Suspicious Minds

You ever had that feeling that something was in the air?  That something wicked this way comes?  Maybe it's just a creepy suspicion that there are things brewing that you have no control over...a disturbance in the force, if you will! A constant shadow that casts over your free spirit...a haunting.

Well, amongst Josiah's many talents...like quantum banana ingestion...he seems to be able to pick up on random disturbances.  He is constantly on alert that something...or someone...is looking to interrupt his relentless rule of the universe.  But, believe me Buddy, he wasn't ready for this one...

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For 2 years I was given the dubious honor of being this kid's teacher and shadow.  As you can imagine, it has been a challenge very similar to American Ninja Warriors on a daily basis....It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!  But salvation was at hand...for behold, from the North came a burst of fresh air!  A breeze that would breathe new life into the bones of Dawn's oldest student.  Indeed, his programs would be resurrected from mundane to magnificent!! The grace of execution, so longed for by his BCBA, Tameika Meadows, would be placed on display by one intrepid soul.  An artist in her craft, a pioneer amongst the timid...a mighty force for justice and truth would rise to the challenge and take this child from my trembling and finger-paint covered hands and lead him kicking and screaming down the path of progress!! The reign of the Tyrant King is over!!!  The New Era of Enlightenment has DAWNED for Josiah!!! Rise up, ye followers of ABA protocols!  

For BEHOLD!  

I Give You:

Emily Strong: 

Dawn Program Clinical Assistant,  Jedi Knight,  Ray of Sunshine, Generally Awesome Chick

Oh, yeah.  It's goin' down, Baby!  Reloaded and ready to blaze....

(stay tuned, good people)

"The Revolution Will Be Televised..."

(I tentatively clear my throat.)"Umm....excuse me, Mr. Cox." 

(He sighs.)

 

"Sorry, Sir.  I know how much you hate to be interrupted when you are hard at work.  I feel awkward about it, but I have to hand you some importat information...Apparently, Tameika Meadows, the world's finest behavioral analyst and ABA programmer extrodinaire has informed me that though your work is displaying signs of brilliance (if not prodigy) she is not satisfied with the level at which you are performing. 

Now, before you take this personally and throw me under the bus, she also made it clear that she knows it is because I can step up MY game. In efforts to improve my execution as your personal girl Friday and sherpa into the heights of academic and intellectual aptitude, she has equipped me with an entirely new arsenal of programming.  All of which is designed to unleash the genius within you and to allow you the creative freedom that a savant like yourself needs in order to invent new art genres, compose original symphonic works, win Pulitzer Prizes and bridge the time space continuum.  Apparently, you have a list of diseases for which cures are waiting, several pastors awaiting counsel and a boy scout troop to lead.  Also, President Obama called to schedule your luncheon and the Cubans just said, "Ask him to check his voicemail."....weird.....Ah, yes, Prince William and Kate requested your suggestions for names as well as asking if they could be placed on your list of royalty desiring you to stand as Godfather.  And Sir, I promise you, as SOON as I put your new programs into play, you will have all the tools you need to attend to all these demands!  Thank you so much for allowing me this time in your schedule! So.....whaddya think about this?!"

(awkward silence)

 

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"Yeah....I thought that's what you'd say..."

#Teamruletheworld.........stay tuned.

School Daze!

Sigh....you'd better have a seat...

(Cue the Superman theme song...)

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May 23rd (which is also pronounced 'Mayee Twentee-fird' if you are one J.K. Cox) marked Jojo's 5th birthday.  It is hard to believe that we have been chipping away at the mountain of progress for 2 and 1/2 years now.  There are a few people that deserve a shout out right now:  Alicia New, Anna Loi, Alyssa Lehr, Gemma Braithwaite, Milah Behlmaier and Tameika Meadows.  All of these young women have played a role in providing Josiah (and his often CLUELESS parents!) the tools that he is about to put in full throttle....AT SCHOOL!!!

