The School of Autism- The Degree I Never Wanted!

It has been about 6 months since we realized that Noah had a problem.  These months have been a mixture of fear, grief, exhaustion, sleepless nights and tons and tons of research and fighting to get services for our son.... We have been in survival mode these last 6 months. Our priority has been helping our little boy.  And we have neglected ourselves in the process. I stopped caring about myself- haven't worked out in ages.... stopped taking my vitamins..... haven't paid attention to my diet.... I haven't practiced the self care that I preach to other people in the work I do. The School of Autism has exhausted me to the core. I am so drained when I get home I barely have the energy to do one-on-one work with Noah.

I know that I must take care of myself so I can care for Noah... I know this.... but I am not doing anything about it. So I am going to start small. I am going to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water a day and start taking multi vitamins again. I also will read a devotional each day as part of my self care. I hope eventually I will have the energy to work out, but this will do for now. Who knows, I might go really crazy and get my hair cut or get a massage this weekend!

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In other news, Noah is doing well. He is very present and engaged with us. He prefers to be with us rather than on his own. He is pointing independently now (not to communicate though). He is doing gestures to songs (head, shoulders, knees and toes). He loves to stack blocks and complete puzzles. We catch him humming to songs he listens to each day. He is doing better with eye contact. He still struggles a bit with it but it is much better than a few months ago. 

We are working on pretend play (he doesn't quite get this), imitation of words, sounds, gestures... we are also expecting him to communicate in some way with us when he wants something. We want to hear him try to say a word, use a gesture like pointing or use sign language to tell us what he wants. We are working on using a spoon and cup (almost has the spoon down) and having him help with undressing himself (not there yet). We are also getting him used to drawing but he isn't enjoying it yet.

We are moving in a positive direction. It may not be at the rate we would like to see but we are getting there. Slowly but surely.