Update!!
Hello, all!
It's been way too long, but there's been a lot going on lately.
School is always a fun place to start. The kids are great. Speedy got her rotten teeth pulled a few weeks ago and her aggressive outbursts, which were occurring at least once a day, are now few and far between, and much less abrupt when they do happen. Poor baby, she must have been in so much pain! The last few weeks have been much calmer, she's able to get more work done and so we've also seen a jump in her data-driven programs as well. I wish we could have started the year like this, she'd be so much further along. But I'll take what I can get and we'll just move forward from here.
Builder is coming out of his shell slowly. We've really upped his picture support and it seems to be helping tremendously. He is such a visual person - we found out by accident that he has been learning English words that are on the top of the picture cards we've been asking him to sign, so now we're doing English vocabulary in addition to his ASL vocabulary trials. This was quite exciting! He is making great eye contact and is saying hi (in the most awkward and shy way I have ever seen) to most of the staff at the school. This thrills everyone and I am constantly hearing from people who are in shock that Builder said hi to them!
Bubba is doing pretty much the same. He is making really nice progress with the new English program we've started so his writing is getting better. He also knows all 100 English vocabulary words I had intended for him to learn by June so I've added another 50, and he now has to spell them as well. He is just so funny. He makes us laugh everyday because he is just so goofy. He is such a great kid.
Goose is still making progress at an incredible rate. Now that he has language we actually have conversation and his anxiety is much better because he can tell me what's wrong or ask me the questions he has. I don't know if I mentioned this but the hospital that evaluated him has denied all along that he's autistic. The school is adamant that he is ... but I have always felt more aligned with the hospital. As his language develops it is becoming more and more obvious to me that he is not autistic but has some serious anxiety issues. But in our daily routine he is fine - he is thriving. I think I'm going to get another year with this crew, and I'm thrilled. Now that we are comfortable with each other and know the routines and expectations we're moving ahead full-throttle.
Thursday we went to the circus. Monday afternoon I brought out a poster with pictures from last year's trip and Bubba and Goose got really upset!! Bubba was teary-eyed and Goose kept saying "No, stay home, cry all day, no circus, no, cry." I found out that last year their evil witch of a teacher punished Goose for, essentially behaving poorly - which he does when he is nervous and unprepared for a new experience. She did not allow him to sit with the other kids and she did not allow any of them to eat the popcorn the paras bought for them. They were running late for the bus and she was angry and made them rush - over all it was a HORRIBLE and stressful experience. So we spent all week talking about the circus and what we would do there and I had to reassure Goose a million times that in fact, he COULD eat popcorn and that we would not have to "hurry, hurry run" and that everything would be ok. Well, it was a great day. The school counselor brought in clown wigs and I had face paint so in the morning we pretended we were clowns. Then we popped popcorn and packed up bags for the trip. Seeing Goose on the bus almost made me cry, remembering his experience on the apple picking trip (see http://lady-mc.livejournal.com/16500.html for a comparison) because he was SO happy and social - he kept telling everyone how excited he was for the circus and asking me to take his picture with people. It was unbelievable.
Here are some pictures:
Circus tent in the middle of City Hall Plaza
Clown who was sitting right next to us - I thought Builder would die from excitement!
We couldn't take pictures during the show, but afterward they came out - I thought this was a neat shot!
As with the other trips from the year, I wish I could show their faces because I have some really cute ones with them dressed up as clowns. ::Sigh::
Anyway, it was a success. Phew!
The next few weeks promise to be challenging. Tuesday is one of my para's last day. She got a job closer to her house, which is understandable. It's going to be tough until they find someone more permanent to fill the position. I feel bad for the other para because she already spends too much time with Speedy, and it can only get worse with this one leaving. Then, we have a week off, thankfully. My goal is to get all of the MCAS-portfolios done by Friday so I don't have to worry about them on vacation. Then, April 23rd, the evil witch teacher I referred to earlier comes back. She's been on a long-term leave since October. I have to do some social stories with my students to remind them that I am their teacher and she is not and that if they see her they can say hi or they can ignore her but they cannot be mean or rude ... because they were not happy to see her at the beginning of the year, and then she left ... so it hasn't been a problem. Everyone is teasing me that she'll fill the position in my room. Not funny ;0).