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Now you may think that this deserves some cheerleader style back handsprings, complete with spirit fingers dismount!  And perhaps you are right.  But my Obsessive Parental Paranoia (A.K.A. O.P.P.) will only allow me to give a well placed toe touch and a few tentative fist pumps!  I know what you're thinking...I am a total KILLJOY!  But don't judge me...you don't know what I know...you don't know the evils that lurke behind the deceptively benign face of inclusion!!  No, I am not talking about bullying or any such social ill.  I am speaking of the TRAILER LOAD of information that your supervising therapist is going to demand you to assemble so that she may in turn construct the ultimate "Your school better cater to this child's every need" list that they casually call an Education Plan!  Are you kidding me?  The prep list is like 40 pages long!!  OK....maybe it was only one page....but there were like 40 things on it!  So, you start putting all this together and you can literally feel your therapist's evil grin through the phone as they begin to summon their all of their ABA hoo-doo powers and conjures to strike the deal of a lifetime with the school of your choice.  (And all this time you thought those dolls in their canvas bag were to teach his "Pronoun Program")It sounds like a slice of New York Cheesecake when you realize that your child on the spectrum may be school ready.  But saddle up, Cowboy! The ride of your life is about to commence.

Now, I am a bit behind as we began this process at the beginning of June.  But, I will do my best to bring you up to speed on how this all goes down.  In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Jo exploring the real reason that every boy attends institutes of higher learning....

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The LADIES!!

"The Burst."

There will be moments when your child with autism will surprise you with exceptionally appropriate behavior or conversation.  When those moments come close together in consistent clumps, you may be looking at a burst!  Read the following excerpt from the latest episode of the thrilling Cox soap opera, "The Young and the Clueless".  In this episode, entitled "The Burst", our hero, Jojo, is desperately trying to woo the object of his affection (that's me) with smooth talk and an invitation to dessert......cue wistful piano theme music.....

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Galileo: "Hi, Mommy."

Me: "Hi Jo!"

Galileo: "What's your name?"

Me (chuckling): "My name is Nicole!  What is your name?"

Galileo: "I'm Josiah Cox!"

Me (stifling peals of laughter): "How are you doing?"

Galileo (obviously pleased with himself): "I'm fine!"

~awkward silence between lovers~

Galileo: "Mommy, I want juice pop, please."

Me: "There are no more, Baby."

~his pause of disbelief~

Galileo: "Are you sure?"

~my pause of disbelief~

Me (turning red as I try to hold back the happy dance!): "Yes, I'm sure!  How about popcorn? (Desperately trying to keep this conversation going!)"

Galileo (after careful consideration): "Yes."

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What???!!!! THAT WAS NEW!!!!

Bursts are important.  Why?  Well, first of all, it is such a nice change when you can see that clearly things are connecting for this kid!  Even if they are small connections they give you hope and are causes for great celebration.  My advice is to then reinforce those moments as much as possible.  Don't get so blown away that you don't try to expand on the moment!  Generalize it to everything possible.  Try to set up the circumstances for the conversation or behavior in several different settings from then on.  The goal is to turn a moment of clarity into a concept of understanding!

Bursts are also a cue to turn up the intensity on the teaching!!  There is cognitive growth happening and you don't want to let that window close on you without shoving as much information as possible through it!!  Consult with your Supervising Therapist and develop strategies to expand on the current programs you are running or introduce new ones!  This is your time so take it.  We want to keep the plateaus of learning to a minimum and keep the upward progression, no matter how slow, at a steady pace!

The moral of the story is this: Don't Give Up!! No conversation or activity is in vain.  You never know what is processing up in that miraculous gray matter between their ears....or when it will kick in!

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"Eye of the Tiger!"

Here we go....the moment of truth.....why do I feel like Adrienne watching Rocky get in the ring with Apollo Creed?  As Devon, who is suffering from a sprained ankle after a vicious game of basketball Saturday night, limps my boy into his destiny, I can't help but hearing that ridiculous "Rocky" soundtrack revolve in my mind like a haunting reverie of synthesizer and screaming electric guitar rifs!  The part that sends me into complete palpitations is knowing that Rocky ALWAYS took a genuine butt beating before managing to somehow secure a contract to do just one...more ....sequel.  So, if the dentist happens to be Mr. T, a flashy showman with a bro-fro or a blood thirsty Russian....we are totally screwed.

