Overheard in the bath tub this morning, the sounds of a 4 year old boy trying to teach his 2 year old sister how to say his name.
‘Say JAS-PAH, Joey’
‘…’
‘Like this, JAS-PAH’
‘…’
‘Joey, say JAS-PAH. Say JAS-PAH!’
‘…’
There are times in your life where you feel proud, and there are times where you feel profoundly sad. This was both for me today at bath time.
Jasper is beginning to understand more and more than Jovie is different to other kids. He’s first to say ‘Joey doesn’t talk yet’ when I talk to Jovie directly. When we drop him at daycare, Jovie likes to roam around the room but he brings her back to me saying she needs to go to ‘baby school’ (e.g. either therapy or her supported playgroups).
There’s glimpses throughout the day where he tries to ‘speak Jovie’ – our ‘home therapy’ includes bubble blowing and he watches me work on Jovie’s joint attention and tries to copy. And like in the bath tub this morning, he’s trying to encourage her to speak.
We tell him that Jovie needs a little more help than other people and that we need to teach her things, that you can always talk to Jovie because she can hear you (though she doesn’t understand). But ultimately we’ve decided he’s still a little young to understand the whole scope of things.
There will always be questions and maybe I won’t have all the answers, but to a 4 year old boy who just wants to play with his sister I don’t think any answer really makes sense.
Parents of kids with Autism – how have you explained Autism to your other kids?
well that’s certainly how i’ve been trying to spend these past couple of weeks. isn’t the holiday season AWESOME fun? even though i’m not working, Regan is and the kids are still going to school or therapy – it’s been the best fortnight for good food and good company…
i’ve spent some time with my Dad – he took me to go get eggs and we had a good old yarn with the lady who runs the shop. i remember when i was a kid how much this would of mortified me, but these days it’s something i enjoy and will probably do to my own kids
i’m still eating really well and getting daily exercise (30 mins bouncing around on the mini trampoline is my weapon of choice). i’ve lost almost 2kgs in 10 days so it’s a great start – being able to lose weight in a healthy way and also in a way that doesn’t bother me
Jovie’s therapy is going well as can be – she’s been laughing and smiling to and from our sessions this week, which i can only assume that she’s getting more and more comfortable with going. there’s no therapy this week (OT is on break) but we’ll continue next week as usual 🙂
Jasper has been hilarious and as fun as ever – though we’re still trying to get him to sleep in his own bed… I’ve taken to sleeping on the floor because sleeping next to him is so uncomfortable i’d rather be down there on my own. Oh, 4 year olds.
Today we spent a few hours over at my sister’s apartment for a BBQ and for some IKEA shoe cabinet building – i love putting together that stuff! We’ve all got allergies/hayever today but it was a great day anyway 🙂
So I’m back to regular blogging over at ABB this week and I’ve got to start seriously thinking about what I’m going to do this year…. Not sure if I want to study (I’m thinking child care) but I have to have something underway by at least May unless we win the lottery and I start buying jewel incrusted toasters.
Hope you’ve had a great summer break too!
public holiday today but Regan started work at 7am and there were no buses – so we were up early, together with the crazies buying cheap pillows and suitcases.
