#1982 Wednesday 3rd July

Today was the end of term parent/teacher interviews at school.....    as usual the songs of praise for our wonder child were loud!

We have such a special girl.....  and I am so thankful for the years and years of therapy that has shaped her. 

I recently read an article from a parent of an auty one.... she was bemoaning her feeling that the therapy for her child had not made any difference.   And I'm so glad that we can rejoice in the wonderful changes and development that ABA therapy has made for Kaylia.  Kaylia's had consistent therapy.... formal and generalized.... since she was 3 years old.

What a difference it has made! Wonderful. 

#1981 Saturday 22 June

Some photos..... 

#1980 Friday 21 June

Well .... it's been quite a gap since the last post .... [no pun intended!]

Two reasons .....

a.  I've been madly writing in my poetry blog .... I've now published 159 poems on that blog ... plus more private unpublished work.  So my main attention has been on that writing.

b.  Kaylia has been so chill!   She has been so calm .....  happy ..... consistent.  It's been wonderful.

I wish each of you that have been with Kaylia in the "bad ol days" ..... could be here now and see the girl she has become.

Now .... I'll try to "paint a picture" of Kaylia now.....

Currently bathtime is BIG on her agenda .... she gets home from school at around 3:30pm and it's straight into the bath!  Bubbles every where .... singing her head off.  She stays there for about an hour .... then she gets herself out, dries herself and dresses ..... lays out the towels to dry .... and then it's "chup chup" time in her room where she chills out till it's time for tea.

After the meal she MUST get her calendar and mark off the day that has passed .... and talk about the days to come.

Then it's time for bed time routine ...... into her nightie and then she entertains herself with either a DVD from her enormous collection ... or Youtube on her iPhone.  She has 4 old iPhone version 4's that are all running low on battery stamina .... so she frequently comes out and swaps for a fully charged one.

(If anyone has an old iPhone sitting on the shelf no longer used, Kaylia would really use it well!)

#1979 Tuesday 9 April

This is an amazing photo......

...... compare this with the next ....

The second photo is Kaylia of course .......

..... but the first is Kaylia's grandmother when she was a few years younger than Kaylia is now.  The resemblance is quite remarkable.

#1978 Wednesday 3 April

Wow .... what a great graphic

This morning at the breakfast table Kaylia was in full auty mode ..... she was sitting at the table  .... looking somewhere .... who knows where! .... and humming away .   Eve and Verena were in her line of sight ... but unseen ..... and they were bemused by Kaylia's gaze.

#1977 Sunday 31 March

Bath #3 for the day at 4pm!  Her life revolves around the bath at present.  Sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing?   But when I look at her interaction with the world, things could certainly be much worse!   Her absence of social interaction is almost total.....  for Kaylia, social contact must be in the correct setting for routine  ..... that is .... her friends are at school.  Nowhere else.  So that is where social contact occurs.  She has an almost appropriate social behaviour at school ..... and she is certainly popular with her friends.....  so she is different.  At present it works for her.

In five years time she will be out of the school world .....(horrors!)  ..... and it will be a different ball-game.  She will have to be taught how to navigate the perils of social contact in an adult world.

#1976 Monday 25 March

Isn't she growing up!  This was taken during a class excursion today.

Yesterday another car event .... blown head gasket on the Subaru.  The repair cost is more than the car is worth .... so I'm now looking for a replacement car.