Progress! (ish??)

Ok, pardon my grammar. So I’m going to let you in on little of my week: it’s been rough. This was my last week at work, ok, not really fun as you’d expect, what with telecommuting and all (no virtual cake or anything, lol).    And Zoe was having a really hard time acclimating to school – which we expected, but I guess they didn’t.  She was aggressive a little this summer at full time camp for kids with autism, but got better every week.  In fact, she went for one week of preschool in August out of the whole summer and was 100% fine with that…since she’s been attending there for 3 years.  New stuff, though, throws her for a loops, like most kids with autism.

We really love our school, but they only have full inclusion and full day kindergarten, so we’ve had to try to find solutions that work for her. We have some great ideas, but we have to implement, and so we are still waiting on that. At a meeting there on Monday, I showed her how to draw a circle. I have NO idea if she knows shapes, but guess what?  After a few minutes of trying, she drew a circle! Not the endless spirals that she usually does, and yes, it was a bit square, but we all gasped.

Then came Wednesday.  There was a morning meeting and she did wonderful.  The director told me she wished she had a camera!  Her next activities went well too, unfortunately this was also timed with a stomach virus, so I had to pick her up early, and keep her home yesterday.  (She pretty much sacked out the whole day but is  better now.)

Once she got home, she wanted to brush her teeth.  Normally this is a chore, because I have to set it all up and NEITHER of my kids even does this in the bathroom or with water.   For Zoe, I have to always start her off and if she’s willing, she’ll take the toothbrush and proceed or just let me do it. (She HATES the taste of kiddie toothpaste and sometimes refuses to brush at all.)  On Wednesday, she filled a cup with water, begged me to help her put the paste on the brush, brushed, rinsed with the water and spit.

Holy. Cow.

She *also* cleaned up a mess she made without even knowing I saw (much less me telling her to), by pulling off a paper towel (!!) and wiping it up. ALL WHILE SICK!

Then Chris found her jumping up and down on her bed yesterday morning saying “Amen!”

I feel that she has the capabilities. We’re going to have to pull together and work hard, and she may not ultimately succeed in this school, we may need to go to half-days and I can maybe get a TSS or another program or homeschool, but she is doing her best, my little trouper!

UPDATE: thanks to lack of sleep, staying home yesterday, and maybe more stomach discomfort, Zoe had a fit going to school this morning and bit Amelia. (Poor kiddo had an off day thanks to her injury!)  I *just* read the daily report on Zoe and thought I’d share, since it seems she got past it:

“As each day progresses, we are making more & more progress with the supports. We are very excited for next week to continue to watch her grow.”

🙂 I’m pretty darn excited too…