Don't Blink.

Don't Blink.

Sounds crazy, I mean - Don't Blink? Well, with Autism, if you blink sometimes you'll miss it.

or not hear it.

Obviously, this is not possible, but it's something that feels true for a lot of things Owen and I'd imagine a lot of parents with kids on the Spectrum or just Special Needs in general.

Don't Blink! You may miss it.

Owen could be playing with Daddy, and I can be in the room and just doing something else and he'll do something so quickly. It could be an appropriate head shake, a really clear "open" when he wants his juice pouch opened, or he initiated play. Sometimes, you feel like you need to never leave the kid alone so you don't miss those little moments.

It's the little moments that we live for, because we are still working on building those little moments into something more, into progression-into a bigger and better skill, or appropriate behavior or from pushing a car back and forth to doing that PLUS saying "Beep Beep".

It's these things that do not come naturally to Owen, so these little glimmers of hope are all we have to get through to the next day.

Example:

Owen won't wear a baseball hat. He stopped wearing one after he left Holmdel preschool, but never at home. Never! He would wear one in class when Miss Beth told him he had to put it on and he'd stop with his eye stim.

I've been working on him wearing one since then.

I'll do the math that is over one year.

Put it on, take it off, tears, bribes, he just wouldn't cooperate. So, about 2 months ago, I started telling him to wear the hat from the car to the house.

He actually started to do it.

So, after I praised him til the cows came home, and he had done it consistently for about 2 weeks, we showed Daddy.

He kept the hat on.

So, now I've been working on wearing the hat out when we are running errands.

And today...

He did it, and there was a difference.

I had errands to run and he was a listening machine! He held my hand in Kohls while we got new pajamas (Thank you Kohls for our free $10 card plus 20% off coupon = $10 for 2 pairs of pjs), he was angelic in the huge line and the best part- when I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom, he said YES!

We've been having huge problems with him not wanting to go in public, we've had accidents, wet car seats, accidents in therapy!

Today, he went to the bathroom when I asked him! Score!

Stimming = decrease and dry pants

Mommy = overjoyed

And for a final update- a certain little boy is REALLY into his puppy!