The five special ladies.

One of the reasons why I am sharing Conner's story is to educate. We all know that every child is different- but even more every child with autism is extremely different. I once heard the analogy- Autism is like the driver of a bus and you never know what children will be on that bus or where they are going to sit. Now in Conner's case he has an attention disorder, behavior issues, speech issues,and sensory processing disorder. Just because Conner has these "kids" on his schoolbus doesn't mean his friend "Charles" who also has autism has the same symptoms; he might only have behavior issues and a mild case of SPD (sensory processing disorder). Very kid is different and that is super important to understand especially when talking about Autism.

Conner has three different therapies which totals five different ladies that he sees within 5 days a week (big pimp right!! Haha). He attends occupational, speech and ABA (applied behavior analysis). Occupational therapy is to help with his SPD which for Conner he doesn't like certain textures of food, he lacks sensory which for him he needs rough play to calm him and enjoys doing handstands and getting squeezed for a calming sensation and also he does not like loud sounds or new clothing. He also has a bad habit of sucking on his shirts and putting objects in his mouth when watching TV or playing on my phone ( it's a nasty habit and were working on it so don't judge!) Obviously speech is to help Conner talk which we all know by now he is classified as non verbal even though he can say a few words clearly and can make sounds even though they don't make a word. Now ABA is my favorite thing to talk about because its basically a private tutor that teaches him everything from speech to naming objects to potty training and then some all while dealing with his meltdowns and sensory overload moments. We have only been working with the three ABA ladies for a little over a month but wow- he has had the biggest improvement! They have engaged him to have more imaginary play, his speech has picked up and even more he has amazing eye contact and is actually giving his little brother much more attention. I wish we would have started ABA much earlier but I'm very happy with the progress that he is already showing.

Now even with all these therapies and wonderful things my child learns on a daily basis were still missing one thing. School. Conner turns the big 5 November 3rd which puts him after the cutoff date to start school on time so even though he is meant to start school next year- my child is behind. Because of his lack of speech he doesn't know a lot. Of course he knows how to make a dinosaur roar and how to work an iPhone better than me, but that still puts him educationally behind an average 5 year old. We have reached out to the child find program here and we are on talks to put him in the early intervention program to help better his learning skills. He will be in a special education program but surprisingly that doesn't bother me one second and nor should it bother you. Kids in special Ed are still kids- and everyone just wants a shot at being as normal as any other child. I look forward to giving more information as it is given to me but until then ill just thank the five special ladies that we see and are helping Conner find his voice. Thanks ladies!