Over the past three months we have noticed the following changes in Aditya:
a. A huge difference in the quality and usage of language.
A few examples that quickly come to mind:
One morning I celebrated him for dressing himself up the previous night and also gently reminded him to wear pajamas instead of his T-shirt and shorts when going to bed. He looked me in the eye and said,"I am sorry that I wore this (pointing to his T-shirt) overnight. I will remember to wear pajamas from now on."
Using words like "overnight " and "from now on" casually in a conversation is definitely something he was not doing so far.
Just this morning, while we were talking, Aditya farted. He smiled and instantly started counting out "Skunk in the garden PU somebody farted, that's you" consciously ending the song so he was IT :) Extreme spontaneity and no judgements about farting at all!
b. Extreme flexibility inside and outside of the playroom too!
We have been playing a wide variety of games in the playroom, having lots of conversations on his topics and then expanding left, right and center :) A lot of times, as I go into the playroom, he says, "Today let us talk of something you want to, before we talk about my topic!"
Outside the playroom too, I have changed plans on the fly after picking up sister from school (with his permission, of course!) The last time I remember, we were running low on gas and I asked if we could go fill the gas tank at Costco. Sister reminded how we were running out of kitchen paper towels and Aditya was totally excited to go into the store to get them. On the way back, we had to take a detour because of road construction and we passed the Indian store. Realizing we hardly ever go there any more but that we could get Okra, which the kids love, if we go in now I just put it out to them. Both kids jumped at the idea. We ended up getting a couple other vegetables which are not available at the local farmers market where I usually shop. This is big because Aditya is really a stickler when it comes to buying conventional produce (vs organic, which we usually buy.)
c. An increase in physical strength and abilities. He loves doing pullups and swinging and as a result has stronger muscles. After some encouragement, he tried and has now mastered the monkey bars at school.
d. A drop in Eye contact, especially outside the playroom.
e. Difficulty making a deeper connection with people and his surroundings, kids in particular. This is in contrast to what we were seeing earlier this year. He was connected and showing a lot of interest in peers. Currently he seems to be Ok being around them but not enjoying their company or initiating conversations with them.
I also observed a few things we had never seen before: He ran away from us while we were at the library. I was with sister and the librarian trying to find a book for her science project (which he was clearly not interested in, but he was there because we had a deal.) Suddenly I noticed that he was not around and called out his name. After asking sister to stay with the librarian, I walked to the main entrance, where I found him starting a sprint back to the kids area. He was surprised to find me there. But noticing my body language, he asked me what had happened. I then told him that I was concerned about his safety and made it clear that I needed him to stay by our side in his own body space. Once I said that, he was the most compliant kid anybody had ever seen!
I have also noticed him having a hard time staying in his own body space when he is around me (mom). He has the urge to touch, hug and kiss me, even in inappropriate situations and times , like the grocery store, school and library.
This post is a reminder to us as to where he currently is. He seems to be working really hard on certain aspects of his development, so is currently not focussing on the rest.
We love him and admire him for taking care of himself in his own special ways. It is also a reason for us as parents to look into what has been going on and realign our program to help his needs better. He is now on a reduced schedule at school, attending 4 hours a week. We have amped up our playroom hours, added new team members. We have a lovely new team of 4 people! Training them and seeing how he enjoys their company has been a joy!
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