Another bad day at school

Liam had another bad day at school today. It all started on the way to school. Once Liam and grandpa got near the school he started getting upset in the car wanting mommy and to go home. Once at school, one of his teachers helped remove Liam from the car. He did not go easily. While in school Liam would have periods of anxiety and want to go home. When Liam was upset his teacher had him put some paper reams in a wagon and pull it down to the school office. Another time when he was upset Liam was put on a swing and that seemed to settle him down to the point he almost fell asleep. At snack time the kids got silly and Liam seemed to lighten up at that. Overall, it was not a good day for him due to the repeated high anxiety. His teacher as well us are trying to figure out what we can do to help him out here. It is quite frustrating when you don't know what to do, all you're doing is guessing at what will help. This is one of the most frustrating parts to dealing with Autism.

This afternoon Jill took Liam to his Adaptive Aquatics class and her dad stayed home with Seamus, Aidan, and Brendan. Jill said Liam was a completely different child at the pool. The routine is the same thing every time. Liam shows, changes into his swimsuit and goes to the pool and waits in a chair for his teacher. Once she shows up he puts on his swim belt and goes in the pool with her. Jill said just watching how she is with Liam is truly amazing. Liam is very attentive to her, and when he is not, she easily gets his attention back. The different tasks Liam has to do are done with focus and attention Jill does not see anywhere else. His teacher and Jill both agree that Liam in the pool is in his element. I plan on going one day to experience this. Once class was over the next part of the routine for Liam to stop at Burger King to eat. While at BK Jill noted that Liam was extremely relaxed, focused, and his anxiety was non-existent. She was completely amazed at how the swim class had calmed and centered him. This makes complete sense as Liam at times has wanted to take baths and I have seen him relax in the water. This has us wondering if some sort of pool might be something good for Liam this summer. We are giving this serious thought.

This evening after dinner Liam seemed to still be well behaved. Liam decided he wanted to go for a bike ride. Jill started to go for a short walk with him, then Aidan got on his bike, Brendan got on his scooter, and Seamus decided he wanted to ride his bike. So we all went. We figured it would be a short walk as it usually is. To our surprise the boys all rode their bikes all the way around the block as Jill and I walked to keep them together. It was the first time they all went all the way around the block without any fussing! It was great. Hopefully we can have more walks like that.

At bath time Liam was clearly tired and was easily upset when he did not get to do what he wanted to do. Liam gets an idea on what he wants to do in his head, and if you make any changes to that he gets easily upset. This is a typical behavior of autistic children when their routines are broken. I looked back at an evaluation done in January by a behavioral therapist made an evaluation on Liam at home and school. One thing I think will greatly help Liam is using a picture chart to help Liam understand where family members are, what tasks are coming up, where he has to be for the day, and what choices he can make. Jill and I were given some photos by the therapist and we are going to get more to see if this helps Liam understand what it happening and alleviate his anxiety. Hopefully this will help.