Both of us have done amazingly well. She has been mentally preparing herself for weeks and yesterday she got up early and got dressed and did her morning schedule and all but harassed me to set her up with her first assignment. We have had zero melt downs or transition issues so far.
The plan is to have her do a journal entry every morning. Yesterday I had her write 3 sentences about starting out homeschooling journey. She was very determined that I had to give her letter grades even though that is not part of our homeschooling plan.
This morning I gave her 2 choices - to either write about something she was proud of or the best day ever (either real or imaginative).
The child’s mind is so interesting. The mind of an autistic child is more intriguing still. One of the reasons I wanted to journal with her is to hopefully catch some glimpses inside that brain of hers. It’s crossed my mind recently that I don’t think she always has a cohesive thought process - I think her thinking is more black and white and what is IS. Sometimes she can name her emotions and tell me what she is thinking but there isn’t a lot of communicating about linking those emotions up to her thought process.
Here is her Journal Entry for today:
I watched this a few times - amused that even though she was supposed to write about “the best day ever” that the topic homeschooling and ASD still popped up - it’s obviously been on her mind since it’s still a new schedule for us.
But one thing that jumped out at me was the fact that she is talking about a day that she attended a field trip with the school. This day was really significant for us last summer. It was one of the last days before the end of the school year and they had a super fun day at school where they went to the local amusement park and also a picnic and spray park. Normally a change in schedule, a high sensory environment and over excitement would be a recipe for disaster. But we created cards for her that had “break plans” that showed her what she could do if she needed a short break that included where she could go that would be quieter and also activities she could do to calm her down as well as let her brain get used to the environment to be comfortable. AND IT WORKED. This kid rocked that day. I picked her up at the end and although she was tired she had had nothing but fun while she was there - Zero issues. (Hooray!)
So even though she didn’t elaborate in her journal entry I find it really cool that she remembers this particular day as being the “best day” for her.
Although she did express concern before writing anything that it was a day that I wasn’t with her. I encouraged her to write about it anyway and thanked her for considering my feelings.
Yes!!!!! Small victories for us:
1. That she recognized the significance of that particular day
2. That she had a great day and was proud of herself
3. That she took my feelings into account before deciding to write.
It’s always cool to look back and see the milestones and improvement ... especially after receiving the ASD diagnosis. Nothing beats feeling proud of your kid.... especially after years of struggle and advocation. It’s amazing to look at the beautiful kid in front of you and think:
“Wow! This is part of our success story!”
