are you talkin to me?

I somehow forgot in all the Disney excitement to mention that Alden was chosen for a study! He will be using a Vantage Communication Device for a month as a trial to see how well he learns from it. The people from the center in charge of the study came by today to videotape him for the "before" and they were absolutely STUNNED at how well he did with it. I always tell people he's a computer nerd but they don't really believe me for some reason. Anyway it's a really cool touch screen device and I am going to the parent training seminar on Thursday to learn how to customize it specifically for him. I'm very pleased that he was selected and I'm even more pleased that he showed them how quickly he picks up on things related to electronics.

School starts back on Thursday and I am absolutely DREADING getting up that early to put him on the bus. We have NOT been getting back on schedule like we should be. Guess we'll have to start that tonight. I've written his teacher a note that we need an IEP ASAP because he mastered all of his short term goals relating to regular classroom speech over the summer! He is really taking off!

update

I've been a bad blogger. I've just been so busy lately. Alden ALMOST got all As on his report card. He got one B which was one point away from being an A. I'm so proud of him & the progress he's made. He didn't even get asked to go to any sort of summer schooling program this year and I'm so pleased about that. They said he's pretty well on target with his IEP goals. His speech is rapidly increasing and his sentence structure is getting much better. He is still struggling with a few things like different pronoun usages but that's pretty typical for autists.

He's been spending time away from the house with my inlaws while I'm at school and suckering my father-in-law to take him to WalMart and buy him toys. The other day they had like a carload of stuff, it was ridiculous. He's recently taken on an obsession with posters which is awesome because they are cheaper than toys and they don't clutter up his room. He's covering the walls pretty quickly and the other day wanted to hang one in the kitchen. haha

He's also recently become obsessed with the tooth fairy & keeps trying to wiggle all his teeth.

We're starting to plan our Disney trip for this winter. He has no idea that we are going and it's going to be a surprise. I'm really excited, especially about going to Universal to the Harry Potter themepark. We will be able to get a special pass at Disney so that we don't have to wait in the long lines due to his autism which is absolutely wonderful. If you've ever been anywhere with a child who has autism you will know most of them are not very patient at all. We will also be able to have Breakfast With Mickey because they take precautions with food allergies and will make him a special Gluten & Casein free meal! I'm so happy that Disney is so caring about catering to special needs and allergies, we wont' have to miss out on anything!!! The only thing I'm concerned about is him being afraid of some of the rides. I remember when I was 5 Mr Toad's Wild Ride scared me so badly I started crying & I wanted to get off the ride. I'm assuming there is some sort of special protocol for this now too so hopefully it will be smooth sailing! For more info about going to Disney with a child who has autism check out this page.

excuse me, WHAT did you say?

I have mentioned before that sometimes I have the luxury of briefly forgetting that Alden has autism. This is because he's somewhere in the moderately to high functioning demographic of the spectrum. What I have failed to mention is that sometimes I forget that he's about to be seven years old. His speech is still developing and while he's building a really good vocabulary, he still has a long way to go. Recently he has been surfing the net and getting on YouTube where he's learned some new words & phrases. Sometimes that's a great thing, sometimes it's a not-so-great thing. He's started using words like "stupid", "shut up", "I hate you", "PEWPEWPEW (gun noise) DIE!", and the most strange one "butt-cheese". I have of course been discouraging this language and even giving him some alternatives that get his point across in a nicer way. If you have a child whose autistic qualities are like his you will know that scripting is hardwired into them and once he learns something he WILL NOT forget it. I've been explaining that I'm glad he's learned new words but some words make people sad or angry when they hear them. The other day while sitting around thinking about ways to curb this behavior but not discourage him from picking up new language I started thinking about his age. I sometimes forget that neurotypical children around his age also use those words and usually get into trouble for them as well. It did make me feel slightly better to realize that I'm not the only parent of a child this age dealing with this. As usual I'm also pleased that he is learning language, using it appropriately, and to be frank I'm glad he's using words that kids his age use even if they are rude. Sometimes 7 year olds are rude. We recently acquired an Elf on the Shelf and that has been helping somewhat with the language.

On a much more lovely note we have acquired the ingredients to make gluten free casein free Cut Out Christmas Cookies. This is something I've missed terribly for the past 4 years. Christmas Cookies have always been a huge part of my family's Christmas and not being able to make them with Alden has been sad. I remember the last Christmas we did them he was 2 and he kept shoving his face in the flour, I took a picture & captured it "Tony Montana". If the cookies turn out well I'll link to the recipe in my next blog. Speaking of Christmas I'm almost done shopping. I have just a few more little things to pick up and two more big things to order and I'll be done & ready to start shopping for Alden's birthday.