Thrown Off

Schools were closed today because of the sub zero temperatures and wind chills. Usually the therapists come a little before Eric gets home from school and when he walks in they are ready to work with him. He seems to handle that OK. Today since he was at home he thought he could do his own thing all day. When she came he was playing a bowling game on the computer, and having a very good time doing it. The therapist came in and he did not give her the time of day. She kept trying to engage him and he kept ignoring and playing. I turned off the computer and he started crying, stomping, kicking, throwing stuff and banging his head against the wall right away. I moved him away from the wall and laid him on the floor, backed off and let him carry on. The therapist was with me and did not bat an eye. These therapists are trained with a capitol T and I was also trained on behaviors I may see and how to react to them. Basically it's move him away from anything that may hurt him and let him work it out. She told me she has seen much worse. That is comforting, I guess it can always be worse. But it don't make it any easier to watch my child act like that. Once he calmed down the therapist presented him with his James toy. That did not please him. Eric picked up a small squishy soccer ball and threw it at the wall. The therapist got the big ball and threw it to him. They continued to play ball as long as he stayed calm and said "ball" and "catch" before each throw. From there he grabbed a toy car and was saying "car" and "go". He was talkative today :-). He also has cuddled up to me and said "hi" numerous times. He still knows where to go for comfort, and I am allowed to do that within reason. He tolorated the light on today, but it is daylight and sunny out (despite the frigid temps) so that did not make enough of a difference for him to notice. That will be worked on during an after school session. We are trying to get him to put his cup down on his tray when he is done drinking it. There was a lot of rocking the chair and yelling. I would take the cup and keep putting it back on the tray. Eventually he tapped the tray telling me he was done, and put the cup on the tray as I was getting him out. He was praised for that little effort. Baby steps. Eric has a habit of standing on and jumping on and off of the couch. We are trying to get him to understand that a couch is to sit or lay on. Verbal prompts don't work, he just ignores. If you physically sit him down he likes the physical interatction and thinks it's a game. It is going to be a challenge on how to handle this one. All of this was done in 2 hours. I'm impressed. The therapist came early so she could get her day done due to the cold weather. It is nice having the rest of the day to ourselves. Eric is happily lining up his toy cars. He earned time to relax.

Andy's appointment with the neuropsychologist was rescheduled for Jan. 29th at 8:30 am. Luckily she was understanding about us not making it today. She told me that she was going to cancel all her appointments and go home herself. Smart move. The wait is not nearly as long as I expected. This will still all happen in good time. I'm praying for good weather.