fall catch-up and 18-month post diagnosis update.

I have been neglecting this blog (some legit excuses, some not), but now I am back on track. There are a couple of important things to catch up on that have to do with progress.
School has been going very well. Emmett was recently bumped up to spending one extra hour in the regular-ed classroom. He is doing fairly well with doing tasks independently and being flexible when there is sudden change. I am still very concerned about lunchtime. Emmett is still coming home with only half (sometimes less) of his lunch eaten because he is not asking for help with opening his containers when he gets frustrated. He will just sit there and go hungry because he is unable to open his food. He also still needs a lot of support with putting on his shoes and coat. Now that it is colder, there is the extra challenge of changing into boots, snow pants, hats, mittens, etc. I know this is a time when Emmett panics or shuts down because he can't handle the "stress" of it all.

always making silly faces.

^^time for a new winter coat ?

Imaginative play at home has improved greatly. Ethnie is the best example he could have. Ethnie is ALWAYS imaginative and Emmett loves to copy her. Sometimes this can be a very good thing. He is playing with figurines that have conversations with each other. He is imagining where his cars are driving to and loves to tell me about it. 

^^Emmett will lay on the floor and stand up coins. I don't think I would have the patience to do this!

^^second visit to the dentist was mostly successful. Emmett refused to let them use the polisher on his teeth so the dentist used a toothbrush to brush the fluoride away. we also weren't able to get him to sit in the x-ray seat. next time, hopefully.

The biggest milestone Emmett has accomplished this year is becoming fully potty-trained.:) It seems like we have been waiting forever to be done buying diapers. Every time we bought a package we would say, "This could be the last package of diapers we buy!" Yeah, we said that for almost a year! Finally, at the end of September Emmett went poop for the first time on the toilet. I was SCREAMING I was so happy! He let one tiny poop out into the toilet, then jumped off because he was a bit freaked out. A few days went buy where he refused to sit back on the toilet again, but once he tried it again he was really proud of himself and it became easier and easier. Now, he is going like a champ and I can confidently say, "We are finished buying diapers."

^^Emmett's first tiny poop in the potty.

In November, Emmett made his first drawing of a person on the driveway. He never told me he drew it; I came over and asked him what he drew and he said "this is Emmett."

During school conferences in November we got to see some of Emmett's artwork in his classroom. It was so cute because we got to see his first drawing of his family. :) I couldn't help but compare his drawing to the other children's drawings. The other drawings had detailed, distinguishable people in them with happy faces and colorful backgrounds. Emmett's was very different. But I couldn't help but be so proud of him because I know how hard it was for him to sit and concentrate on his fine motor skills that is takes to draw shapes, lines and letters. I know he must have gotten frustrated, but he still finished. I look at this drawing and I see a special boy who knows that he has four people in his family and that he is very loved.

The end of September marked 18 months post-diagnosis. At this point in time, here are the symptoms of autism that Emmett demonstrates:

Social differences

• doesn't often have appropriate facial expressions
• unable to perceive what others might be thinking or feeling by looking at their facial expressions
• doesn't show empathy for others
• uninterested in making friends

Communication differences

• repeats what others say without understanding the meaning
• doesn't always respond to name being called but does respond to other sounds (like a car horn or dog bark)
• mixes up pronouns
• doesn't start or can't continue a conversation
• has a good rote memory, especially for numbers, letters, songs, TV jingles

Behavioral differences

• flaps hands, rocks, spins, sways, walks on toes
• likes routines, order; has a hard time with change
• obsessed with few/unusual activities, doing them repeatedly throughout the day
• plays with parts of toys instead of the whole toy
• very sensitive to smells, sounds, textures, touch
• looks at objects from unusual angles