Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Numbers are Backwards & the DANGERS of slip and slides

WOW. Mallory just presented me with an astounding lightbulb moment. Now it may not be a lightbulb moment to you, it may well seem like a fizzing out bulb or even a cracked bulb; well that makes sense cause we all know I'm a bit crazy. :-D

She came to me to tell me something and I was about to roll my eyes and say "Mallory stop getting distracted, Zachary and I need you to finish your lapbook NOW so I can build and erupt that volcano!!", but I waited. Okay I did roll my eyes but I listened luckily for me. Her announcement: "Mom, numbers are backwards!!"

Okay so yes, I did greet that statement with a kind of dumbfounded silence, with the thoughts "Oh LORD don't let her say that in front of other people especially if she just told them we homeschool," and then it hit me. She's right! Numbers generally are made and follow in the opposite direction of letters. NO WONDER SO MANY KIDS MAKE THEIR NUMBERS BACKWARDS!!! And for kids with any tendencies towards special needs it is even harder, because they need things to make sense or be logical, and it just doesn't make sense. This will help me with Zachary; I'm not completely sure how just yet but its another wall, that blocked my view from his world, crashing down.

***************

On a separate note, SLIP AND SLIDES=DANGER Danger Will Robinson, Danger! Hey guess what, I met the cute guy that played the cute uncle dude on "Lost in Space" in the Newark airport on my way to California in 1985, I have a picture somewhere, he was on General Hospital at the time....oy, as often is the case I digress--oh hell, that's not digressing that's taking a plane and leaving the country. Focus Linda, focus! Okay, right, slip and slides, injury--okay, back on track. So the kids played on the slip and slide yesterday. Last night after Zachary's shower I saw all the scrapes and said "No more slip and slide." Of course today, with Zachary begging and giving the eyes and Dylan giving me the oh mom its no big deal we can handle it look-from-a-teen, I caved. How'd it go? A few minutes ago Zachary went back into the living room, dragging his poor aching body, and mustered in a feeble, weak voice "I'm broken!" Soooo, anyone want a slip and slide????

No more claritin-and other thoughts

While I suspected this before and had stopped giving Zachary claritin off and on, I am now completely positive that it affected his mood and behavior. He had been back on it for the past few weeks because his allergies were getting bad. When Zachary's allergies are bad, not only does he have to typical allergic symptoms but he wakes up overnight with night terrors (which I've begun to wonder if they are related to breathing troubles while sleeping--apnea maybe..) Why it took me more than 2 weeks to finally have an "AHA" moment is beyond me, but finally I did. Sunday was the first day after not taking claritin and there was a noticeable improvement. Yesterday he initiated his reading lessons, read his own chores on the chore chart and *did* them all with, to quote Zach, "a smile on my face!" I believe that Zachary feels the difference too; I'm glad he's feeling the improvement but I'm so mad at myself for not catching it sooner.

Safety is such a worry to me. Zach doesn't retain safety rules like other kids do, and it can be scary. We had been playing out front a couple months ago and the ball we were using went into the street several times. Zachary darted out into the street a few times, even with reminders and a time out on the step. It's not him being "bad", he just forgets. The last time he ran out a van was coming down the road and nearly hit him, it was very close. Zach also seems to have no concept of stranger-danger/safety, and that terrifies me (I know I sound paranoid-hey just ask the teens in this house they'll agree). The biggest problem with all of this is that he is trying to become more independent, he wants to be more independent...it's something that has taken time to come but is finally arriving, yet I have to temper it with my knowledge of his level of safety concepts. As he gets older and the struggles become more apparent, my heart aches; but I am so thankful he is able to express affection and love (many spectrum kids have a hard time with that) because my heart is instantly soothed by a spontaneous hug or a funny "Zachism."

I know the key is consistency and repetition on my part and I'll continue. I am so lucky and blessed with the people that appeared in our lives when Zachary was very little; Kathy and Bambi, in Maine, helped both of us begin to see things in a different light and to look for whatever path we need to help.