Doodle was regressing because she has new teachers. And new teachers normally keep all students on the same page. That's not possible with my child. She gets bored easily and will expect to keep rolling as long as she's mastered something. At the school she is in classes the kids can't keep pace with Doodle. She's smart and doesn't want to be held back. Yeah, she needs to learn patience.
And at home I've been trying to do as much as I can on my end. We have a new schedule. I've gone to what was used in a few classes in the past with her. She has a face chart. And what I mean by that is she has 4 levels to be on. A smiley for a great day, an are you serious face?, Oh My Goodness face and a frownie face. I didn't have to go out and buy all new things. I purchased white erase sticky paper at Dollar General when it was on sale for $.75. And with that all I need to use is a dry erase marker.
So far I'm keeping up with 4 weeks of past behavior at home. If she acts horrible at school then it affects her face schedule at home. If she's had a really bad day she has an opportunity to change that the next day. This helps to teach responsibility. She does have normal chores that she does everyday. And those chores are mainly for her self care.
But if she wants a smiley face instead of a frown face she has to do extra work. Vacuum her bed or floor, throw away her trash (for some reason she likes to collect trash), washing hands when she's been coloring with marker before bed, straighten up toys on the toy shelf and so on. I'm trying to teach her to be mindful of what she does that makes my life a little harder and what she can do to make our lives easier. Before the IEP meeting she didn't care about if she got a smile or frown on her schedule.
At school the teacher is getting Halloween candy of small packs of m&m's to focus Doodle in her classwork. I know it's horrible that a parent and teacher would bribe a child to learn something or stay on task. No it's called training. People do it with pets with clickers and treats. We as parents we use treats. Small treats. I cringe at parents who reward their children with suckers (lollipops). That's a way for kids to just say forget doing anything else I have what I want. Small pieces of candy's that give you a taste and you want more you have to continue working to get more. If you have a treat that will last longer then a little taste of you don't have to work hard anymore. You have what you want. So yeah, she's back in training mode at home and school. But we've reversed our roles. Home is normally the treats and school is normally the this is how your day is going schedule. We do what we have to to get to a great end result.
I've also implemented a new thing called a sensory resistance band. When Doodle feels a bit off she just gets in the band and stretches. This relieves the pressure on her muscles and relaxes her. It helps with all that excess energy she seems to have out of nowhere. I really could use that energy she has. To learn how to make your own it will be in the November issue of the magazine by JSN Creative Services. Keep reading to find out where you can get instructions to make your own.
Now that we've had the IEP and the work at school is becoming harder I've noticed a few things at home. She's becoming easier to work with at home and wants to do more to get smiling faces. She's sleeping through the entire night! And now that she's sleeping I am able to get sleep. She's gone from 5 mg of melatonin down to just 2.5 mg of melatonin.
This is the first week that change is really taking place at home and for the past 3 days I've actually been able to get more sleep. I'm able to be more productive and not so tired to the point where I am dragging. I'm no longer worried about getting that nap in the mornings when she gets on the bus and my balance is no longer off. When your body is so tired you can't think straight or walk straight. It's like you are walking around drunk and that's just no fun.
I'm grateful for the rest I'm now receiving. And it's all uninterrupted sleep. When you have a child living on the spectrum you feel like you are living with a newborn no matter how old they are. And remember that Doodle is 12. Some days are easy and some days are hard. She's worth every moment that I learn and grow with her.
If you are not seeing improvement at home during the school year try having an IEP meeting to have the work bumped up. Sometimes our children are bored and they need a challenge. It's what you know about your child that matters because you live with them. You know them very well. Don't be afraid to step in and help with their education. But it wasn't just school work we bumped up. I made sure that speech therapy got bumped up too. They are now going to be working on articulation in speech therapy because she's lost a few of her words. So we are going back to working on that as well. I didn't need to worry about occupational therapy at this time.
And next month while Doodle is out of school I will be ordering things for her to learn while she is out of school on holiday so she can stay on task and I don't have to worry about a regression. And we will be working on making pom poms. Lots and lots of pom poms to make a rug for the magazine. This will help with concentration and hand eye coordination. It will help her when she wraps the yarn and also for cutting. I'm all for projects where kids learn to use scissors correctly. Even if you don't have a child on the spectrum you can benefit from your child using scissors at home. Schools don't really teach that anymore and you would be surprised how many children can't use scissors correctly.
Crafting is one of the most important things that children on the spectrum need to do. They have to learn fundamentals and if they aren't learning it at school you need to kick it up a notch and teach it at home. Your child will surprise you when you work with them at home. Don't get frustrated and don't lose hope. You have to keep working with your child. I can attest that it's not the easiest thing to do but it's worth it.
Keep an eye out for the new issue or go ahead and make a sensory light that has helped us so much at home. On November the 1st you can check out the November issue of the magazine and make your own sensory resistance band for home. jsncreative.com/ezine The December issue will have a weighted blanket for cheap that really works.
See you guys on the flip side!
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