OK.  We are in the chair and that annoying bright light is full blast in our boy's face!  I am relatively sure that if there were any truth to the stories of people being abducted by UFO's, this would be the face they give as John Q. Alien beams them up.  Side note: yes, that is actually an old program from church service that Galileo is holding.  I guess he thought reviewing some encouraging words from our pastor would ease his troubled soul.  I don't think the Lord grants deliverance from dental procedures on random request....there is a queue.

Seriously?! At this point, I am incredulous at this boy's ability to find sensory addictions in ANY situation!!  The little air blowing thingy, which due to my ignorance of the proper titles for dentistry tools we will call "Air Puff", became an instant hit.  Though originally intended to help blast the remaining saltine craker bits out of the abyss that our dentist casually called a "rather superficial" cavity, Jo realized its potential for hours of pleasure immediately!  "I want air puff, please!", became the anthem for the afternoon.  Poor Doc was powerless to resist the persuasive prowess of a spectrumed up 4 year old!

Here is where there was a momentary pause in the action.  Like the eye of a hurricane there was an eerie peace in the office.  The cavity was cleaned out and ready for resolution. Doc explained that he would simply fill the offensive gap without drilling as he always likes to start young children with the least invasive procedures first and only graduate from there if needed.  I smiled smuggly. "Yeah, right, Doc!", I thought to myself.  "My son has punked you ROYALLY!"  "You don't wanna risk an index nail diggin' any further in there than needed!" Then, like a tiger pouncing on its prey, Doc burst into action taking us all by storm!! 3 minutes, 2 cotton rolls, some filling, a really weird blue light saber that I SWEAR was like Luke Skywalker's and one 4 year old squirming for his LIFE later.....

SUCCESS!!
We will discuss what Mommy has learned from this experience in the sequel, "Rocky XX: Rocky Goes to Vegas"

"It was the best of times...it was the worst of times."

This is a story.  A story of a boy.  A boy... and his autism. (Cue dramatic music "Dun, dun, duuun!")

OK.  So, that really isn't my style.  I can have my major moments of major drama (side eye glance to the Hubby-he betta not say a WORD!) but generally I feel like we have enough stories like that associated with autism out there.  I promise that on this blog you and I will follow the development of a very interesting project spearheaded by a brave little guy we call Jojo.  He has alot of challenges, but the truth is the most challenged person in his story is his mom (that would be ME)!  I am currently the only Instructor Therapist (I.T.)working in The Dawn Program for Autism here in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.  My supervisor is Ms. Tameika Meadows, M.Ed. (see http://iloveaba.blogspot.com) and she writes all the program curriculum for our little wunderkind whom she has dubbed "Li'l Galileo".  The mantra of this blog is simple, "If I can do it, YOU can do it!"  We hope to encourage our fellow home programmers out there and share the mundane and profound experience of navigating our way through the spectrum.  With that said: LET'S GO!

This is Li'l Galileo:

This is Li'l Galileo in sugar induced euphoria:

This is Li'l Galileo's opinion of sugar induced cavity:

Alrighty then.  The first rule of having a child with autism should be, "Never let a child with sensory integration issues develop a cavity!"  The truth is, I think the first rule is "Never feed them sugar." or "Always double check the molars when brushing." or something like that.  Maybe if I had read those, I would not need the one I made up....hmmm....logging that away for later....
Anyway, I am trying to figure out who dropped the ball on this one.  Was it the I.T. or was it the mom?  No matter which way you slice it, there is a cavernous hole in Jojo's left molar and we need an intervention.  I am already breaking into a cold sweat imagining his reaction to bright lights, needles and the sound of a drill.  For spectrum babies, the world is one big technicolor acid trip! Florescent lights are enough to send my kid into LaLa Land....and now I will have to subject him to an experience at the tender age of 4 which I am CERTAIN will scar him for LIFE! He will be a walking posterboy for preschooler angst! Sigh......why do I feel the need to listen to my "Jagged Little Pill" album? More as it comes, y'all...