Social Skills Class

Today was A.J.'s first social skills class. She had speech first, then we, "O" included, had a 45 minute wait before her social skills class began. During that 45 mintues between 4:15 and 5:00pm, the three of us ate a whole bag of rice cakes. There is a large outside area by the therapy office and we waited there, sitting on the benches and munching our rice cakes. It was warm out and the wind was blowing which was kind of exciting because the wind doesn't usually blow in Florida unless it is also storming.

Her social skills class was cute. The other parent and I (and "O") sat in the waiting room during the class. Luckily Sponge Bob was on the TV so "O" was occupied. The other mom's daughter, Corrine, is the same age as A.J. She makes great eye contact but has "sensory issues" and is fearful of many things. Her mom said that when she would get Corrine a new toy, as a baby, that Corrine would cry until they took it away.

Just watching the girls before they went into their class, I was amazed at Corrine's great eye contact and how she could say hi and hold a small conversation with an adult. Although A.J. doesn't do that, she is not afraid of new things, which is a relief.

I talked a little to Corinne's mom, who's name escapes me. I told her about how A.J. suddenly stopped using eye contact between right before her second birthday and right after, and how I didn't realize that until a few nights ago when I watched old videos that I had never watched. I said, that is why mom's think it is shots, because you wonder, what happened during that time? She said she thought it was just a neurological pattern on the disorder. I said that A.J. also regressed and that is what made me think that something "happened" to her. I talked about how A.J. could use the C.D. player before age two, and I called her pediatrician because she couldn't use it anymore, and she was talking less and the list goes on.

We didn't get to finish the conversation because the class was over and we were invited in to see what happened in the class. But I realized during that conversation (Corrine is not on the GFCF diet) that we two autism moms are on the two different sides of what we think autism is and what causes it. It will be interesting to spend time with this mom, although I didn't get the best vibe. I am hoping we can learn from each other. The speech therapist wants our girls to play together, so we will have to get past our differences to make sure the girls get a chance to play together and learn from each other. Avery needs a friend who won't judge her, but hopefully they won't just ignore each other during their playdate, which is highly likely.

So when we went in to the therapy/classroom they showed us what they had been doing and sent the one "typical" girl who serves as the model, out of the room with the SLP (speech therapist) They knocked on the door and everyone said in unison, "come in." They walked in and the SLP said, this is how you greet someone the WRONG way. The girl walked up to the other therapist (who was also her mom) and turned her back away and said, "Hi mom." Then the SLP had her go back outside and come back in again and do it the right way. When she did it the right way, we all clapped.

There were only 4 kids in the class including the "typical" girl and Corrine's little brother...oh yeah, who is also on the spectrum but very high functioning. "O" was there too during those last 15 minutes, watching with us, and he thought it was great. Then the SLP told A.J. it was her turn to go outside and she did, then knocked on the door and we all sang, "Come in!!" She came in with a big smile on her face and looked off to the side of the therapist and said, "Hi mom." Everyone laughed since she called her mom, simply copying the girl before her. But she had to do it again and this time look at the therapist's face. She did it right and everyone clapped and she was very excited. Each kid got a turn and just as they were finishing up, "O" jumped up and said, "My turn!!" So he got a turn too.

The b12 shots come in the mail tomorrow.

Shena.