#681 Saturday 13 July

Its 6 am ... she slept well despite a notable resistance to sleep to begin with. .... but now both iPads have flat batteries! So she has resorted to my iPhone to watch Wiggles. It's amazing to see her skill in navigating YouTube .... she is lazy though .... she often wants you to find things that she is quite capable of .,.,. "You do it!"

 I've sold some more stuff on eBay ... so I have play money and I've bought a 7" tablet .... a Chinese one .... $108 despite being a high spec machine ... quad-core, 4.2.2 etc ... It arrived yesterday and  it's quite nice. The android system is getting more and more like the Apple OS ... so it's easier to use than the earlier android versions. I think I will be able to live with this one..... I couldn't handle the earlier ones.

 6:30am She's just been downstairs and changed nightie .... and brought up one that she wants me to put on!! It won't fit me Kaylee! She certainly gets some funny ideas at times. Since she is awake at an early hour it will be interesting to see what happens with the 8am anxiety attack.

9:00am  It did happen again .... but it was easier to manage when I was expecting it.  A bath!  .... and a clothes changing session. She's gone off to Whiteman Park now.

#680 Friday 12 July

An interesting thing ....   for Monday and Tuesday, Kaylia got up at the normal time .... and then from 8 to 9 each day, she was in the grip of a bad anxiety attack.  After 9 oclock arrived she was cheerful.  Then yesterday and today she slept till 9 am .... and was cheerful then on.   she missed the "anxious hour"!    ..... and what is even more interesting .... today from 8 to 9 ... while still asleep .... she showed signs that the anxiety attack was still on!

#679 Thursday 11 July

It's 3:00am .... Kaylia is watching YouTube and I'm reading the news .... disturbed by a report on a person being held on Christmas Island ..... found to deserve refugee status ..... but then  imprisoned for life via bureaucratic system .... without any legal process ... by a public service employee who is answerable only to a politician .... who is trying to be re-elected.

Shame on you Australia. This is as bad as the hypocritical actions of the USA.

4:30am

Still awake .... still trying to get Kaylia to sleep.

8am 

Ooo wot a night that was!  She didn't settle till about 5.   She's still asleep now.

Afternoon
She's had a good day ... chilled .... and not just from the cold weather!  She has been content to play at home .... dress ups with her clothes.

#678 Wednesday 10 July

3 down .... 7 to go.   Holiday days that is. I don't count the weekends cos they're normally at home .... but week days ....

Brynn is making a huge difference.  I am usually able to share the load but this time I'm occupied with business accounts work.  Until we employ a new accountant, I'm "it".

We've started telling Kaylia that she's going to Bali soon.  It will be a good test of our current methods.  We're going to be joined by AJ when we get there .... Kaylia will be excited to see her again.

Later

It's bed time and as usual the iPad is getting a workout.  I'm always impressed by the ease with which she zooms around you tube .... searching for the videos she wants .... going into history .... and then she watches!  I can tell what she thinks of them by the "flap quotient" .... the amount and intensity of her flapping shows just what she thinks of each video.

She is still very keen on Wiggles videos .... she doesn't listen to Wiggles music anymore but the videos are still high on the list.

#677 Tuesday 9 July

Day One went well ... it was a team effort .... Brynn managed Kaylia well and Kaylia behaved well!  It helps that Kaylia is developing into a real 'girl' and Brynn is a perfect person to foster this development.  I'm always amazed at Kaylia's dress sense .... the ability to choose the right clothes.

This is a photo that Brynn posted on her Facebook page .... it was at their favourite coffee shop.  The grimace is her interpretation of a smile..... she's currently learning to interpret facial expressions of emotions ..... and how to express her emotions.  Some of the results are hilarious.

This area of therapy is a good illustration of her autism .... the fact that she has to be taught how to 'read' facial expressions.

Of course the fact is that at 4am in the morning I am writing the blog while Kaylia watches the Wiggles on YouTube .... we're not learning how to get to sleep are we?  Kaylia woke to 'go for a loo run' ..... and at  my stage of life,  this is par for the course.

Evening
It has been a good day for her.  Thanks Brynn.  It makes such a difference knowing that you can handle whatever she throws at you!  (I don't mean literally.....)

Therapy has been good .... she's very cheery. This morning she didn't wake till nearly 9am .... maybe she's in a growth spurt and needing extra sleep?

#676 Monday 8 July

Good night.   First day of the holidays ..... Yikes.  School holidays are always hard work .... change of routine ..... he to fill in her day ......

The inability to imagine is never  a greater challenge.   She can't live in an imaginary world despite the isolation of autism.  She needs external activity and she gets anxious when this doesn't happen.

#675 Sunday 7 July

Ah ...... Sunday morning sleep in!  Bliss.  2 "sleeping beauties" beside me and a computer in my hand .....

Today .... when she says "Can I go to Aunty Moo's" ..... we will be able to say "YES!" . .... more bliss.

Bedtime:

It's been a good day despite a high level of "transition anxiety"...... anxiety attacks resulting from changes - in this case the end of term and the start of school holidays.   Every time there is any change in her life, we have to expect it to produce a difficult time for us.  Kaylia has been doing a lot of her "anxiety sound" ... this is hard to describe but both Naomi and I hate it.  The sound sends our stress levels through the roof and we will do almost anything to stop that sound!

This evening the TV settings had been messed up and it took a while to be able to play Kaylia's DVD .... when it finally worked we found that we couldn't control the sound level .... it was way too loud .... but K was so happy we were stuck with it.  To stop the DVD player and fix the sound just wasn't an option.