This past weekend, my husband watched a BBC DVD the Autism Treatment Center puts out called "I Want My Little Boy Back" and he was struck my how much things have changed. When we first got involved with the SR program two years ago, Rachel and Sarah threw fits much like the boy in the documentary. Just like the boy, it was impossible to take them anywhere because of the meltdowns that would inevitably occur.
Now?
They still have meltdowns on occasion, though for the past few months they've been more like true tantrums. We can take all the kids to friend's houses, the library, church, and the store (haven't tried the mall yet and we've only had them in the children's portion of our service... we're going to be working on the actual all-ages service next week). And the best part is that when Sarah gets upset, she tells you. She uses words to describe what she's feeling and, most of the time, why. Rachel has become better at using words as well but mostly she's just calmed down a lot.
Now, we haven't been perfect in our application, especially when it comes to calming down during meltdowns. And maybe this is just our girls growing up. Still, I'm happy with the progress.
And I don't think I would have seen the difference so clearly if my husband hadn't taken the time yesterday to watch that DVD, and then taken the time afterward to remind me of the differences.
So, my point is that I'm very grateful for my girls and my husband. :)
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Ayden had a doctor's appt. today. There was a little boy with autism that reached out to her. His mom said she loved seeing him interact like that! I wish Ayden could have spent more time around him to keep it going, but he had a rash and his mom didn't want her to get anything just in case. That was a neat experience!
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