More like forever. I guess that’s just because things have been going better….and that’s a good thing! Autumn has been surprising me every day! In most ways, her sensitivities seem to be improving at the moment. She found 2 new pairs of shoes that aren’t Crocs! One is this cute, little pair of flats that are gold. It’s so nice to see her be able to express her bright and bold personality. We also discovered shawls. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before, but they totally work for her because they don’t constrict her arms. We’ve gotten her 2 so far!
We’ve also started decorating her clothes with fabric paint and iron-ons. She’s much more willing to try to wear something and deal with the itchiness if it’s something she has created herself. I also love seeing her creativity. I know she *loves* fashion, and it’s been sad for me to see her passions suppressed by sensory issues.
What else? She’s in feeding therapy now. We found a speech path in town who is absolutely awesome! The process is long, slow, and tedious. But we’re already seeing some improvements. She will eat food that she doesn’t hate without much fuss. Her choices are expanding. I hope one day she’s able to enjoy all food.
We also learned that Autumn has difficulties expressing abstract language. I knew it. She’s always had problems expressing her emotions. A counselor we were seeing thought that Autumn had a block for some psychological reason. I told the counselor I thought she was wrong and there was something else going on. The speech path did some testing and it turns out that on most levels of language, Autumn functions from age 10-12. However, in the area of abstract language, she functions at her age (8). This discrepancy causes her huge amounts of frustration. And she continually fools people because all of her other language skills are so advanced. This is so good to know because it helps me parent her so much better. Because of her cognitive abilities, Autumn’s prognosis is really good.
I’m also taking a new approach to homeschooling and I can’t wait to see where it goes. We’re going to be more eclectic. We will still use a curriculum for math and language. But we’re going to be more passion-oriented with science and social studies. I know she’ll be able to learn more if she enjoys what she’s learning. We’re going to spend a LOT of time this summer at the zoo, museums, the beach, and in the wilderness.
Anyway, that’s my update! Hope everyone else is doing well!
