When things actually go right...

It's been awhile since I have posted. Life has been full and busy... will post more in the coming weeks.

Life with children rarely goes to plan... let alone life with a child with autism. Everything is so unpredictable. You are never sure what might cause a meltdown or anxiety in your child. Sometimes I feel like I am treading on eggshells all day - trying to meet his needs, preventing meltdowns, responding to meltdowns... the littlest thing can set him off.

My little E started preschool on Monday and had another full day yesterday. This was no small feat. E has always been very insecure outside of immediate family. He will not even stay at our neighbours place to play (even with his brothers present). He is very happy to come home with me. He seems so immature in many ways for a 3 year old. I knew that preschool was not an option for him. It was a must. It will form a major part of his early intervention. He needs to be in an environment away from me where he can learn social and language skills, learn how to behave and interact in a group context and for his general growth and development.

My expectation was that the transistion into preschool was going to be traumatic. That for the first few weeks I would only be leaving him for one or two hours at a time. That we would have major screaming and tantrums whenever I left him for weeks on end. That he would cry and scream and roll on the floor for ages after I left. None of this happened. The parting was hard and there were a few cries for 'mummy' and tears. But nothing overly dramatic or traumatic. (My tears were mainly caused by the interaction I had with the staff -but that's another post).

According to the teachers, he settled in quite quickly and was easy. He just went with the flow. Happily followed what other children were doing. He ate all his food (always a good sign). He engaged in activities that he has never done before. He sits on the floor and listens to a story - HE HAS NEVER DONE THIS! He doesn't 'do' group activities. I don't think the teachers understood just how mammoth this is and it warms my heart and brings tears of joy to my eyes.

We had prepared him with a social story of E going to preschool. I had photos of the preschool and his teachers and different activities he can do at preschool. He engaged with the story quite well. He learnt to say 'preschool' which I found comforting. However, I think the most helpful thing in his smooth transistion was the fact that he has watched his older brother go to preschool and be picked up at the end of the day. He has now watched him start school this year. He knows the routine. We have sent him to the same preschool that his older brother went to. This too, was instrumental in his ease of passage. It was familiar. The photos in the social story were familiar. The play equipment was familiar. He knew what he was seeing.

We'll see how next week goes but I am very hopeful for a real positive experience between E and preschool. It's a rare moment but its heartening when things actually go right. I can only thank my friend Jesus for holding my hand and E's in this massive process. He is the faithful friend.