Autism Therapy: Halloween

            It has been a rather eventful time for us since I last wrote.  The Halloween Spooktacular was a lot of fun and the kids had a good time playing the little games.  I made what was surely a very tasty and attractive pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting for the Cake Walk, which we struggled valiantly (and in vain) to win back.  When we finally did win, we were allowed to pick only a small treat because they were only giving away the big cakes on the quarter-hour.  We were bummed and all we got for our efforts were three lousy cookies.  It was nice to know that my cake was one of the “good” prizes, though.

            Thomas’ teacher was at the fun fair conducting the Mummy Autopsy in the Haunted Courtyard.  She was really funny and had a very convincing witchy cackle.  Thomas was a little freaked out at first, but he (and Hayley) finally recognized the teacher and she watered her character down a bit so as not to scare my children in particular.  Thomas really seemed to enjoy all of the festivities and after we finished up at the Spooktacular, we went to Grandma’s cottage.

            Thomas had a difficult time at the cottage.  There were a lot more people there than he was used to (good for us pier-workers, bad for the autistic boy) and all of the noise and bustle in the house was confusing and hard for him to handle.  On Saturday, when we went outside to work, he did a lot better just being in the more open space and fresh air.  The weather was actually pretty great.  If there’s anything worse than working on that pier, it’s working on that pier when there’s drizzle stinging your face.

            Thomas really liked using the leaf-blower, which we let him do because we’re idiots (again).  Actually, it wasn’t that idiotic and it helped him.  The vibration of the motor and loud noise really kept him focused and he did a good job blowing the leaves into the fire.  Yeah, we had a fire going too.  Jonathan was supervising and Thomas and Hayley both know to stay away from fires.  Hayley actually learned about fire safety in preschool (where they CONTINUE to spell her name wrong…) and runs around the house saying, “Oops!  Your arm is on fire!  You better stop, drop and roll!”

            After we finished with the pier, we went to the little country pumpkin farm.  We don’t even go to the big, commercialized pumpkin “farm” near our house anymore.  You should see how much they want for a pumpkin these days!  So we go to the little country pumpkin farm up north and choose pumpkins.  This place is so cool…you pay on the “honor system” meaning that there is no personnel manning the check-out counter.  You just figure out what you owe and put the dough in a box.  They have a tiny hay-maze, a big old tractor for the kids to sit on and this year, they had a little silo filled with corn and trucks.  As you can imagine, getting Thomas out of the corn was a chore, but he loved playing in it.

            We came home on Sunday and started getting ready for Halloween.  As is characteristic of Thomas, he was not excited about Halloween.  He still didn’t want to trick-or-treat, but as the week went on, I just didn’t let it go.  We kept talking about the party at school on Friday so that by the time Friday came around, he was excited about going.  Hayley and I walked Thomas to school, then I went to Hayley’s school to watch her costume parade and take pictures and then I booked back to Thomas’ school to help with his party.  I put on my Cleopatra costume in the hallway before entering Thomas’ room.  His teacher was a very fetching Snow White and one of the other moms was a pumpkin so I wasn’t the only goofy grown-up there.  Thomas did really well; he participated in the craft (a little magnetic Candy Corn with his name on it), played Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin and played Spooky Bingo.  We then went on a classroom parade, going through the other, big-kid classrooms.  Then it was back to the room for cupcakes and cookies, not to mention all of the candy that other kids brought to share with their chums.  Then we walked to go get Hayley (I, still wearing my Cleopatra costume.  And pulling the wagon…) and then we walked home.  Hayley’s backpack was really heavy and I couldn’t imagine what was in there until we got home and opened it.  It was full of around five pounds of snacks and candies that classmates had brought.  I felt like a deadbeat because I didn’t bring anything, but it looked like the kids had more than enough.  With the amount of candy they brought home, we really didn’t NEED to trick-or-treat at all.  But we did.  My niece Julia looked adorable in her girl’s pirate costume.  The kids did a good job, except that Thomas had the same problem as last year with staying by us on the sidewalk.  He was running ahead and then running back to us but sometimes he would run a little too far ahead.  I know it was definitely not his fault, what with all the sugar in his little body.  I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents out there who gave out pretzels and whole-wheat crackers!  God bless!

            When we got home from trick-or-treating on Halloween night, the kids were absolutely wired.  We tried to get them to eat some form of protein – anything at all that could be considered good – and were only partially successful.  Hayley chose scrambled eggs which I whipped up with the enthusiasm of a TV chef.  Thomas I believe finally settled on some kind of bread product and wouldn’t be induced to eat any kind of meat.  Oh well.  Halloween only comes once a year, followed shortly by the holidays.  But seriously, only once a year.  Like Easter.  And vacation.  And Valentine’s Day…

            We had a party for Jonathan’s birthday on Saturday.  His family came over and we had a very pleasant dinner for him.  Thomas was okay with the whole thing, sort of.  He didn’t want anybody to have any cake, EVER.  I just wish I knew what that meant.  He says stuff like that, but it’s one of those things where you know he doesn’t mean what he’s saying; he means something else.  I just can’t figure out what he means.  I’m still working on it.

            Thomas’ report card came home yesterday and it was very good.  He has either mastered or is progressing as expected in most skills.  He still needs more work on remember his address, phone number and birthday.  He also needs to work on holding writing utensils properly, but other than that, he’s really doing well.  I meant to ask his teacher if he’s being evaluated just as his classmates are or if she uses a more lenient scale for Thomas.  I would like to assume that he is graded on a par with his peers, but whenever I’m in class, I can tell that she’s being a little more patient with him than she is with some of the other kids.  That could just be because I’m in class or it could be because she knows that certain things are harder for Thomas.  I volunteered in class today and meant to ask, but forgot.  She kept me busy filing, cutting, laminating and working with certain kids on recognizing letters.  I had not a moment to think!

            Coming up, we have…very little.  My birthday is in a few weeks and I need to think about what we’re going to do for that.  I hate making these decisions.  It feels like I’m trying to throw myself a party.  We used to go out for birthdays, but a couple of years ago Jonathan and I decided that it’s easier with the kids and everything if we just stay in and order pizza.  Well, staying in and ordering pizza evolved into staying in and hosting a dinner party and Jonathan’s birthday party was every bit as stressful and required almost as much preparation as one of the kid’s birthdays.  So I’m thinking of just saying that we’ll all go to Chili’s for my birthday because I don’t want to have to do as much work for my birthday as Jonathan and I had to do for his.

            One thing I will do gladly, however, is accept gifts.