What a busy week!
Last Friday, I chaperoned the autism classes CBI (community based instruction) trip to the local firehouse. E woke up with 101 degree fever, so he and my dh stayed home. S was excited and ecstatic. S participated heavily in the presentation that the firefighters gave, and made a point of climbing up and sitting in the truck three times. We all went to McDs for ice cream after the firehouse – the kids loved it.
On Wednesday we had a Halloween potluck for bowling league and were supposed to come in costume. I dug up my 50s outfit that I put together for a Close To My Heart convention a number of years back. A word to the wise – bowling with a petticoat does not work. :p
I then went to school and chaperoned S’s 2nd grade class Halloween party. The kids are a blast and he has the best teacher who does her best to include the special needs boys when they are in her classroom. S really had a much better time than is apparent in this photo.
The most exciting part, for me, was when one of the other moms, who has known S for over 3 years now (our kids were in a non-cat pre-school class together), came up to tell me what a HUGE difference there is in S’s behavior. She hasn’t spent time with him since we put him on Risperadol at the end of April and she went on and on about how “on” he seemed and how impressed she was with how he answered all of her questions. Dh and I have always tried to make treatment decisions (especially drugs) based on whether or not others (mainly at school) see an improvement in our kids’ behavior. Our primary goal is for them to be successful at school, when we are not around, and we won’t subject them to any kind of treatment if there isn’t a noticable positive difference that is seen by other people. I’ve seen too many cases of moms who go through a lot of various treatments and diets with their kids, swearing that they see a difference, only to have the school personnel say that they see no difference in the child. How my kids do without my support is crucial for me.
Yesterday was the kindergarten field trip to Cox Farms’ Pumpkin Patch. All of the kindergarten classes for the school went. It was so much fun! I chaperoned the autism kindergarten class, and our boys had such a wonderful time. There were no meltdowns, no problems. E was in heaven because the pumpkin patch is one of his favorite places and he was so excited to take his friends on the big slide and the hayride. Not to mention munching a LOT of fresh kettle corn. 
It was great to see how well behaved our kids were in comparison to some groups of neurotypical kids present (there were schools from all over the area visiting).
We had a pizza party in the classroom when we got back at 1 pm – everyone was tired and well fed. I was thoroughly pooped – I wish I still had the energy of a 6 year old!
