This is one of my students.  For the sake of this post I'll call him "J".  J is almost 9 years old and doesn't speak.  He makes various sounds and gestures to get what he wants.  On the first day of school last year, J greeted me by biting me on the arm leaving a very nice dental impression.  I spent the rest of the school year learning how to keep him from biting or scratching both me and the other students.  Sometimes you'd know he was in a bad mood and other times he would lash out for no apparant reason.  By the end of the year J and I were great friends :).

J has made incredible progress since then.  He hasn't bitten or scratched anyone. Even when he's been extremely frustrated, J has been able to keep himself under control and not lash out. Instead, he loves to hug and sniff you....don't ask me why, he just does.  This year we are determined to help J communicate better.  Most mornings one of us works one on one with him in order to get him to mimic the sounds we make.  Some examples are the "m", "p", "t", and "e" sounds.  Last week the teacher was able to get him to combine the "e" and "t" sounds to form the word eat.  Immediately after he was able to say it we gave him one of his favorite treats - an oreo cookie.  His eyes lit up and he said the word "eat" again.  He still gestures and makes sounds, but  he has been consistently saying the word "eat" for the past week of so.  This is huge!!!  He even says it without being prompted.  Every time he says it we give him some type of food reward.  We're now working on getting him to consistently say the "m" sound for when he wants milk and the "b" sound for when he wants to use the bathroom.

If you think of it, please pray that God will continue to loosen J's vocal chords, giving him further ability to speak and that He would provide us the ability to teach J other sounds /words as well.  He does have a speech therapist, but she doesn't seem to be helping him much.  I'm not trained in speech therapy at all so I find myself getting frustrated at times with my limited ability to help him.

Can you feel it?
In the way the wind blows,
the crispness of the air.
Colors and smells change
slowly, subtly.
A new season is beginning.

Do you perceive it?
In the way you carry yourself,
the joy and peace now radiating.
Beliefs and thoughts change
slowly, subtly.
He is doing a new thing.

What I've been up to lately

I haven't been writing too much about my life lately.  For anyone interested, here are some "snapshots" of my life.

Job: I'm back working at the elementary school with 1st-3rd grade autistic/special needs children.  It's basically the same class as last year.  I work with the same teacher and assistants.  For the most part it's been a very smooth transition back and I've actually been able to see some growth in the students.  A separate kindergarten autistic/special needs class has been added to the school.  We go to lunch and gym with them.  Gym days are by far the more exhausting of my days as the kids give me quite a workout!

I continue to babysit Jeremy in the afternoons.  He's made so much progress since I began working with him 2 years ago!  He's now in the 4th grade and loves school.  He still doesn't love hw, but will do half of it while I'm there without having a temper tantrum.  He's moved on from going to social group and occupational therapy to tennis and counseling.  He used to throw really bad temper tantrums when going out places, especially OT.  These days he's very willing to come with me and can handle the ride without the aide of his ds or ipod.  He's also become more independent and flexible when it comes to plans changing.  The hardest part of my evening is when his brother (who just started kindergarten) comes home.  That's when I have to make sure both of them are playing nicely or separated until dinnertime.

Health:   Generally I've been in pretty good health.  This week probably isn't the best example since I had two migraines and a stomach bug that landed me in bed for 36 hours.  Aside from that my migraines have been very minimal and I've had enough energy to handle my very busy days.

Dating Life: No complaints :).  We're reaching the 7 month mark.  Most of our time is spent hanging out and watching a movie or talking over coffee at the end of the day.  My favorite times are when he cooks me dinner.

Family: My dad retired at the end of June.  It's a good thing too because due to the stress he needs his mitral valve replaced.  This month he'll have a stress test and then the doctors and my parents will figure out when his surgery will be.  Right now they're on a cruise and then they'll be visiting my aunt and uncle in Texas. 

Free Time:  Hmmm...what's that? :)  When I do have some time to myself I'm usually out for a walk, talking on the phone with friends, or visiting with friends.  Oh...and cleaning :p.  Not usually my favorite thing to do, but I love the end result!