AutismMumma

It was difficult to single out just one moment this week for #SSAmazingAchievements at http://bit.ly/1hjT0DP

There's so much change to routine that has been happening and I'm pleased to say that these two (my lovely T and D) are coping with it all.

What's been going on? I hear you ask, well...

Both children have been experimenting challenging times at school, for D it's been attempting to integrate with what is quite a mixed group in her class, both in terms of ability and tolerance.

We had a CAMHS appointment for her last week as she is finding it difficult to express emotions as they happen during the day and building it all up for me at the end of the school day. Part of it is down to a lack of confidence but it's mainly a fear (as I understand it from D) that she'll be "told off" if she says that another child is calling her names/she's upset by something. It's a situation that isn't helped by the fact that the child who has continually name-called and frightened her is back in a class with her but, hopefully, together with CAMHS and the some visuals being provided by school, her confidence will improve. An example of how D can clam up is that we talked about the appointment and why it was happening, and D talked about what had been happening on the way but once we were in a room and despite gentle prompts from both us and the psychologist, she would not tell him, rather saying "you say, Mumma" and then once he'd left the room, she'd mention it.

T is also experiencing issues, with a child who seems to be pushing the school environment as far as he can and getting others into trouble in the process. T thrives in a positive structured environment and, due to the high-functioning order-requiring element of his brain, expects others to follow the order of the day too. He got extremely worried last week and had an anxiety attack because school had not explained something and relied on hearsay from pupils (ie. tell T that this will be happening) and the wrong message went through.

Couple all this with secondary school visits and he's been a cuddle-seeking (on his own terms) little man. We visited a school yesterday and there is another one to see this evening. Then the wait until next March to see if and where he'll be offered a place. It's a long time to wait for a child who needs to know structure and routine.

More change this morning, D and I left the house at 7.50am to catch a bus for an ultrasound scan appointment, T facing more routine change as Hubbie took him to school.

The bus was busy, the traffic was heavy and the hospital had different smells and noises for my sensory-seeking girl but...thanks to a social story and a very empathetic scan operator, D coped very well. All the results will go back to her consultant for yet another appointment but it's something else done and crossed off.

The funny thing was we didn't see any train tracks inside her tummy! One of the PECs showed this:

..and we've been joking that there may be train tracks in her tummy, luckily there weren't!

So, it's been a very busy week and I feel a bit like this:

...a worn out old mop, having emotions and energy squeezed out of me but the children are coping and that's the main thing.