Anyway, this is too long but there's more to tell! I guess I'll write more later! :)
It's been way too long, but there's been a lot going on lately.
School is always a fun place to start. The kids are great. Speedy got her rotten teeth pulled a few weeks ago and her aggressive outbursts, which were occurring at least once a day, are now few and far between, and much less abrupt when they do happen. Poor baby, she must have been in so much pain! The last few weeks have been much calmer, she's able to get more work done and so we've also seen a jump in her data-driven programs as well. I wish we could have started the year like this, she'd be so much further along. But I'll take what I can get and we'll just move forward from here.
Builder is coming out of his shell slowly. We've really upped his picture support and it seems to be helping tremendously. He is such a visual person - we found out by accident that he has been learning English words that are on the top of the picture cards we've been asking him to sign, so now we're doing English vocabulary in addition to his ASL vocabulary trials. This was quite exciting! He is making great eye contact and is saying hi (in the most awkward and shy way I have ever seen) to most of the staff at the school. This thrills everyone and I am constantly hearing from people who are in shock that Builder said hi to them!
Bubba is doing pretty much the same. He is making really nice progress with the new English program we've started so his writing is getting better. He also knows all 100 English vocabulary words I had intended for him to learn by June so I've added another 50, and he now has to spell them as well. He is just so funny. He makes us laugh everyday because he is just so goofy. He is such a great kid.
Goose is still making progress at an incredible rate. Now that he has language we actually have conversation and his anxiety is much better because he can tell me what's wrong or ask me the questions he has. I don't know if I mentioned this but the hospital that evaluated him has denied all along that he's autistic. The school is adamant that he is ... but I have always felt more aligned with the hospital. As his language develops it is becoming more and more obvious to me that he is not autistic but has some serious anxiety issues. But in our daily routine he is fine - he is thriving. I think I'm going to get another year with this crew, and I'm thrilled. Now that we are comfortable with each other and know the routines and expectations we're moving ahead full-throttle.
Thursday we went to the circus. Monday afternoon I brought out a poster with pictures from last year's trip and Bubba and Goose got really upset!! Bubba was teary-eyed and Goose kept saying "No, stay home, cry all day, no circus, no, cry." I found out that last year their evil witch of a teacher punished Goose for, essentially behaving poorly - which he does when he is nervous and unprepared for a new experience. She did not allow him to sit with the other kids and she did not allow any of them to eat the popcorn the paras bought for them. They were running late for the bus and she was angry and made them rush - over all it was a HORRIBLE and stressful experience. So we spent all week talking about the circus and what we would do there and I had to reassure Goose a million times that in fact, he COULD eat popcorn and that we would not have to "hurry, hurry run" and that everything would be ok. Well, it was a great day. The school counselor brought in clown wigs and I had face paint so in the morning we pretended we were clowns. Then we popped popcorn and packed up bags for the trip. Seeing Goose on the bus almost made me cry, remembering his experience on the apple picking trip (see http://lady-mc.livejournal.com/16500.html for a comparison) because he was SO happy and social - he kept telling everyone how excited he was for the circus and asking me to take his picture with people. It was unbelievable.
Here are some pictures:
Circus tent in the middle of City Hall Plaza
Clown who was sitting right next to us - I thought Builder would die from excitement!
We couldn't take pictures during the show, but afterward they came out - I thought this was a neat shot!
As with the other trips from the year, I wish I could show their faces because I have some really cute ones with them dressed up as clowns. ::Sigh::
Anyway, it was a success. Phew!
The next few weeks promise to be challenging. Tuesday is one of my para's last day. She got a job closer to her house, which is understandable. It's going to be tough until they find someone more permanent to fill the position. I feel bad for the other para because she already spends too much time with Speedy, and it can only get worse with this one leaving. Then, we have a week off, thankfully. My goal is to get all of the MCAS-portfolios done by Friday so I don't have to worry about them on vacation. Then, April 23rd, the evil witch teacher I referred to earlier comes back. She's been on a long-term leave since October. I have to do some social stories with my students to remind them that I am their teacher and she is not and that if they see her they can say hi or they can ignore her but they cannot be mean or rude ... because they were not happy to see her at the beginning of the year, and then she left ... so it hasn't been a problem. Everyone is teasing me that she'll fill the position in my room. Not funny ;0).
Anyway, this is too long but there's more to tell! I guess I'll write more later! :)