Homework

So the teacher wrote in the school diary to let her know if we wanted a homework task sent home once a week.  I think it’s a great idea!  Start now to get into the habit of sitting at the table to do his homework.  Trying to get him to sit will be fun!!

We are nearing the end of P1 and they are now attempting to write.  They have been going through the phonics learning letters, and from what I can gather from the diary, S and A are going well and they have started on T.

Sometimes we hear him singing to himself “a,b,c,d,e,f,g” then it goes off tangent a bit lol!  We get a p,q,r  then somewhere we hear z!  But wow, it’s amazing that this autistic boy who is so under developed for his age is now saying part of the alphabet.

Here is one thing I have noticed over the past couple of years.  Parents of “normal” kids expect their natural development.  Saying the alphabet at this stage of P1 would be normal.  I’m sure the first time it happened they had the well done moment.  When our son does something, we know it is a massive achievement and we are so proud of him. Even if it is just a simple thing that a “normal” child would do, we know if takes much more effort and determination for our son to do it.  This means we get such an overwhelming sense of pride that a “normal” parent may take for granted.

The best bit of advice I received was from our last Speech and Language therapist.  She told me this when I was at my lowest and really helped me see through the autism:

THERE IS NOTHING HE CAN’T DO, IT WILL JUST TAKE HIM A BIT LONGER TO GET THERE

I keep this in mind as it is true.  There is no stopping him.  The world he sees through special eyes is different to him but he will make it in the world, he will find his place.