I spent the last two days at an Autism Summit. I listened to Jed Baker inspire me to tackle the social issues. I listened to Wayne Gilpin teach me to appreciate the beauty in my children. Brenda Smith Myles overwhelmed me with the bountiful "hidden curriculum". Lots of info!
Truthfully not a lot of it was new. After 2 1/2 years of absorbing Autism information, and having already read their books, I can truly say that I've heard/read most of it all before. But it is so invigorating to be in the midst of a couple hundred family members and teachers who are all traveling the same path.
Yes, most of us parents sit there thinking..."That's a great idea but I'm wasting time sitting here. I could be home developing that visual schedule. I could be home developing those trials for our home program. I have so much work to do...let's do it!" Then we go home exhausted.
And last night after the boys went to bed I finally sat down to start up again! I spent 3 hours analyzing where we are on the ABLLS curriculum and started developing some new trials to focus on. I attended a training back in October on their updated program. They now include a few more "RDI type" skills. I started to reassess JP in October but then got lazy. Perhaps I was dragging my feel because I didn't want to have to back track to fill in the gaps the new tasks left on his chart. Finally I finished his current assessment Friday night.
Fortunately, I don't think we are going to have to back track much. I have already been doing a lot of RDI tasks with him (acquired an RDI book this past year too). So although ABLLS has been the cornerstone of our home program I guess it is good that I do a hodgepodge of activities with him. We have a few gaps to fill in but apparently we are still on track!
Now I just need the energy to pick up our level of sessions. It is just so much harder now that Baby T is mobile. Before he joined us I have to say that I was working with JP pretty much 24x7. Now I aim for 24x7 but have been lazy about planning things. I just try to find teachable opportunities in our day. Actually this is much more natural. And a lot less stressful because you don't have to spend hours developing "lesson plans". Perhaps he is more interested in the life lessons as well since they focus on his interest of the moment. But since I don't have a Phd in child development I figure I need to revisit the professional guidelines to make sure I don't miss some of the critical pieces!
Either way, JP IS doing amazing. I am amazed by him every day. But I keep thinking that I have 6 months to get him as ready as I can for kindergarten. I guess I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work again!
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I feel like this too with my daughter (I have 12 months to get her ready for school). I used to give myself a hard time for not doing therapy with her 24/7, but these days I try to cut myself some slack because I can't do it all, all the time. I try to remember that sometimes she just needs me to be her mum. So don't be too hard on yourself. You're only human (and doing an amazing job!)
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