July 29, 2004

Day Nine

So last night Chandler was getting silly before bedtime as he is want to do, and he started spinning. Nothing new about that. What was new was that after about three revolutions he fell down! He looked up at me from his hands and knees, visibly disturbed by the whole thing, then get got up with a smile on his face and decided to give it another go. This time he almost immediately swayed half way across the room and then tipped over before even getting around twice. He was just a bit more upset this time, and I thought, “what is wrong with you my little spinner” Chandler being able to spin for a long time with out ever falling over like his big brother. Then it hit me, I remembered a mothers story about her son finally getting dizzy like normal kids when he started recovering from his autism! So I gave a good laugh and encouraged him to get up and try spinning again, evil yes… but I had to see if he really couldn’t do it any more. So again he fell down after about two revolutions, not a pretty fall either, and he was really upset and confused by the whole thing. At that point he decided that he was done with spinning and just spent some time flopping onto a pile of pillows.

Today he as been a bit more verbal. He now consistently asks for bananas and apples rather than putting my hand on them when he wants them. He is also babbling a lot more and eye contact with me and Danielle continues to improve. I am looking for it, but I still have not seem him make any eye contact with Soren or Kai.

I was talking to one of the staff members today and telling her how much I appreciate the atmosphere and that they are so cool about whatever my son is doing and not to have to apologize when my boy climbs under the receptionists desk or starts running into the offices. She said that they know how stressful things are for parents of special needs kids and just want to make sure families are relaxed when they are there. Apparently this week one little boy had peed in the trash basket in the waiting room and his mom was really embarrassed. The director of the center just laughed and said, “hey… he made it into the basket, good for him”.

1 comment:

Estee Klar-Wolfond said...

I've never heard of that!! Start feeling dizzy when you begin to "recover" from Autism? (I am a little wary writing that word "recover" to be honest). Adam does the same thing and I can see how he is falling off balance -- but from my view, he seems to be liking the sensation.

I did the same thing when I was a kid. I used to love spinning just so I could feel dizzy and fall down. I really do remember this well. I was about 3 years old and used to do it in the basement.

Please email me at eklarwolfond@hotmail.com for further info on the spinning-thing.

Thanks,

Estee