Keep it up!

The past few weeks have been busy for us with the normal routine plus a stomach bug and the never ending cold mixed in. A few weeks ago
E-man's school gave us some homework to do with him and while this adds to the chaos I'm still glad to do it. It gives me a chance to see how E-man is doing and figure out how to use his strengths to provide more learning opportunities throughout the day.
The assignments include stuff like matching objects (2D and 3D), practicing making different vowel and consonant sounds, fine motor exercises, throwing a ball back and forth and my favorite, turning on music and dancing! 
To make sure that we are running the assignments correctly we video taped ourselves and sent it to his clinical supervisor at the school.
Along with that video we sent an additional video of regular play time where we were bouncing E-man on a big exercise ball and stopping and having him request more "bounces". It was actually really exciting because he was saying "buh" for more bounces and had eye contact while requesting it!
The response from the school was so great. They noted that we ran the drill perfectly and E-man did a great job following direction.
They were especially excited about the bouncy ball video, requesting that they have permission to show it at conferences! 
A huge gain for him has been putting his socks and shoes on by himself. I try to help him as little as possible and he's getting better and better. 
The fact that he's been saying mama with purpose towards me and often are my personal favorites of his recent gains. He's also been attempting to imitate the beginning part of the words I use when speaking with him.
The progress has been tremendous. There are still many things to work on, we need to be more vigilant about sitting down with him to do quieter tasks, which can be a challenge because he likes to be super active.
Making sure he is "checked in" when asking for items or when he is asked to do a task. His inclination is to look away while doing these things and not be fully present, so we are encouraging more eye contact during these activities.
Overall I feel like he's making great improvements, I'm so proud of him. It's incredible how much work it takes for him to do simple things most take for granted, even myself. I try to really appreciate and celebrate every accomplishment E-man makes because it's not just us and his teachers doing the work, he does too. It is truly inspiring.

Autism and Parenting

I think being a parent is like going through an obstacle course and just trying your best to make it to the end. The end being your child growing up to be self sufficient, well rounded, with common sense and compassion.
Being a parent with a special needs child is like going through that same obstacle course, but with a blind fold.
You are at the starting line with all the other parents, preparing yourself for the long journey. That's when the twist comes along. Figure out this course, use every sense you can rely on but your sight. Sounds daunting right?
Believe me, it is. 
You start fumbling around, trying to get your bearings. Determining the location of booby traps, getting through complex puzzles that come your way and realizing who you can really depend on. This road can not be travelled alone, you have to put your trust in others to help keep you going.
The blessing is that things start to become easier and hard won victories are celebrated.
What I've come to realize trekking through all this is that my boys will be ok, my husband and I will be ok. Everyone has a twist in their obstacle course. Big, small, now or later a twist comes out of the blue to knock you on your ass.
The important thing is that you get up and just keep going.
Our journey isn't worse than any others, it's just different.