#1468 Saturday 4 February

Kaylia wants to go to the beach today.  ..... but right now at 8am, she wants her pink iPhone .... and this time she can't find it.  She hasn't learned to put it on a safe place when she's finished with it .... she just drops it.  ..... and it can be on the floor, under pillows, tangled in blankets .....   I've been down and searched everywhere but I can't find it either.  I wonder if she left it in the car?

#1467 Friday 3 February

Kaylia has settled back into school routine .... she's very happy.  So we're happy too!

Friday night is our indulgence night .... we all get to vote on what we get ..... Chinese ... pizzas ..... fish and chips ..... Subway.   Tonight it was pizzas ...... and Kaylia was hungry for a change!  She ate and ate.

#1466 Wednesday 1 February

School!!!! 
She has been so intent on the coming event that it was a serious anxiety trigger.  I used a social story and emphasised how she would sleep well .... how she would lie still and quiet ..... and it worked!  At 6:30am as I write, she is still asleep! Social stories are a wonderful tool.

A friend noticed this news article and passed it on .....

Autism assistance dogs

It's very interesting.  Their life sounds very similar to ours!! But instead of a dog, we used ourselves.  I can remember how we would have to watch her like a hawk cos she would run.  At that stage we coped by always having a physical touch. Once in a shop in Kuta, my attention wandered for a moment ..... and she was out the door and in the middle of the traffic in the street.  That incident was very scary for us and even 10 years on, we frequently talk about that moment.  Looking back it explains why Kaylia now loves to always walk either arm in arm ... or to walk in a cuddle. I get quite a few "looks" at times.

The news article is a little shallow .... the writer paints a picture of the dog making their family life normal .... but I think K was more severe than that child .... she was not as aware of things outside herself and so didn't respond to external calming factors. The medication allowed her to be aware ..... and she has learned a degree of self regulation.   The article also paints a very simplistic picture of family social interaction ..... autism doesn't really allow for any form of social life. 
Part of the problem is that a child with autism nearly always has a parent who has autism .... and an adult with autism often doesn't want any social interaction.  

It's a vicious circle. ..... and to have social interaction requires the other people to be understanding of the situation .... and our experience has been that very few people will tolerate a social situation where they are not the centre of attention!! So we quickly ran out of people to socialise with.  Another vicious circle.

#1465 Tuesday 31 January

Only hours to go!  She is wanting a "story" about the coming hours.

 

Bedtime ... she is very excited!  She has her uniform ready .... this afternoon we went to the shops to buy her shoes for this year.

It's wonderful to have a child who loves school.  It removes a huge barrier to her future development.

#1464 Monday 30 January

Kaylia is now a teenager!  I asked her what she'd like to do today ..... "Stay in bed!".  Why not?  It's her choice.  I explained to her about growing from child - teenager - adult.  She took it in .... her level of comprehension is constantly growing .... she can't verbalise a response to show her understanding but there are little behavioural clues that make me think that she does understand.

As usual, she is trying hard to articulate her new age ..... the "th" is hard .... she normally puts her tongue behind her top teeth and the result is sort of "derteen" ...... so I explain about putting her tongue between her teeth .... and she practices.  But it's not something that is easy for her so we will have to have many practice sessions before it becomes automatic.

Later: she was treated to a long drive this afternoon .... out to Beverly!  Joe tells me that at the end, she asked for more.

Night:. I think she has really enjoyed her day.  This is her birthday cake at teatime ..... followed by a bath where she was able to use a present ..... a bath bomb .... that fizzed and bubbled with colours, sensations and scents. (No photos allowed 😀)

#1463 Sunday 29 January

Nightus horribilus!   She didn't sleep till around 5am ..... she'd come to get us at 12:30 .... Naomi tried till 2:30 and then I took over.  She wasn't really interested in trying to sleep till I told her that if she didn't sleep then she couldn't go to Sizzlers!  That stopped the shenanigans ..... but sleep didn't come for some time after.  (Her birthday family gathering is to be at Sizzlers for lunchtime today .... and she's very excited.)

She really enjoyed her day!

We were home by about 2pm and at 3:30pm I detected early signs of the strange attacks .... so I got in a pre-emptive strike of painkillers ..... and it didn't develop.  Of course it may not have developed anyway but the data is interesting ..... and I'm very glad that she didn't have another bout.