Believing He Can

          We were eating at a fast food restaurant when an ad on the wall caught my son's attention. The ad was aimed to recruit children for the summer kiddie crew workshop. The ad showed happy faces of children convincing enough and made my son wanting to join.
          I was a little worried he might not be accepted to join in typical summer programs. But I still tried to inquire about it. The restaurant manager enthusiastically stated all the requirements for joining. But I just had one question to ask her, "Do you accept children with special needs?" The manager paused and then replied " Yes, we do. It's the restaurant's policy to accept every child who wishes to be a kiddie crew." I told the manager a little something about my son. She reaffirmed that my son's condition won't be a problem although they have not experienced having someone like him in the previous years they have been doing the workshop. Upon hearing that, I had my son registered.  
         A few days before he started as a restaurant kiddie crew, I had a lot of  "what ifs" and worried thoughts. What if he could not understand what he would be asked to do? What if he becomes hyperactive, runs around and break something? What if  he could not get along with other kiddie crews?
       My boy is already 8 years old, able to write his name, a sight reader, with tendency to be echolalic sometimes and gets confused with multiple instructions but with very good work behavior.  I was worried to let him be in a place where people may not have a single idea of what Autism is and how people with Autism are. This would be the first time my son would be participating in an activity where the people he would be working with were not trained to deal with children with special needs. 
       My son's most awaited day came. He was excited to be in his kiddie crew uniform. The first day began with a short parent and kiddie crew orientation. The kids were asked to introduce themselves.  My son has speech and language delay but he managed to state his full name and age clearly as he stood up in front of everyone without a trace of  jitteriness. 

Saying Goodbye to Nappies

       Toilet training a child with autism is one hard feat for their parents. Sometimes, toilet training takes years before it could be learned. What makes it harder is the fact that most toilet training techniques known are ineffective  for children under the spectrum. Parents need to work hand in hand with their child's therapist to make the toilet training technique implemented work effectively.

       Toilet training is usually started in typical children at age 2-3 when good bladder control has been attained. This is evident when the nappy is dry when they wake up in the morning. But in the case of children with Autism, many things should be taken into consideration. The presence of gastrointestinal problems like constipation or the child's receptiveness may affect toilet training.

Visual Potty Chart

       My son C attained good bladder control at age 2 but was not ready to receive toilet training instructions since his attention span was short and fleeting with poor communication skills. He was afraid of the toilet bowl and gets startled when he heard the flush of the toilet.
       When he turned 4, he felt uncomfortable wearing pull up diapers and would remove it once he had peed or pooped on it. I took advantage of this and started bringing him to the toilet every hour and ask him to pee. His therapist did the same thing when C was in school and gave me visual potty cards to be used at home.

A Pencil Heavy as a Log

       Being a child with Autism, C had difficulty learning to write. Though he always had drills to work on his fine motor skills in his Occupational Therapy sessions, learning to write was given emphasis in his program when he was aged 5. 

       To hold a pencil or crayon in the proper way (tripod grip) was an agony for him as if he was holding a heavy log. It was even more difficult when he was asked to do writing exercises making up and down strokes.
     While typical children enjoys coloring activities, it seemed to be a very tiring activity for C. He was sweating, his lips tucked showing his eagerness to do the task while his hand moved unsteadily.

Bullied for Being Different

        N's parents always thought that there was something different about him but did not pay much attention about it until N went to school for the first time at age 5. His teacher said he could not cope with the lessons and was actually behaving differently compared to his classmates. Because of being "different", his parents were advised to have N evaluated by a doctor who confirmed that N has Autism.
       Since then, N studied at a special school. His progress in academic and communication skills were quite remarkable. After several years of faring in a special school, he was recommended to be mainstreamed into a regular school.
       A big transition in N's life unfolds. The eight year old boy was assessed and qualified to join in the 1st Grade Class. The first month of the school year went on smoothly for N. But the subsequent month was filled with grim. 
       There was a time N would miss eating during recess because his snack bag was missing. He would come home with scribbles at the back of his polo shirt. Some of his school stuffs  like pencils or pad paper were lost and apparently big boys took them from his bag. When asked who were those kids and why they did that to him, he would just lock himself in deafening silence. But his eyes could not hide the feelings of sadness and fear.