Making progress, and the fits go on
It’s been a while since I’ve last posted and for the most part Liam’s fits have continued and it’s still a struggle coping with them. I would like to not repeat myself this time and instead focus on the positives that have happened since Thursday July 28.
Thursday Liam had his Adaptive Aquatics class. His teacher Miss Karen said this was easily the best session she has had with Liam. She said Liam cooperated the entire time he was in the pool, swam and did all his tasks without crying or asking for mommy. She also said while he was going about his tasks he was singing songs he learned in school at Middleburg. When Jill picked him up he was all happy and cheerful, a far cry what has been the norm lately.
The success continued right into Friday. Friday afternoon he said he told Jill he had to go tinkle and to her surprise he went. He then wanted to put Buzz Lightyear underwear on. Jill let him and told him he could not get Buzz wet and to tell us next time he has to tinkle or go poopy. We checked with him frequently throughout the evening and he did use the bathroom at home 1 time and then at a neighbor’s house 1 time. Each time we kept praising him and using positive reinforcement on him. He was quite proud of himself each time. Saturday morning when he got up we had him go tinkle right away and he did. After breakfast we had him go as well, and he did. We were on a roll with him and we wanted to keep it going as long as we could. Liam had not pooped yet, and that was a test we were waiting for. Once I finished cleaning the kitchen and Jill was vacuuming, Liam came up to me and said he to go poopie. We rushed in the bathroom and Liam went. So far so good. It’s been an entire day Liam has gone without a diaper. Liam’s streak continued at our niece Bridget’s birthday party. There with all that would be going on we expected Liam to have an accident. We would check with him and take him in to go potty on occasion to keep reminding him. Our good fortune continued into Sunday with Liam. While in the midst of playing he would come up to us and tell us he had to tinkle. He took a long nap Sunday and we put a pull up on him just in case. Luckily he did not have an accident. In the evening we were at another neighbor’s house and after a couple popsicles Jill took him in to go to the bathroom. For some reason, Liam got in the bathroom, looked around and just said no. Jill said it was like he was not comfortable there. Needless to say later while playing he had an accident. It was ok though, he has gone 2.5 days with only a diaper on at night. Monday Liam went to Grandma and Grandpa McCourt’s house for the afternoon since Aidan and Brendan had their 3 year checkups. Liam continued to do very well wearing underwear and no diaper the whole day! We are taking this one day at a time and hoping we have reached a milestone with him. Stay tuned.
After reading the above paragraph, one must find it odd the detail I went into. I went into detail as we have not had any luck with Liam in trying to potty train him. Jill just early last week had a talk with one of Liam’s teachers at Middleburg about how to go about potty training him. She said one method was to take a weekend, go in the bathroom with Liam and have him sit on the potty for 3 minutes, let him off for 12, on for 3, off for 12. She said to repeat this over and over throughout the weekend. This sounded quite unrealistic given we have 3 other kids that need tending to. We talked about it a couple times during the week and were trying to figure out how we could arrange the routine recommended. Liam started the whole thing on his own Friday. We have no clue why, but it was one of those opportunities we took advantage of. It will be a big thing for Aidan and Brendan too when their time comes, but potty training an Autistic child is whole other story. That is why the detail above. These little milestones are huge ones for Autistic children. You take these successes with a far greater appreciation for them then you do any other child. The reason for that is simple, typical children will naturally develop.
Monday evening was rough for Liam outside. All the children on our small stretch of street were all out and indirectly playing with each other. It was quite chaotic at times as there would be 16 kids running about between 6 houses. Liam wanted to be everywhere and do everything. When he would lose track of Seamus or other kids he was familiar with he would get upset. Part of the problem was he was exhausted from his day. At 8:30 Liam and I went in for his bath where he quickly calmed down in the water.
The other big event over the weekend was we signed Liam up for soccer this fall. It will definitely be interesting, but Liam is quite excited about playing. We will see how that goes this fall. Check back in September for updates.
Let’s hope we have continued success with the potty training!
Thursday Liam had his Adaptive Aquatics class. His teacher Miss Karen said this was easily the best session she has had with Liam. She said Liam cooperated the entire time he was in the pool, swam and did all his tasks without crying or asking for mommy. She also said while he was going about his tasks he was singing songs he learned in school at Middleburg. When Jill picked him up he was all happy and cheerful, a far cry what has been the norm lately.
The success continued right into Friday. Friday afternoon he said he told Jill he had to go tinkle and to her surprise he went. He then wanted to put Buzz Lightyear underwear on. Jill let him and told him he could not get Buzz wet and to tell us next time he has to tinkle or go poopy. We checked with him frequently throughout the evening and he did use the bathroom at home 1 time and then at a neighbor’s house 1 time. Each time we kept praising him and using positive reinforcement on him. He was quite proud of himself each time. Saturday morning when he got up we had him go tinkle right away and he did. After breakfast we had him go as well, and he did. We were on a roll with him and we wanted to keep it going as long as we could. Liam had not pooped yet, and that was a test we were waiting for. Once I finished cleaning the kitchen and Jill was vacuuming, Liam came up to me and said he to go poopie. We rushed in the bathroom and Liam went. So far so good. It’s been an entire day Liam has gone without a diaper. Liam’s streak continued at our niece Bridget’s birthday party. There with all that would be going on we expected Liam to have an accident. We would check with him and take him in to go potty on occasion to keep reminding him. Our good fortune continued into Sunday with Liam. While in the midst of playing he would come up to us and tell us he had to tinkle. He took a long nap Sunday and we put a pull up on him just in case. Luckily he did not have an accident. In the evening we were at another neighbor’s house and after a couple popsicles Jill took him in to go to the bathroom. For some reason, Liam got in the bathroom, looked around and just said no. Jill said it was like he was not comfortable there. Needless to say later while playing he had an accident. It was ok though, he has gone 2.5 days with only a diaper on at night. Monday Liam went to Grandma and Grandpa McCourt’s house for the afternoon since Aidan and Brendan had their 3 year checkups. Liam continued to do very well wearing underwear and no diaper the whole day! We are taking this one day at a time and hoping we have reached a milestone with him. Stay tuned.
After reading the above paragraph, one must find it odd the detail I went into. I went into detail as we have not had any luck with Liam in trying to potty train him. Jill just early last week had a talk with one of Liam’s teachers at Middleburg about how to go about potty training him. She said one method was to take a weekend, go in the bathroom with Liam and have him sit on the potty for 3 minutes, let him off for 12, on for 3, off for 12. She said to repeat this over and over throughout the weekend. This sounded quite unrealistic given we have 3 other kids that need tending to. We talked about it a couple times during the week and were trying to figure out how we could arrange the routine recommended. Liam started the whole thing on his own Friday. We have no clue why, but it was one of those opportunities we took advantage of. It will be a big thing for Aidan and Brendan too when their time comes, but potty training an Autistic child is whole other story. That is why the detail above. These little milestones are huge ones for Autistic children. You take these successes with a far greater appreciation for them then you do any other child. The reason for that is simple, typical children will naturally develop.
Monday evening was rough for Liam outside. All the children on our small stretch of street were all out and indirectly playing with each other. It was quite chaotic at times as there would be 16 kids running about between 6 houses. