He is doing better than great!! We can't believe the progress he has made in just a year. He is much happier, he is sleeping better, eating better and just a happy little boy. He is communicating so well and even saying a few words!!!!! It's unbelievable! He is doing great in school and great in Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy.
He is working on identifying objects at school and in Speech. It's amazing because his receptive language has developed finally. We say to him "Carson show me a Cow" and he will point to a picture of a Cow. This is a big step because for so long he was not able to do this because he didn't comprehend what we were saying. It's so wonderful that he is now understanding what we say to him. For instance, he now understands and follows directions. We can tell him to go get his shoes and he will. We can tell him its time for a snack and he will go to the table. This is just a big step forward and so wonderful and I think this contributes to him being so much happier because now he understands us and we are starting to understand him!
He is working on a lot of fine motor skills in Occupational Therapy such as zipping his coat, buttoning his pants, picking objects up with tweezers. It's amazing that when he started he couldn't even jump with both feet off the ground and now he is not only jumping but bouncing on balls and learning to ride a bike!
He is currently going through re evaluation through our school district for kindergarten. However, he will still stay at the school he is at now. We aren't interested in mainstreaming him now or ever. We love his school and want him to stay there as long as he can. Although he is doing so well he would struggle horribly in a typical school. We are very happy with his placement at Step By Step.
The Summer program at his school has been cut so he will be home with us this summer. I have mixed feelings on this. It will be great to have him home but I'm very concerned about him regressing and the transition back to school in the Fall might be very difficult on him. He started Step By Step just a few days after he turned 3 and has gone every single day aside from holiday breaks so it will be a big change for him. He will still attend therapies twice a week and we will keep busy with our regular summer activities. He really enjoys going to the lake and spending time on his grandparents boat and in their camper so we will be doing that a lot. He loves the water so I'm sure we will be swimming a lot this summer! We also have a trip planned to King's Island, an amusement park, he will love that!
We are very happy with how far Carson has come. A year ago I would have never thought we would be where we are today. He has overcome so much and has become so much happier. There was a time when he was just miserable all of the time because he couldn't communicate. He amazes us so much.
With all of the great things he has accomplished there are also setbacks. 2 weeks ago we had to bring him to the ER because he ate glass!!! That was very scary but all turned out fine and xrays showed that he had very little pieces in his stomach so he was able to pass them naturally. He is always eating things he isn't supposed to eat so this is a constant battle. He likes to eat leaves, sand, rocks, and anything wood. We are hoping he will eventually grow out of this but its a big part of Autism so he may not. We just have to constantly watch him and make sure he isn't putting things in his mouth.
We are still trying to poop train him and that is still a struggle. He still will not poop on the potty. When he was in the ER and had xrays the doctor told us he is so backed up with weeks worth of poop. She told us this is a very common problem with children on the spectrum because they tend to hold it in and it can cause a lot of problems and could lead to surgery if he doesn't get all of that out. We have been giving him miralax and its been working but still no poop on the potty but as long as he is actually pooping we are happy.
We will always have setbacks and that doesn't discourage us. We just focus on all of the great things he has accomplished and instead of worrying about what he can't do we focus on what he can do and what he has overcome. We celebrate the little things because to us and to him they are very big things.
