So, first a little info about the previous week's happenings. We got to go to the County Fair with my school! It was awesome, the first field trip of the school year. Heather go to ride on the bus with me and I did a great job of getting on, then off, then on again to do the evacuation drill...a sore spot for me last year. I aced it, no tears, and we were off! Mom, dad, and Nixi followed in the SUV. They got lost, sent to the wrong gate, it was a mess...but they found us and it was a great time! Nixi got to kiss a cow and I rubbed noses with a rabbit. It was a great day! Nixi went to school two days in a row and she did really well. The second day seemed easier on her because it was fresh in her memory and she knew exactly what was going to happen. Afterwards, as long as everything was "just so", Nixi was ok...still melting down a number of times, but the whole day wasn't a meltdown. About a 25% improvement! We ran some errands with mom and Heather...even venturing out to the dreaded Pet Food Store in the outlet mall. We did a great job of keeping our cool, even if we were anxious. Mom knew I was anxious before we went and she asked me if I was nervous or scared. I told her I was "nervous, makes me scared." I also have been doing a great job of telling mom when I'm scared and even told her that when I'm scared my tummy hurts! When we were in a parking lot and a car was pulling in, I told mom, "I'm so scared, my tummy hurts, I'm scared." Now, may not seem like a big deal to you...but that's HUGE!!! Unbelievably HUGE for a kid with autism, really cool for a kid in general, and absolutely WONDERFUL for me! Just darn cool!
So, this past week has been a blur. Nixi went to school two days, again. This time, Heather stayed in the background giving less direct support on the second day. Mom and her figured that because it was the second day, and last week that was her really good day, it would be a good time to try. Nixi struggled. She was confused at one point by one of the teachers trying to join in her play, ending with Nix shutting down and walking in circles with her toy. Later in class they were supposed to finger paint with pudding. Nixi wasn't too comfortable with the feel of it and they gave her a paint brush. Nixi looked at Heather and said, "all done?" Heather was proud that she had tried it, and even more proud with her appropriate use of functional speech (one of Nix's weaknesses)in saying she was finished. Well, the teachers thought it would be a good idea to tell Nixi to do more, which she did, because she isn't comfortable protesting with novel people in unfamiliar environments. When the teachers turned away, poor kid asked Heather again, "all done?" So, mom's gonna give the teachers a copy of Nixi's treatment goals so they understand that, as long as Nixi tries something, if she says she's done that's a great thing and something to be respected. After class, she was out of it on the ride home and just wanted to sit on mom at home and space out. So, seems without Heather doing direct support Nixi is shutting down. Mom and dad need to know what Nixi does in novel situations with novel people so they can get an idea of what real school might be like for her next year. That's kinda the purpose of Nixi going to this "preschool academy." This teachers in group act like Nixi's the star pupil because of her compliance. The thing they don't understand is that mom and dad would prefer Nixi to have a meltdown to a shut down, because a meltdown is at least communicative and Nixi has a tendency to go into her own world and shut out the world around her...ever since she was a baby. Scary that they don't see that...but rest assured, mom will make sure they do!
I had a great week at school. I even took my rubber bat with me to show my friends! I love singing about all of the stuff on a farm, especially tractors. I like to say that I'm a tractor, because they're my favorite. I'm doing a great job at starting to write my name and other words, and I really love all of our circle time activities. This week we used a parachute to bounce farm animals on while we imitated their noises and we had to find them under the parachute, too. So much fun!!
We had a great time riding our scoot 'n zooms at the park on Friday, and we went swimming on Saturday in our green pool. But the best thing ever was Sunday. We went to J&K Farley Farm and went grape picking and farm animal petting. We go there every year, as you may recall. This year was every bit as wonderful as it has ever been. There's just something so dreamy about being face to face with an emu, hugging a miniature horse, or snorting along side of a pig. Really makes our hearts sing....and we got some great grapes, too! By the end of our time there Nixi was getting a little overwhelmed and was ready to boogie so we headed out. Spur of the moment, mom and dad decided to take us to Apple Annie's restaurant. We did GREAT! We ordered a grilled cheese and mom snuck in some of our freshly picked grapes. It was really neat. Nixi's been a bit off since, but it was worth it because we both had a really great time.
This week we get to go to the College of the Sequoia's farm with Nixi's school. Really, we may just be all farmed out by the end of the month...NOT! How could you ever be all farmed out?!?! Even cooler, we get to go the the Pumpkin Patch with our friends Sebastian, Gideon, and Penelope on Friday!! Awesome week, or what?! Make sure to check back in next week to see how it all went!!
xoxo
Safi
Picking grapes is serious business...
Donkey, pig, miniature horse...oh, my!
When donkeys sneeze, you better take cover!
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