The Development of Empathy

I visited Caleb's new class yesterday. I am very impressed with the teacher, as I get to know her better and watch her in action. She has infinite patience! However, I'm a bit disappointed that the classroom is so much set up like his pre-primary impaired classroom. I was hoping for a similar set-up to his last class...that is more like a school classroom, but with a few centers too. Because of this, we've decided to up his days at regular education (the special ed. classroom) to 3. Thus he'll go to this new ASD classroom only 2 days out of the week.

The class itself has only 4 students. The boy similar in ability to Caleb was absent that day, but the 2 other children were very clearly lower ability and high needs were there. That day, I got to witness something that truly brought tears to my eyes and a sweet smile to my heart :) One of the high needs students, I'll label "B." was having a day full of meltdowns. He spent most of the morning in his tent with earmuffs to keep out the noise, and a vibrating pillow to help calm him. After lunch, Caleb, the teacher, and I came back to the classroom and found B. sitting at the beanbag area. As I talked to the teacher, Caleb went over and laid next to B. on the beanbags. He gently took B.'s hand, and rubbed it as he smiled at B (and B. smiled back). They stayed in that position for several minutes. It was as if Caleb was saying, "I've been there..I feel for you!" We all marveled at the empathy and care shown between the 2 boys. No one "gets it" like they do! No matter what others may diagnose as lacking in social ability, they both proved otherwise in one small moment! After a bit, a staff member tried to get B's attention for something else, and he once again broke into a large tantrum. Caleb calmly got up and went to the lego table to free play. He wasn't phased by the tantrums one bit! It helped me really internalize that education is more than academics. No one could have reproduced this social experience of empathy by mere teaching techniques. It came from feeling a connection to another child who deals with what you deal with. It made me very glad that I have tried to do both worlds for Caleb...the autistic world, and the neurotypical world. Hopefully, he gets the best of both! Everyone needs to be able to relate to another person when it comes to struggles that we go through. Caleb and B. are no different!

**The pics are from Caleb's 8th birthday that he just celebrated last week. He loved his new Lego Toy Story & Lego Star Wars sets! **

Back to School! Hooray!

School has started again! Caleb is doing dual enrollment between an autistic classroom (for 3-5th grades; but he's in 2nd grade) and then aspecial ed. classroom at our local school. He's doing 3 days in the autism class, and 2 days here in special ed. The hope is that he will develop more "ready to learn" behaviors, and also that our local school will be able to work one-on-one with autism experts to best be able to meet Caleb's needs in later years. They were VERY clueless last year. Anyhow, the first day went well! I'm excited to see what each day brings.

We've managed to tame Caleb's moods again (for about the last month or so). It seems that a natural yeast fighter, as well as an enzyme twice a day, and a multivit/min are doing the trick. So glad his mood is improved for the start of school! That way all can get to know him and like him before mood issues arise. He seems to be VERY ready for the challenge of school again, and looks forward each morning to going. I hope this continues. Keep praying! God has been so good thus far!

**the picture is of him getting off his bus the first day**

We Had A Better Week...hooray!

Things seem to be going much more smoothly now! Hooray for now! We met with the autistic consultant from our county along with the principal, OT, special ed. teacher, and 1st grade teacher. The AI consultant had much advice to give, and once the teacher realized it wasn't a critique of her teaching, but more advice on how best to reach Caleb, things went very smoothly. It seems breakfast was a major source of tension for Caleb because he wanted what he couldn't have. Now, we have a sack lunch (from the lunchroom w/ things he can have) waiting for him in the Special Ed. room after he gets off the bus in the morning. He will get to have his breakfast & play computer games for 1/2 hour in the morning. That should give a good start to his day, and hopefully make it go smoother. The AI consultant also talked to the teacher about the necessity of a visual schedule and visual reminders. The teacher was mostly relying on her words being enough for Caleb to understand what's expected, but it was most likely getting him confused & frustrated. The reminders might not be needed later, but for now (since EVERYTHING has changed from last year), it will be added security for Caleb. I really like the AI lady because she reiterated that it isn't his fault for getting frustrated, that it's part of autism. The teacher had said, "But how will I implement these strategies in a room of 32 kids?", and the AI consultant said, "We aren't going to worry about that now. Let's zero in on Caleb & what's best for him, and worry about the rest later." I SO appreciated another professional being able to get through to the school. So, for now....I'm a bit more relaxed :) Better yet....so is Caleb!

I'll still go in on Tues. and Thurs. mornings to help out, and also I'll meet again with his school team to go over any other trouble spots in Caleb's day, but so far the fight has been successfull! Just think how easy the next ASD kids & families will have it :) Which reminds me....that for our district of 500 students, we have about 8-9 children that are possibly on the spectrum. That's much higher than the 1 in 150 statistic! We're much closer to the 1 in 50 or 60 that England is quoting. All who read this: keep praying for this country, these children, and their families!

Also, I hope to soon have some informational posts on dealing with IEPs, the law on education, and resources in your county. Keep watching!

Disillusionment sets in at School

Well, the excitement was short-lived as reality hit us like a brick. Caleb's educators are NOT trained in autism. I have had a phone call nearly every day this last week because he's not doing something right. This after they let him eat whatever he wants at lunch just to avoid a scene. Finally, we had a meeting with the principal & demanded an aide to be next to him. One that travels from year to year to give him security and boundaries. We also demanded TRAINING! It really isn't the teacher's fault as she is being forced to teach 32 children, 1 possible autistic child, and 1 definitely autistic child (Caleb). This, while 1/2 the class rotates to another teacher a few hours a day. It is controlled chaos! However, it isn't Caleb's fault, and he's TOTALLY capable of handling first grade. After all, the days I went and sat next to him, he did everything the other children did! This was surprising to the educators because they just don't understand his capabilities. We shall see what this week brings as a new aide should arise and training, hopefully, will be scheduled.