To be honest I haven't felt like blogging at all. In a way that is sort of a good thing. This blog started its life as a way to keep in touch with family and friends far away. It then became my outlet to vent and process the day to day difficulties and reflections that related to our son Cole, and his eventual diagnosis of High Functioning Autism Spectrum disorder. The last post I left you with, Cole was beginning the year in Junior Kindergarten.
Cole has had an exceptional year. He has progressed so well socially, verbally, and with his various motor skills. Cole loves school, and I'm sure all the interaction and challenges he gets there has really helped him to excel. He also attended a social skills playgroup in the fall, and after Christmas Cole took part in a swim program for special needs kids for 10 weeks.\
As of right now, Cole has been discharged from the Child Development Centre and all therapy associated with it. His final speech assessment last week puts him at the average level for his age. After several years of perseverance and persistence, Cole is finally potty trained. He only wears pull ups to school, but we are finding he is now using them more out of laziness. So as of the end of the school year we will no longer be buying them for him. Even though scissors are still a challenge for him, Cole can now write his name and we have figured out that he is right handed (he had us and his OTs stumped for a while). Cole has finally begun to colour and this week for Father's Day, Cole drew his very first picture, his favourite Moshi Monster, for his Daddy. Cole has taught himself to read over the last year. He can sight read pretty much anything and reads me entire Dr. Seuss book on his own. This has been a huge help with his communication barriers.
Sure there are still signs of his autism, but day to day life has become a functioning well oiled machine for our family. There are still challenges, but I no longer find myself up endless nights trying to come up with strategies to help my son communicate and learn. No needing to get all those thoughts out onto the computer screen in order to get some peace of mind and as a result sleep. So I guess that's why this blog has been silent for so long. That's a good thing right?! Dear God, please don't take this as a challenge ... ok? ... ok! :)
P.S. Kendall is doing fine as a VERY active and verbose 3 year old. She's a free spirit who like the wind in her hair, the dirt between her toes, has a HUGE sweet tooth, and chats all day long with a vivid imagination. She's extremely bright, loves helping out, and considers everyone she meets her "best friend". On the other hand she can throw one of the best temper tantrums you've ever seen, even though mom and dad don't give in to them one bit. However, she is quick to apologize after. We like to call every facet of her personality as "passionate".
At Cole last assessment by the developmental pediatrician, she observed "that I definitely had my hands full with that one", and she was not referring to my ASD child but rather Kendall, who had tagged along and been playing and chatting to herself during the whole appointment!
