Prayers of the Innocent

There have been plenty of times when I have been listening to a lesson on prayer, and a comment has been made about Heavenly Father wanting to listen to us talk about our day.  I've never really taken that to heart until I've heard my son say his prayers.  I can't help but think Heavenly Father pays special attention to the things Darin wants to tell him:

"Thank you for letting me finish the level of my game before time to brush teeth."

"Thank you for my good day at school today.  I wish I have a good day tomorrow."

"I wish I can have good dreams."

"Thank you for reading the Book of Mormon."

He truly shares exactly what he is thankful for.  I can't help but picture Our Heavenly Father listening to every word, proud of the thoughts he is putting together - just as I am.

Nuances

People with autism aren't really known for picking up certain nuances. For example, I can be in Darin's face, telling him he did something he shouldn't (like hitting Lizzy), and he'll be laughing - probably because he thinks Mommy's mean face is funny.

And then there are times that I wonder.... Just what are they aware of? I went to change Darin yesterday, and I had everything I needed in reach, but Darin didn't see the wipes near me (they were on a shelf nearby), so he said, "Where's the wipes?" I pulled the wipes from the shelf, but they weren't the wipes he has been seeing lately, so he said, "No, the wipes." And then to our astonishment, he turned to Scott and said, "Scott, need the wipes." Not Daddy... Scott. I worked very hard to keep it together because I didn't want him to think it was fun to call Daddy Scott. Scott told him, "No, my name is Daddy." Darin then replied, "No, Scott!"

Darin has never called Scott by his name before. It has always been Daddy. So it got me to thinking... Why would he call him Scott? He hasn't called him Scott since. And then I realized that when I need something from Scott, I call him Scott. When I'm having the kids ask Scott for something, I have them call him Daddy. So, I have to wonder - did Darin pick up a pattern that when Mommy needs something, Daddy is Scott and when the kids need something, Daddy is Daddy?

Parent-Teacher Conference

One of the few blessings of my son's autism is his above average intelligence. We met with his teacher on Thursday night and learned they are teaching him mostly from the First Grade curriculum as he has an excellent grasp on the Kindergarten curriculum already. It was so amazing to see our son sight read and recite the classroom rules. And then we also learned that starting in January, they are going to start Darin on an inclusion program. That means he'll go sit in with a mainstream Kindergarten class for part of his day. He'll have an aide with him and he'll start with small sections of time - like going during story time. And when he is going to the mainstream Kindergarten for long sections of time, they'll start decreasing the amount of time the aide spends with him. This will allow Darin to have models of behavior outside of his fellow autistic classmates. Darin's teacher said that all it really boils down to for Darin is getting him to use words instead of crying when he needs to express something and some of his speech therapy. That's all that really separates him from mainstream Kindergarten. She showed us the method she uses to signal to Darin that he needs to stop crying and use his words - and it has already helped at home. And she also explained the purpose behind the glitter pumpkin:

It wasn't just an easy craft project. It was meant to get these kids to face some of their tactile issues. They had to paint the glue on the pumpkin and then roll it in the glitter. Each time Darin got glue on his hands, he went over to the sink to wash them. Then he felt completely out of his element when he realized he would have to pick up the sticky pumpkin in order to roll it in the glitter. They eventually let him scoop and pour the glitter over the pumpkin, but he still ended up getting glitter and glue on his fingers, but in the end, it didn't really bother him. Yes, when the activity was all over, he quickly went to wash his hands, but for a few moments, he was okay with the mess.