Autism Therapy: vestibular

            Spring Break went by surprisingly fast.  Monday and Tuesday were filled with activities for the kids, so we just had to ride out the rest of the week, which we did pretty well.  The days were a little intense, but in an effort to try and do something “normal” with the kids during the rainy last half of the week, we went to the store to buy some games.  I thought that Candyland and Chutes & Ladders might work, since there is no reading involved and they’re pretty straight-forward. 

            Thomas and I played on Friday after Hayley went down for her nap.  Thomas seemed interested and he was able to tell me the colors on the cards.  I moved his little gingerbread man piece for him and he liked looking at the board which is a feast for the eyes.  He lost interest long before the game was over, but he did attend pretty well for ten minutes or so, which I thought was great.  Later, after dinner and baths, we all sat down as a family to play.  That round of gaming was a joke.  The kids enjoyed playing with the little gingerbread pieces and before we knew it, both Thomas and Hayley’s pieces were dancing around King Kandy’s Kastle while Jonathan and I tried to continue having everyone take turns.  We gave up after a short while.  I guess Candyland will have to wait.  Chutes & Ladders is still in the plastic wrap.

            Jonathan and I had some time to ourselves on Saturday and Sunday.  My mother-in-law took the kids overnight, so I cleaned the house and Jonathan replaced the garbage disposal.  We went out to dinner with some of our friends from the cruise and had a really nice, low-key time.  The best part was sleeping this morning until 11:00!  I can’t remember the last time I was able to sleep that long.  I must have needed it.

            I fetched the kids from Grandma’s house this afternoon and I’m pretty sure they had a nice time there.  I didn’t really get a definitive answer about exactly what they did there, either from my mother-in-law or the kids, so I wonder if they were a little difficult for her.  My brother-in-law’s dog Brooke was also there, and she’s still a puppy so she treats the kids like they’re her inferior littermates.  It was probably a handful for Jonathan’s mom.

            I mentioned in a casual and lighthearted a tone to Thomas that he would be going back to school in the morning.  I hope he knew I was serious.  There was a lot of tickling involved to keep the atmosphere fun, but I did say it several times.  He protested the idea in between tickle-induced giggle fits, so I think he got the message. 

            We’re going to try to color Easter eggs this week sometime.  We’ll go over to my folk’s house on Sunday and depending on the weather (which is invariably cold and rainy in Chicago for Easter Sunday) I might arrange some sort of egg-hunt.  Either way, there’s going to be an intense sugar-high for both of the kids. 

            This coming week at school, I may stop in and meet with the occupational therapist so she can show me some techniques to use with Thomas at home.  She’s going to show me how to use the exercise ball and the swing properly so that we can have some correlation between what happens at school and home.  Thomas’ vestibular system seems to be the most intense of his sensory problems, and the swing really helps with that.  I’m looking forward to doing all I can at home to make both school and household more livable for all participants.