Sam is
doing really, really well at school, settling in much faster than they thought
he would. Two recent things his key worker has told me have particularly
pleased me and given me hope. One is that he has a great imagination and is
always pretending things – something she hasn’t seen often in ASD kids, and
also that he always notices when other kids are upset and always comments, this
level of empathy again she hasn’t seen much of in other kids with ASD.
Apparently at school he is already joining in with the phonics and so far isn’t
stressed or fased by anything, he’s going to the toilet by himself and there
are no negatives to report at all. This is going far more smoothly than anyone
expected. Mat was ill this morning so I had to take Sam in myself, something we
try to avoid doing as he finds it harder to separate from me than from his dad.
But he handled it really well, he got a little emotional when it was time for
me to leave but he held himself together well and made no attempt to stop me
and when I glanced back at the door he seemed fine. The same time last year at
nursery it would have been such a different story.
Also we
went to Centre Parcs at the weekend to celebrate his birthday, we got him a new
bike and since there’s nowhere around here to really ride it, I thought it
would be lovely to have a weekend away there, inviting cousins up to join us on
different days. Sam had a brilliant time and only actually cried because he
didn’t want to come home. It was utterly manic and obviously all our usual
routines went out of the window. But he handled it really well and there was
only really one near meltdown coming out of the swimming baths – hardly surprising,
he was hungry and tired, I was feeling pretty shaky myself. But by and large he
handled it all well. He didn’t used to cope with the changing rooms in the
swimming baths and used to go crazy at being closed in a cubicle to get
changed, but he didn’t even hesitate going in this time. Also all the kids
played really nicely together (miracle!) and his cousin Jacob is just brilliant
with him and doesn’t seem at all phased when Sam won’t share or gets possesive
over something – it just doesn’t freak him out one bit – it’s such a relief. Sam
calls him his best friend, which is lovely. I’m seeing Sam talking to other
kids more now than he’s ever done, and some of it is awkward and clumbsy but I
guess that’s how we all learn.
We’re in
a good place right now, Sam is exceeding everyone’s expectations – so much so
we’re having a meeting next week to discuss the next steps at school – Martha is
blossoming into a wonderful little character who entertains us all. We’re on an
even keel. I just need to sort my own head out and get on top of things. But I
now have an appointment with a counsellor next week and yesterday I took a bit
of time of for myself and went for some reiki, which was amazing!
I have a
lot to be thankful for, yes he may have ASD but he doesn’t seem to have massive
sensory issues, his imagination is coming on now, he’s developing empathy, he
can handle change so long as it’s introduced sensitively, he is actually pretty
social, certainly with grown ups and chaos doesn’t seem to bother him too much…
there are a lot of positives in there. Which is what they said at diagnosis
funnily enough.
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