) I've been looking at many of the links found when the Google Doodle is used ..... what a remarkable person Maria Montessori was. What a curse on humanity that our social structures and strictures work to put obstacles in the path of such brilliant people.
We (Kaylia, Naomi and I) have been so fortunate to have had Zoe sharing our home in the past. .... and its so good that we can have her with us again. Zoe's enthusiasm for Montessori education is refreshing. I have learned much while I was proof reading Zoe's essays for her studies ....
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There's a challenge .... to sift through the Montessori Method and find the facets which can be applied to children on the ASD spectrum. So much to think about!
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Kaylia has slept well ... I wish she had a USB port so we could plug in a diagnostic tool that would tell us what was going on inside! It would be wonderful to know ..... Is the tummy hurting? Does she have a headache?
The skilled medical practitioner can learn much from hands on feeling of the body .... but Kaylia won't even allow that! (We're fortunate that she has decided that the dentist is a good thing .....)
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5 days to go!

#684 Thursday 30 August

Poor Kaylia was not happy this afternoon .... One of those times where something was seriously not right but she cannot tell us what the problem is. She just sat and cried. It wasn't anxiety .... probably tummy pain. Panadol and a drive in the car seemed to help ..... by tea time she was fine again.
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Yesterday she received an invitation to a special Christmas party for kids with a disability .... the problem is that her disability makes such an event a torment! If we took her to an event like that, she would only last a few minutes before she had to leave.

#683 Wednesday 29 August

I had a burning hole in my pocket today ..... I had vouchers for Bunnings resulting from my recent birthday!  So I went to Bunnings this afternoon .... absconded from work!  This tool is the result ......
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It's a multi-tool ..... a 12 volt cordless Li-on (same batteries as my recent drill purchase ... which was courtesy of a client) .... it has a right angle drill, a sander, a rotary cutter and a 1/4" rachet socket drive.  It's pretty cool! Thank you to all who contributed to the vouchers.
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Kaylia seems to be coming down with a mild wog .... with any luck it will mean that she sleeps!
This time next week we will already be in Bali and we'll be looking forward to Zoe's arrival.  She will arrive around midnight.  We will have a job managing Kaylia .... she wouldn't be able to handle the noise and people at the airport arrivals ... so we won't even consider taking her out there if she happens to be awake!

#682 Tuesday 28 August

It's been a very busy day at work ... the busiest day we've had so far. We're all tired. Kaylia has had a good day too.
The break next week will be very welcome.

#681 Monday 27 August

Poor Zoe! She's a 'blog addict' and she's found out about the censorship in China .... apparently blogs are so terrible that people must be prevented from reading them .... I find the same in Indonesia .... I cannot access the blog while in Bali! So .... while Zoe is in China I am making a 'PDF' version of the blog after each day's blog has been written .... and I email it to her! (stick that up your jumper China!)
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Writing a blog is a strange process ..... On the one hand it's a story about Kaylia and 'us' ..... but it can't be written "warts and all" because it has to be able to keep the interest of the readers .... You!
If the tone of the blog becomes too flat .... Or too irritating ... then readers will lose interest. So..... the bad things are toned down and the good things are 'highlighted'. Fortunately Kaylia provides lots of 'good copy' so it makes my task easy. But it means that to get a real idea of life in 'Kaylia Land', the reader has to translate any comments about the bad times .... the reality is usually much worse than the picture painted.
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We're learning a lesson this time .... giving Kaylia too much anticipation of "holiday" can actually add to her anxiety. Her understanding of time is not adequate for her to grasp the concept of the long wait till we go. She saw that we were preparing the blue room ready for Zoe arriving .... Interpreted it as packing for Bali ..... and ever since she's been expecting that "holiday" is about to happen! It's a lesson for next time.
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Today ...... school! Exciting again.
Each evening after tea Kaylia goes and gathers the clothes she will need in the morning and puts them upstairs ready for when she dresses. On Friday night and Saturday night she still wants school uniform! We have to tell her that "tomorrow is not school! .... It's home time tomorrow."

#680 Sunday 26 August

Wow!! This morning we were driving away from home and AJ forgot to put on her seatbelt .... Kaylia pipes up "AJ, put on seatbelt please" !!!
The progress we're seeing is very gratifying. Much of it is probably due to development finally beginning to catch up with age .... but it still feels good.
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At this moment we're at Aunty Mim's for a combined birthday gathering.




Kaylia's having a great time .... she always gets to blow out the candle! she loves the house and she loves "collecting" people. She will be worn out soon.




This morning we went to the Bayswater Waves swimming pool .... it's a great place.
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Now it's home time .... crash time!