mission to Marty--week two

So here's week two of my "mission to Marty".
Yes, week two was a couple weeks ago. My nincompoop-self posted it on facebook but forgot to bloggy blog it as well for the non-facebook people in my life that still want to stay updated on our journey. Yes, Aunt Debbie, I'm talking about you (wink).

Anyway, our journey continues:

Monday, February 7th--Today we worked on the hand-over-hand technique, meaning that when I ask Marty to do something and he refuses to do it, I literally put my hand on top of his and make him follow through. It's important to show Marty what's expected of him, as kids with autism struggle with the unknown. But Mommy means it when she tells him to do something, no matter how much he freaks out about it. So, when it was time to clean up his toys in the living room and he just sat there crying about it, I walked over and without saying a word, I grabbed his hand and used it to pick up the toys one by one and put them away. I didn't get mad, I didn't discipline. I just showed him that I was serious and that he'd be picking up his toys regardless of how he felt about it. In our house, that's become his "warning". Because we don't want him thinking that if he freaks out enough, he'll get put on a time out and get out of cleaning up for those three minutes. And sure enough, after a couple seconds, he started cleaning up on his own, all smiles.

Tuesday, February 8th--Today's focus was on abstract thinking. For kids like Marty, it's difficult to think outside the realm of what's right in front of them. What's concrete. So today we talked a lot about people and things that were somewhere else, so that Marty had to picture those people and things in order to answer questions about them. For example, I asked what color Daddy's hair was, even though Daddy was at work all day. Marty's first answer was "blue". Oops. So I challenged him to really think about Daddy and what color his hair is. I had to prompt him to say brown, but he started to get the idea, and answered some of the questions right--mainly the ones about his favorite characters from his favorite movies. It's hard to think that he's more in tune with Thomas the train and Mr. Incredible than with the family members I asked him about, but I'll take whatever abstract thought I can get. We'll keep working on it. (Side note: Thinking back, I should have showed Marty a picture of his dad and prompted him to come up with Daddy's hair color on his own, to show him that he can actually picture Dad in his head. Oh well--guess this is just as much a learning process for me, too.)

Wednesday, February 9th--Today our challenge was working on facial recognition. Marty's pretty good at recognizing people, but a lot of autistic kids struggle in this area--recognizing not just specific faces, but the expressions those people are making as well. I figure if we work on these things now, we might avoid difficulties later. And since Marty just got his preschool class picture and needed to write Valentines to all his classmates, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk through his little buddies. I'd say a name, and Marty had to point to that person and decide which color Valentine to give them. So fun!

Thursday, February 10th--Today we worked on the yes/no concept. As in, "Marty, did you poop in your pants?" And making sure he understood that it's not okay to say "no" when the answer is "yes". Marty has what's called echolalia, which means that part of the way he processes things is by repeating words and phrases. But in doing so, he can tend to just memorize the appropriate answer without understanding what it means. So talking through how to use the words yes and no in the right way is important. Sometimes a little stinky.

Friday, February 11th--We talked through a couple social phrases today, and how to respond appropriately. So all day I've been asking Marty "how are you today", and talking about how to share how you're feeling. I did that by asking if he was happy. He said that yes, he was happy. I asked if he was mad, and he replied, "I not mad, I happy!" It's a small success, but progress none-the-less. I'll take it!

So that was our week--it's no wonder I'm exhausted! But every moment is so worth the progress we're already seeing.