milestone

We had a party to celebrate Mom & Dad's anniversary back in August when we were all in PEI, but today is THE official day. Here is a picture of them on October 28, 1959, at their wedding at Long Creek Baptist Church. Congratulations, Mom & Dad, on this special day. We love you!

say it isn't swine!

The flu season has come early to Kingston. There are so many people sick -- many classes in the kids' school are down to half attendance. H1N1 is widespread in the city right now and I'm just hoping this isn't what the kids have. I don't think it is, I think it's just a bad cold or regular flu. Not fun, though!

Last week Allison missed Monday and Thursday with a stomach bug -- no vomiting, but she was running to the bathroom constantly. In fact they both missed school Thursday because Jonathan came down with an awful cold and cough. Friday was a PA day so they were both home. Allison was better Saturday, but Jonathan was worse and couldn't go to his Extend-a-Family Saturday program. On Sunday Allison had come down with fever and a cough, so neither of them went to church; Rich went alone to the 9am service and then I went to the 11am. Yesterday Allison couldn't go to school (she slept all day for the 2nd day in a row), but Jonathan seemed a bit better so he went. But he had to come home in the afternoon only a half-hour after I'd taken him back to school after lunch. So they are both home again today -- better, but not 100%. The school does not want them back till they've been better for 24 hours. Allison is missing photo day today; fortunately Jonathan got his taken yesterday.

So needless to say it's been a long week. Allison is never any trouble, but when Jonathan is in that almost-better stage he is, by turns, really mischievous (trying to climb on top of Allison while she is lying on the couch) and really whiny (wanting to go out and do all the things he'd do when he's well). Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be feeling better and back to normal; everyone's happier when they're in their regular routine.

postscript

Here's a little p.s. to the post I published a couple of days ago.

Allison's teacher has told us that Allison has been so much happier and more involved in the last couple of days, since my presentation to her class. Group work is going better; other students are talking to her more and showing more interest in her; and she is smiling and laughing more than ever before. Today Jonathan had a morning field trip, so after school I asked Allison what she did instead of playing with him and she said, "Oh, I just played with a couple of girls from my class." In most cases those would be ho-hum, same-old-same-old words; but for Allison this simple thing--playing with girls from her class--is a major step.

Her teacher also told me that she has arranged for a student from the Autism Program at St. Lawrence College to do a placement in their class for a few weeks in the fall and in the spring. This student can not only assist Allison, but provide resources for the teacher and the rest of the school as well.

Good news!

settling in

The kids now have 3 weeks of school under their belts, so it's safe to say we're getting settled into a routine. Jonathan is very happy in Ms. Mardicis' class, and his EA, Joe ("Mr. O"), is doing great work with him. It is nice to have the same person working with him all day, to keep things consistent and clear. Besides basic "academic" skills like math (sorting, number identification, counting) and language (letter recognition, matching letters), they work on physical, self-help, and social skills. Right now Mr. O is encouraging Jonathan to greet people with "Hi" and their name, rather than identifying them first by a colour or object (Jonathan tends to go up to teachers and say "skirt" or "blue"). One challenge is to channel Jonathan's interests/obsessions into teaching tools: for example, right now he's really into jigsaw puzzles, so Mr. O tries to find puzzles that relate to what the class is doing. Jonathan's also obsessed with shooting baskets, particularly throwing his ball into this thing on the playground that has red, blue, and yellow openings where the ball can fall out. He spends all of his recesses, some time after school, and an hour or so on most weekend days, doing this activity. I'm not sure how this can be translated into an academic activity (!) -- but the physiotherapist did suggest using heavier balls to increase Jonathan's upper body strength. It's neat to see the EA and other team members working together to improve his various skills.

Allison also seems happy in her grade six class. Her teacher, Mrs. Bush, runs a structured, teacher-directed class, and that structure seems to suit Allison. Mrs. Bush says that Allison works hard and participates enthusiastically, but social situations and accepting criticism and direction are still problem areas. However, she really enjoys connecting with Jonathan at recess time, and also comes home for lunch with Jonathan, which is a nice break in her day.

So far things seem to be going well in the world of school.

super seven

Jonathan turned seven years old today. Here he is sharing a laugh with Grandma (top) and yelling "Cheese!" Happy Birthday Jonathan!!