Holding Steady

Got My Buddy Back!

James is in a good place.  Thank God. Knock on wood.  Salt over the shoulder.  On vacation, while Dad was at work, we wandered the sleepy beach town.  Too cold and rainy for the actual beach, we hit the library first. Emerged one and a half hours later, still smiling with borrowed books and a movie. James sat with me in the stacks and read books for an hour and a half.  Even let me grab one for myself. Of course I unwittingly chose one with an autistic character. Can't get away even on a literary holiday!   Next day we tried the mall.  A slow walk through ending at a department store where James had a birthday gift certificate. He let me scour the sale racks, he picked out a big bed pillow, we "shopped." His patience and tolerance for "new" was unexpected and extremely impressive!   James even allowed maintenance grocery trips and daily runs for coffee and newspapers and a huge donut (aka carrot-on-the-stick).  Every morning we did brushing and joint compression.  His weighted vest was used regularly.   All in all, a successful time off from school and therapy.

Of course the downside was that James used less words, although he did show me that there were a few words that he had "down pat" (movie, lollipop, pretzel, pizza, ball).   A blindingly clear bit of speech came through one morning as I laid in bed, refusing to get up.  James tried everything jumping on me, turning on the light, pulling my hand, dragging a guitar into the bed and banging on it.  Finally he brought in a Bob the Builder DVD.  I asked him what he wanted, expecting "moo-bee."  Instead, James sang the words "Bob the Builder" in the theme show tune.  I have never ever heard him come close to a song, let alone nailing the words and the tune.  Amazing!!  It is in there, mom, keep it up!

The other cool moment occurred when James was sitting on the floor with a handful of goldfish crackers. Of course, they spilled everywhere.  I asked him to pick up the ones he dropped.  And he did.  Although these are amazing feats of listening, comprehension, and agility, what happened next is truly shocking.  James completely missed one little fish.  No matter how I directed him, he couldn't find it.  Fighting my instinct to just pick it up myself, I tried one more time: "James, it is under your right thigh."  James immediately reached down, plucked it off the floor and popped it in his mouth.   James knows right from left?  James knows specific body parts?

Back at school this week, James went on a school trip without me.  He had a blast and was an angel on the bus (his teacher's words)!   On Friday, during the science fair, James remained calm and checked out the exhibits, despite the noise in the large space.  My kid?  Wow.  Next week there is a another trip to the local library.  I am stepping back and staying away from the outing.  I don't think James needs me as much anymore. He is growing independent, and not in that scary, self-isolated autistic way.  James is slowly becoming more comfortable and confident in the world - and I cannot sufficiently express how amazing that feels!