Another Great Day!

Michael has really come to love two activities this summer - summer camp, and therapeutic riding. This afternoon, he put the two activities together in a brand new way.

When he gets home from camp on Tuesday afternoons, there is just a little bit of time to change and get out the door for riding. On the way out this afternoon, he asked if he could bring this week's camp schedule in the car with him. When he got to the riding barn, he brought the schedule in with him so he could show it to the program director. He's never done any kind of show and tell before. It was 100% his idea, just wanting to share the joy of one activity with someone he loves from a totally different activity. It took me a long time to pick my jaw up off the floor.

I'm not quite sure what's going on, but the changes we are seeing this summer are huge. Better eye contact, using people's names, making connections between people, places and activities.. I just can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Confirmation that Biomed Works!

Michael has been having so much fun in camp this year. It's the same camp that he went to last summer, so he knew what to expect, and the staff knew him. Yesterday, when we went to pick him up, I had a chance to talk with the camp director a little. She said that for the first week of camp, she and the assistant director kept wondering if Michael was the same child they had last summer!

He is particpating in the activities this year, talking to them so much more, and generally fitting in with the rest of the camp. Last year, all he wanted to do was hang out in the hallway and open/close locker doors. I am so happy for little kid!

The very best part is that it really confirms for us that all the effort we are putting into biomedical interventions really is working. Talking with Michelle really reinforced that for me. She said that they expect to see a certain degree of growth in kids from summer to summer, but that Michael really exceeded that. The best news of the week!

Fine Motor Skills!

Tonight Michael and I were playing and he noticed that I had the top two buttons on my shirt undone. He said that they were unbuttoned and asked if he could 'push the buttons through'. This is a kid who does anything to avoid fine motor work! He took less than two minutes to button both buttons. Later, I sneakily undid them again, and he asked to button them again. He was even faster the second time.

I'm not sure where we are getting all the wonderful positives from, but boy am I enjoying them! He is just a happy, relaxed kid this summer. So different from the bundle of anxiety and OCD we had last summer!

Now, if only we could get him to sleep in his own bed for the whole night!

Happy Monday!

We had a great weekend. My cousin came over with her 3 kids, and Michael played with them really nicely. He interacted and even shared his toys. I was so proud of him! Steve said that when he found out he had visitors, he ran over to go find them. What a difference!

We also got a small table and chairs so we can have picnics on the deck. Michael's been into picnics since they started having them at camp. It is so nice when he brings home GOOD things from camp!

I'm dead tired tonight. Have some work deadlines looming and not enough hours in the day. Have a good night!

Link to Congressional Briefing Summary and Podcast

Age of Autism has a summary of yesterday's House briefing on the autism epidemic, and a link to the Autism One podcast. It's so encouraging to see the epidemic of autism getting broader coverage in congress.

I am sure Age of Autism will post a list of attendees and the representatives they were there for. If you find your representative on the list, please call and thank them for their participation.

New Beginnings

I really apologize (again) for being gone for so long. Things here have been really hectic, but they are finally calming down. We have a million new things going on, so a new beginning to the blog seems to be in order.

Michael has been going to summer camp for 3 weeks now. He absolutely loves it. It’s a therapeutic day camp with a 4:1 camper to staff ratio. I couldn’t ask for a better camp, counselors, or activities. They go to a new place 3 days a week, and go swimming twice a week. Every day there is something for him to look forward to.

The change we have seen in Michael since school ended is remarkable. During the school year, he had pretty much stopped reading at home, and had terrible headaches 3 or more times a week. The first day of summer break, Michael started picking up books and reading again. He will even read out loud to me now. I am shocked and thrilled. The best thing though, is that he hasn’t been getting headaches. I think he was getting them from eye strain, trying to focus for such long periods of time at school. Without the stress and headaches, he is a happy, relaxed kid. And, I’m a happy, relaxed mom!

One of the other new things we have started this summer is HANDLE. It is a wonderful, intuitive program that really makes sense for us. Michael enjoys the activities, and he seems to be growing every day. I’ll have to write up a whole HANDLE post when I have more time. But, so far, it’s been a fantastic summer!