Inchstones

I know it seems like the progress reports I’m putting out here are all really little things, but a long time ago I learned that on this path we celebrate inchstones. In the grand scheme of things for us these signal huge shifts.

On Friday, Dominic got off the bus wearing his jacket without having the hood up. In order to understand the significance of this, you have to realize that he’s been obsessive about wearing hoods anytime he’s wearing a jacket. To the point that at one time it was one of his ABA goals to get him to leave it off and they were never successful. It’s a sensory thing. And he voluntarily left it off. HUGE.

He’s maintained the sitting at the dinner table without being buckled in (for the most part). I think we’re going to leave the booster seat for a few more weeks and then pull it entirely. He’s basically tall enough to not need it.

He spent the majority of the day yesterday outside playing in the dirt (I unfenced my veggie patch this week so for the first time this summer he had access to dirt). Its funny, because he’s now insisting we turn off his movie if its on before he goes outside to play. I think this is a greater awareness thing. He brings the remote and says “TURN IT”

We had a babysitter Saturday night. One of Dominic’s favorite therapists from Alpine sent me a note on Facebook telling me she missed him and could she please come babysit. So we had her over on Saturday. She was blown away by the improvements she saw in his eye contact and attentiveness, and said he was really chatty for her. Its always nice to have external verification of what we are seeing. She also said that she saw no spitting which is the last stim we’re trying to get rid of at home. I saw some on Sunday, but not as much as we’d been seeing, so hopefully that ones on its way out the door.

Pretend play is coming along. He’s less obsessed with holding toys for the sake of fidgiting, I think. For example, Saturday I got him a couple of 25cent stretchy toys out of the little machine at the grocer store. One was a crab and the other a frog. When we got home, he got out his two chickens and diligently got the crab and frog to ride the chickens. He told me several times “crab, riding” and “coquine riding” (coquine is dora Spanish for frog) . He held onto those yesterday, but put them away in his toy chest at bedtime and got out his batman figure to sleep with. In the past, he’s obsessively held onto things for multiple days on end day and night.

Parasite protocol #1 (of 12) is now completely under our belts. The next one starts Sept 27. He did so well. I’ve been told for years that sensory stuff is parasites, and I’m starting to believe it as we see sensory seeking behaviors diminish. We have visual verification of several different kinds of parasites (I have seen what looked like the roundworm, pinworm, and liver fluke pictures that other parents are posting online), but I refuse to dig through poop, so odds are there was more than that. Still tons of mucus coming out post-enema for him, and for that all I’ve got to say is better out than in.