It’s a Wunderful Life – 3/12/12
It’s starting to feel like spring! The boys had a busy week – a lot happened at school and we did a TON over the weekend. Between Thursday and Sunday we went tubing, had friends over, spent a day at the zoo, and did “family bed”. . . . . . if I’m tired I can only imagine how the boys feel.
Waiting for the lift
Accomplishments: Thanks to the warm weather, we were able to get an amazing GroupOn for the Soldier Hollow Tube Rides – the longest tube rides in UT with lanes running approximately 1200 ft. The great thing is that there is a lift that takes everyone up so it saves us from climbing the hills.
The reason this is an ‘accomplishment’ isn’t because the boys enjoyed it (we knew they would), but because Twin A chatted up EVERYONE. From the young men running the lifts, to the supervisors on the lanes, he said “HI” to everyone and would initiate conversations. He also refused to have us pull him from the lanes to the lift, he would get out and walk his own tube down. He used new phrases we hadn’t heard before and had a smile on his face the entire time. Twin A was in heaven and we were so proud to see how independent and grown up he acted all day.
Twin B isn’t as adventurous and after a run or two, opted to sit out and we hung out at the bottom of the hill. He did go on a few final runs and he had a blast as well! He enjoyed making smores with us to celebrate the weekend. However, I did notice that a few pieces of chocolate were missing from the little ‘assembly line’ we made on the table. Rascals.
Opportunities: We had friends over Friday Night and we haven’t seen each other since last summer. We have a Thomas the Train track that the boys get very protective over. The track always gets attacked but tonight, it was dismantled and new tracks were made. I know there was a lot of stress and anxiety over that, especially because we put our boys to bed before our friends left. It was good for the kiddos to learn to trust that their belongings would be taken care of ~ not an easy thing to do for any kid, especially autistic kids, but the boys are doing better and I was proud of them.
Tip of the Week: I’m going to use an activity from our OT’s lesson on Friday.
We are working on the finer details of their ‘pincher grasps’ so the boys were given this circle with random circles and numbers. You can see the handout above but the boys had to draw lines connecting numbers in order, which they’ve gotten much better at. However, she made the boys hold a penny in their palm (fingers 3-5) while also holding the crayon, thus the only two fingers they could use to write were their thumbs and pointer fingers. That made the activity a little more difficult for the boys and really put a targeted emphasis on their pincher grasps. Great activity ~ something we will practice more at home.
Have a great week!
It's a Wunderful Life 
Ahh…the Thomas tracks. My boy, when he was your twins’ age, used to stand by his train table and scream when guests came by. haha…NOT a good time, so we opted to host our friends and family outside in the summer months. He’s since learned to trust that things will return to normal, eventually, even if upset somehow that is out of his control. Mind you, we don’t have a lot of company.
Your little guy being so outgoing at the tube rides made me smile. How sweet is that? Chatting up the world. 🙂 I love that he feels okay to do that without his brother joining in, and that his brother is strong enough to stand his own and stay quiet with dad for a while.
Your post touched me tonight. All the best. xx
The outing was great! I could’ve stayed there all day watching how happy he was. Man you are right about summer entertaining ~ winter is just too tough. Thanks for visiting and for the comments
Sounds like a great weekend with lots of positives. I remember doing that OT task with my son, it worked great. When we removed the penny he wanted it back! lol. Very happy to read your posts. Love your boys/family. thanks
Thanks for visiting! The boys are scrounging around for money now -it’s hilarious
Fun!
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. Thanks too for the tip on the penny in the palm. I’m gonna try that. I’ll be reading more of your posts throughout the day today. 🙂
Thanks for visiting ~ hope the tip helps!
Okay. I’m having a tough time reconciling “It’s beginning to feel like spring” with pictures of boys romping in snow. I guess it’s the Texas in my blood. We never got winter this year, so it’s nice to see it landed somewhere.
You’ll be finding me out in the yard with the bluebonnets and verbena.
Blessings,
Alyson
Hah hah – well, this week we got two inches of snow last night but are expecting temperatures in the 60’s by Friday. Isn’t it crazy?
Oh, how I miss those Blue Bonnets!!! I still claim dual citizenship (Michigan and Texas) even though I now reside in Wisconsin.
That’s funny. People ask me where I’m from and I still say Hawaii so I guess I claim dual citizenship as well. 🙂
I use that technique with the kids, autistic or not, to make them learn how to hold their writing tool. Sometime I use a rubber elastic band. The elastic goes around the wrist and almost at the tip of the writing tool to hold it in the “right” angle. The elastic has to be a little loose so that the writing tool isn’t flat on the hand of the child. 🙂
Awesome – thank you for the thought
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