Teacher Progress Report

Zavier's in preschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12:15-3:15pm. It's a church preschool about 20 mins away from our house. It's a structured, loving, and fun environment for him. There were originally 15 kids in his class; Zavier and 1 other child in class have special needs. The other kids are "normal" or "typical," and they are all really great kids. Zavier is in there without an aide, which had been a (seemingly far-fetched) dream of mine since he regressed into severe, non-responsive, non-verbal autism at age 2.5.

His teacher met with every parent individually yesterday for progress updates. Here is what she wrote on Zavier's report:

-Separates easily and seems to be happy in class
-Has learned routine and follows it pretty well
-He's developing appropriately for physical development/large motor skills
-He loves books
-Is attentive at circle time for books and stories
-His favorite playground activities are bikes, sand, books in quiet area. He likes to run, jump on the trampoline, and he goes on the obstacle course
-His fav classroom activities are puzzles, books, and the cd player.
-He cuts with help in guiding paper
-He's beginning to write
-He can manipulate small pieces
-He will do art activities, but with a short attention span
-He knows his colors, shapes, etc
-He uses numbers and counting
-He works puzzles [24-60pc]

She said at the beginning of the school year, he wanted to play with her cd player. Eventually, after saying, "no Zavier, that's MY cd player, don't touch it," for about a month, he finally understood that while he has his own cd player at home, he's not welcome to touch her cd player. So that's resolved.

She also said that he cried on the first day of school, and on the second day of school he saw me through the window and cried. But that was it, and that made me feel better. She said he's really happy and cooperative in school. He doesn't have transition issues. Sometimes they'll go up to him to give him instructions if they feel he hasn't heard them from across the room. He doesn't have a direct 1:1 aide.

Let's see, what else...she said that some kids, both typical and with special needs, give her a tough time, but Zavier isn't like that. She said he's so well behaved that he's one of her easier kids.

She said he does talk and answer questions in class, but that his voice is soft/quiet, and she wanted ideas for encouraging him to talk louder.

Our main goal now is to help Zavier talk/play with his peers. His peers are sweet and they come up to him and say, "hi Zavier, want to play with me?" But they don't end up playing because Zavier doesn't know how to respond or what to do (this is a very common problem in autism). I asked her if it'd be ok if one of Zavier's ABA therapists came into the classroom once/month to facilitate play with his peers. She said yes! I was so relieved. Now I just have to get it approved through some other people.

Hug

Today I took pics of Zavier at preschool for a slideshow I'm working on. I asked him to hug his classmates for the pictures. After a few pics, my normally painfully reserved kid started to go up to his classmates and hug them on his own. The adults started to get teary-eyed.

morning chat

Me: Good morning Zavier
Zavier: Morning
Me: Do you want to snuggle Mommy and watch a show?
Zavier: Yeah
Me: Ok, go get your pillow and blanket
Zavier: [returns with pillow and blanket]
Me: Ok thanks. What do you want to watch?
Zavier: Jay Jay Jet Plane
Me: That's not on, pick something else please.
Zavier: How 'bout Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Me: Ok, which show do you want - Mickey's Surprise or...
Zavier: Mickey Surprise
Me: Ok. Where am I supposed to sit? Here or there? [pointing to areas on the couch]
Zavier: here. [patting the spot next to him]. I want snuggle.
Me: Ok.

Halloween

For Halloween, we went to Daddy's work party from 11-2. Zavier spent most of his time in the bounce house. He also bravely gave the pinata a few gentle whacks, and ate his snack. Then as we were cleaning up, he looked at nick.jr clips on my iPhone (he knows how to navigate youtube in my phone to pull up the stuff he wants).

Daddy took the girls trick or treating while Zavier stayed here with Mommy to hand out candy. He mostly played on the computer and watched the trick or treaters. Here is a pic from the day:

Correction

Just before Zavier fell asleep, I talked to him about his day. "...and you got two new puzzles: Matchbox Cars, and Curious George. And you put them together so fast..."

Zavier opened his eyes slightly, and corrected me, "Hot Wheels."

"Oh, that's right, it's not matchbox cars, it's hot wheels. Thanks for telling me, Z." I replied.

He nodded and fell asleep.

Quotes of the day

Zavier's stomach was slightly bloated today.
Me: "Zavier, what is that?" (pointing to his stomach, expecting him to say, "It's my tummy")
Zavier looked down at where I was pointing and replied, "it's a bump."

Yes, I suppose it does look like a large bump from his perspective :)

*******************
Today was Halloween. We had the front window and the main door open, with just the screen door shut. It was dark outside, and very light inside. We heard voices outside.
Me: "Zavier, what is that?" (expecting him to say, "it's people")
Zavier: "It's a scary."

Then he ran and hid.

Zavier's Schedule

Mon:
8-10 ABA therapy
11:30 Speech therapy
12:15-3:15 Preschool
4:00-4:45 watch Kyrsten swim

Tue:
8-10 ABA therapy
11-11:50 Occupational therapy
12:45-2:15 ABA therapy
4:00-4:45 watch Kyrsten swim

Wed:
8-10 ABA therapy
10:30 Speech therapy
11:10-12:00 Physical therapy
12:15-3:15 Preschool
4:00-4:45 watch Kyrsten swim

Thurs:
8-10 ABA therapy
12:45-2:30 ABA therapy
4:00-4:45 watch Kyrsten swim

Friday:
8-10 ABA therapy
10:20-11:10 Physical Therapy
12:15-3:15 Preschool

Overheard this week

In the car: "Mommy I want music louder. Can I have Little People Christmas?"

Suggested Books

I really found these books useful in my efforts to help Zavier: