Watching him grow!

My little autistic boy has come so far. Now that he's been full time in my classroom since January, he is growing and growing. His language skills are improving to the point where he walked in to the class yesterday morning, and when he got to the sign in table, he said hi to two students, addressing them both by name. Now keep in mind, he was almost non-verbal except when giving verbal choices last year, when he started, part time in my class.

The other day, we were playing a word building game, where students were at a table with a group of letter cards. So if I said the word "mud," a student at the tables with the 'm,' 'u,' and 'd' would come up. He had a vowel for a consonent-vowel-consonent word. (He is great speller.) So when he got up there, he saw that the student who was supposed to be on the end was standing next to the student with the first letter, so he yelled, (calling the student by name), "Move it!" so that he could get into the middle spot. The whole class burst out laughing, including me. He just stood there.

Yesterday, he and I were working together on a book report activity after he listened to a book on CD in the listening center. The book was Diary of a Worm. He had to write the title, circle one of the following "I liked this book a lot. I liked this book a little. I did not like this book," and he had to write his reason. So he was able to tell me "I did not like this book." We needed a reason. Not his strong suit. "Reason?" I said. "Reason." he repeated. So I tried a different route. I opened the book and asked him, "Did you like the worm?" "Yes," he said. "Did you like the spider?" I asked. "No, I did not like the spider," he told me. So he wrote that. That was awesome, that he was able to point out the exact thing that he didn't like!

Well yesterday, he forgot about these new communication techniques, apparently. During book buddies (where a class of 4th graders comes to our class and we read together and do activities together, in groups of two and three students), his book buddy and another student in my class came running up to me, "Mrs. Flynn, Mrs. Flynn, he has a bloody nose!" Sure enough, there was dried blood covering his nose, cheeks, arms, and hands. I almost threw up. "Ehhhh," he said, as I grabbed his nose with a tissue and held it tight. I spend the next 15 minutes more or less giving him a wet wipe bath to get off all the dried blood. It was by far the most disgusting thing I have experienced in quite some time. Well, we stopped the nose bleed, just in time for dismissal.

Luckily, the good stuff is far outweighing the bad with him. He has come so far, and he is simply adorable. At his parent-teacher conference several weeks ago, his dad held back tears, when he heard about how wonderfully he's doing and told me that he is experiencing the same, in his broken English. We are all so proud of him! He will make such a great first grader next year. What a great example of least restrictive environment working perfectly for a precious little boy with autism.

Only good reason to cry...

A couple of days ago, my little student I so lovingly refer to as "pipsqueek" in previous postings came in to my classroom in the morning telling me that his momma was picking him up to go to the dentist. (He usually rides the bus home.) Well, during centers, at about 10:45, I received a call from the office, letting me know that his mom was there to pick him up, and would I please send him down to the office for dismissal. I asked if he was coming back, and they said no. So, I told him to go gather his things because momma was here to get him for the dentist.

Well, when he got back over to me, he was hysterically sobbing. I mean, drooling, nose running, tears streaming, sobbing. I said, "What's wrong?" And he just kept heaving, and couldn't answer. Now, you should know that he does have a language impairment, so often it's hard for him to get out what he's thinking, so he just resorts to crying. "Stop crying and use your words. I can't help you if you just cry. What's wrong?" I said to him, "Are you scared to go to the dentist?" He shook his head no. "Then what's wrong?"

Between sobs, he was able to muster, "I.....[heave]...wanna...[heave]....come...[heave]...back!" While trying not to laugh, I walked him to the office and his mother who stared at me in shock when he walked toward her, still hysterical.

"He's crying because he wants to come back," I relayed.

"Okay, okay, I'll bring you back to school," she assured him.

Well, if any kid is going to cry, that is certainly the best reason I can think of!