The Monster’s in his second week now of additional therapy that we’re paying for, above and beyond what the school is giving him, since we’re not getting what we really want from the schools (more individual care) and we don’t think he’s getting enough.
So on Tuesdays, after school, the Monster comes home on the bus and is shuttled immediately off for another 30-45 minutes of combined SLP and OT at another provider.
The wife came home last night, to mention that the therapists pointed out to her that there are a lot of positives that we should be keeping in mind.
- The Monster’s cute. (To which my response was, “Um, duh.”)
- He has no major gross motor issues. Sure, he still toe-walks a lot and whatnot, and has trouble doing stairs with alternating gait on a consistant basis, but overall, he’s doing pretty well.
- He clearly comprehends language – delayed, but the comprehension’s there.
- He has his own developed sense of humor and gets the concept of something being funny.
And while that doesn’t make up for the deficiencies, as the therapists pointed out, it means that there’s the potential for him to get to where he ought to be. Gross motor defects, for instance, would hinder his getting the fine motor skills nailed down. A lack of receptive language comprehension would even further delay any attempts to work on his expressive language skills. Humor is important because he can grasp
And being cute doesn’t hurt, of course.
Now to use these as building blocks…
I stumbled across your blog.
I have a younger cousin who is Autistic. I agree that schools these days don’t do enough to help – they have utterly failed her in helping her to cope with the world around her. Getting outside intervention is best, so you’re doing the right thing. Kudos to you and your wife for demanding more for your child and not just settling for what the school provides. I hope “Monster” flourishes under his new therapies.