Hey Folks
Sorry I've been a bit quiet for a while. Not really been feeling in a bloggy frame of mind recently, and have been very busy with the shift in our routine that's resulted from William starting school full time back in September.
There hasn't really been much to report up to now, he seems to be doing pretty well, he's settled with his new classmates, but I've no idea who his classmates are. Last year we picked him up from school as he was on half days, but now he's full time the transport bus picks up and drops him off for us, so we have less regular contact with school. There are now 19 children in Early Learners (compared to 9 last year), so there are 2 teachers and several teaching assistants.
One issue with starting school is his fussy eating. He can take or leave food (unless its haribos or cake) he prefers to graze and will often turn down meals at home and elsewhere. I've been told he usually chooses sandwiches, and I can bet your arse he's picking the fillings out and whizzing them or wiping them on someone elses jumper. I thought that being on school dinners might have encouraged him to eat a variety of foods but he's playing safe so far. I'm not too worried for now. I try different foods on his plate at home and always get the look of disgust where vegetables are concerned.
At school he seems like the perfect pupil. He does as he's told, when supported. He sits down, doesn't run off, will have nappy changed without issue. Basically the opposite to whatever he's like at home. He enjoys music and has been learning to sing. In fact, he's been singing today, the Hello song. He sang it about 50 times today (no exaggeration) one after the other. It really hurt my brain but I had to put on a brave face and say "Yay well done William" After. Every. Bloody. Song.
Sleeping is still a major issue. "Oh he'll sleep better when he's full time" I'm told. Ho ho ho I think not. If anything it's worse. He's pretty exhausted after a full day of mooching and learning, which can result in passing out on the couch while Dad makes tea. Then anything over 30 seconds of shut eye can guarantee he'll be up till late as he recharges his batteries with his micro nap. He has learned how to say "Morning" though, and will come into my room in the morning and climb on me, occasionally sitting on my throat whilst doing it. Wakes me up anyway.
October saw the little munchkin turn 5! 5! My god, no longer a baby. 2 and a half years since our diagnosis, and what a long way we've come and what fabulous people we've met on the way. It almost seems like the dark days are a distant memory, and perhaps I've truly accepted the life we have now. Autism doesn't faze me much any more. I don't even think about it. In the past I may have excused his behaviour because of his autism, or I may have even gone around telling folks about it so that they may understand why he squeaks or flaps or barges unsuspecting small children out of the way to get to the slide. I find I don't really do that anymore unless someone asks or tries to talk to him and he can't respond.
I digress. Birthdays! William doesn't really get the idea of birthdays yet, but this is the first year he's taken notice and has really enjoyed it. We didn't wrap all of his presents, he hasn't quite figured out the whole unwrapping thing, but his face when he saw all of his new stuff set up on his birthday morning was a picture. He even had a smile when we all sang happy birthday to him at our family tea party. I think it was clear to us that William is very different to his brother when it comes to things like this. His brother Alex (7) likes tat. Small crap tat. The more small crap tat the better. He would be overwhelmed with a bathful of cheap small plastic crap tat. The sort of crap tat that you "accidentally throw away" when they're at school cos you're sick of seeing it shoved down the couch or floating in your coffee year after year. It'll probably be worth something in a few years and i'll be crying into my Asda smart price sherry.
William prefers good stuff, quality workmanship! So it tends to be quality rather than quantity. He doesn't have fads like his brother, apart from Iggle Piggle, which may remain a favourite for life. I hope not, there's only so many recitals of Iggle Piggle episodes that I can cope with. This year he got lego, a big crane set to go with his wooden train track, and a scooter. And he loves it all. I'm glad we managed to upgrade the scooter from his little toddler scooter. He has some deep attachments to his old stuff so I thought the change in scooter might have been an issue, but he was bent over the old one like a little old man so it definitely needed to go! Its gone to a good home (its been given to his school for the little ones to use). I'm hoping he doesn't see it and try to being it home again......
Today we had a lovely trip to soft play with some of Williams school chums. I didn't organise a proper party as he's not really into the novelty aspect of that, he doesn't play party games and woe betide if someone shouts over a tannoy that he has to come off the equipment for something so mediocre as food. It was a bloody amazing morning, and the first time that I have seen William actively seek the company of a particular child, a lovely young chap who is in his class, who shall be known as "J". Admittedly I got all blubby when I saw them together, William shouting to J to come on the slide. Seeing William open doors in the soft play so he could get through. Its hard to explain that feeling in your heart when you see that your child has a friend, a "proper" friend, and they really seem to be friends. I've waited so long to see William connect with someone like that, and friendship/companionship is something I've always desperately wanted for him. And now it looks like he's developing that skill. Blub. Again
It was fabulous to see the other kids playing too. They were all kids either in his class or who he was in class with last year, and all awesome :D We had arranged to come early just after opening, so it would be nice and quiet. Some parents, me included, feel like trips to soft play or wherever can be daunting when you're worrying about what your kids might get up to, if they'll cope, whether they're going to chuck balls at other people. William nearly pinched a swing ball thing off a little girl and she was most unimpressed. Eek. But they all seemed to have a great time, whether they played with others or just did their own thing. It's given me the confidence to attempt other places in future and perhaps not hide away in my own little bubble so much. Alex had a good play too with his buddy and everyone was happy and relaxed.
There can be a darker side to outings. Sometimes things can go a bit wrong, and that's where we need the understanding and patience off other folk to help us deal with it. Our kids might lash out through misunderstanding or distress. Sometimes other kids get too close and get bumped by accident, perhaps if personal space is an issue. That's not to say that we don't reprimand our kids when they do wrong, cos we do. William can be a sodbag when he wants to be, but I don't let him get away with it. I call Dad instead and he deals with it :P We do need understanding though, and don't need to be told that our kids are out of control or being badly behaved. Cos the majority of the time that really isn't the case, and being given the evils from other parents just makes our life difficult, possibly even making it harder for us to want to come out again.
All kids have a right to play, special needs or not :)
* Laptop battery is dying now so I'll sign off and hope there aren't too many spelling mistakes! *
Oh look! The Pontipines are hogging the slide!
