A lot has happened in the last month that Gabriel has been in school; he went on his first field trip to the Texas Tech Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit and they have another one planned to Market Street to learn about good nutrition, and now they are having me peddle insulated tumblers to raise money for who knows what (if you want one, they are $10 each!).
Today, I got his first formal report on how he is doing working toward his goals and I figured I would share them here. It will mark the progress that is sometimes so slight we miss it, but is so very important as it shows who Gaby is becoming. Plus it is an eight-page report, and I cannot possibly save every one that they send home to me.
"In the area of behavior skills, Gabriel is very active and moves around quite a bit. He does need to have more of a physical support to follow directions, but does not fight or tantrum while doing so. He is very persistent on getting what he wants and will stay with an adult until he is able to get what is wanted. Gabriel has a hard time staying in a certain area for long amounts of time. he will become aggressive with friends in more of a play fashion rather than anger."
-Gabriel requires an adult to sit with him in all structured areas to stay in his spot. When he has reached his time limit, but the activity is still going on we will try a weighted lap belt or blanket to help calm him down. He has improved his sitting time and will even do some independent sitting for up to five minutes.
-Gabriel has not yet been able to express his wants and needs in an appropriate way. He is using some gestures such as grabbing a teacher by their hair or scratching, along with crying to let a teacher know that he does not like doing an activity.
"In the area of cognitive skills, Gabriel is not engaging in communication other than some signing and will give some verbal noises such as babbling or simply making noises."
-We have not yet started doing one-on-one activities with Gabriel because we are really wanting him to get used to all of the group activities and routines that we do in the classroom. When we do our activities he is still needing hand-over-hand to assist, but he is beginning to take some initiative and do independent coloring.
-Hand-over-hand support is needed to do matching activities in all settings of the classroom.
-Gabriel is not vocalizing words/numbers at this time. We are counting in various activities to give him the verbal and visual modeling from adults and peers to get him some experience with counting, but he is not ready to initiate this on his own.
"In the area of fine motor skills, Gabriel is seeking quite a bit of sensory input. When sensory activities are used before another activity, Gabriel tends to respond better. Gabriel is a good eater, but has a hard time trying new foods. Gabriel is very oral seeking, putting various items in his mouth that are not foods. Auditory sensitivity can be a problem for Gabriel as well."
-Hand-over-hand support with adaptive scissors is needed to cut a piece of paper. At this time Gabriel will not even really look at the activity we are working on so safety wise an adult gives him complete support.
-Right now, Gabriel is not working on writing shapes. We are working on doing independent scribbling and doing this for a longer length of time while looking at the paper. He is beginning to do this more and more.
-We have not seen too much sensory defensiveness at school thus far. We have done sticky, slippery, and wet activities and he has tolerated it very well. We are working on not putting inappropriate items in his mouth to eat.
"In the area of self help skills, Gabriel is able to express his needs and wants by reaching for things or bringing them to his parents."
-Gabriel is beginning to follow through with some of the routines that we are doing in the classroom. He knows now to go and sign in in the morning and even though he will not go to check his schedule, he is beginning to take a picture (not necessarily the correct one) off his schedule and match it (when placed in front of him) to the board.
-Gabriel is not requesting the need, at this time, to be changed or use the bathroom. We are not seeing a readiness for potty training quite yet. We are going to continue to work on peer modeling and scheduled diaper changes to work on some beginning skills.
-Gabriel is not a fan of brushing his teeth. We recently switched to toddler toothpaste to take away the strong toothpaste taste that he was having with the school provided toothpaste. This has not helped thus far, but we are hoping that just as the other routines will beginning to be a norm for Gab.
"In the area of social skills, Gabriel enjoys playing independently rather than in a group of kids or with his siblings."
-Gabriel is not participating in play at this time during inside or outside playtime. He primarily runs around and will not pick up a toy other than a book occasionally and will sit for up to three minutes. When adults bring him books or try to get him to sit with them, he does not show any interest.
-Hand-over-hand support is needed to participate in group settings where we share and take turns with various manipulatives.
While reading all of that, I tried very hard to keep in mind that Gabriel is held to a different standard that that of his brother or sister or age-appropriate peers because of his diagnosis. I think of it as the process of unlocking Gabriel--figuring out how he best learns, figure out what is going on in his head, and finding a way to reach him on his terms so that he can communicate and function in a world that will likely never feel comfortable to him. Never-the-less, it is a little discouraging to read how in six weeks we are progressing to sitting for up to five minutes and sometimes coloring a little.
That, however, is the wrong attitude to have and I recognize that. Focusing on the positive, the fact that Gabe is not exhibiting sensory defensiveness is a big deal. Since many autistic children find the sensations of normal life absolutely appalling, the fact that Gabriel is adapting to a variety of tactile experiences is encouraging. And we are seeing quantifiable progress--that is not always the case, where you can see regression or long-term stagnancy, it is good to see that this program is working for him. Any progress, no matter how small, will have been monumental to his teachers and to Gabriel himself.
--Andie
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