Today was a great day for Caleb! We visited some relatives for Easter dinner (a week late) and Caleb was excited to see them. He ran right up to cousin Skylere and gave her a big hug and then went through the house naming everything...."They have a TV, a lamp, a couch, etc." He really got into this visit with relatives, much to the delight of everyone! He also loved our Easter tradition of breaking confetti filled hollow eggs on each other's head (as you can see in the picture he let little cousin break one on his head :). It wasn't perfect, as we still had about 3 small screams when told "no", but otherwise it was a fantastic day! Mom and Dad actually enjoyed the visit and didn't have to play "Caleb police"!
We're still in limbo about next year. We have kind-of decided to try the autism school (the one with the slightly older kids who are more at Caleb's intellectual level) for 3 days a week, while still main-streaming for 2 days. This will allow for more days in the regular school as behaviors get mastered in the autism school. This also forces our local school to work directly with the autism teacher, thus not letting them off the hook for a year or two. It also allows Caleb to keep his peer group that he's bonded with and also keep up with the 2nd grade curriculum (which he's able to do). SOOOO....what's the problem, you might ask? There might not even be an opening for him at the autism school. They are already 2 children over state limit, and they hope to open another classroom, but won't know for sure until summer. What if there's no opening for Caleb? What do we do then? I'm still always keeping homeschooling in my pocket as a backup. I have felt, however, that I have to try to make a go of the above mentioned plan because it would benefit Caleb the most. Homeschooling will be next though if the original plan falls through.
Caleb is a child who is reading nicely for first grade, but it's hard to assess how much he comprehends because answering questions is somewhat limited to simple words. He has tons of vocabulary, but for some reason answering questions is difficult. He's also adding and subtracting simple numbers like 1+9 or 6-3 , etc. He does great on spelling and sounding out words, and often takes his test by typing on wordpad instead of writing (since writing often makes him mad if the letters aren't perfectly formed). Last week he got 9/10 correct! He knows how to tell time to the hour and 1/2 hour, but money still is a bit of a struggle for him. He cuts, pastes, and does other motor skills quite well. And, he's been riding his bike all over the place! Truly, I often wish the teachers would see his wonderful skills as being amazing. The problem is that they just don't see how far he's come in such a short time, nor can they see beyond his often obstinate behavior. If he doesn't want to do something....he just won't! I don't know if this is autism, or a genetic trait passed down from my Dad :) Nevertheless....we press on with always the goal of enhancing the many skills he does have, and improving upon those areas he struggles. Someday he will be a man, and I want to have given him the best training for using his skills, and for coping with a world that is often difficult.
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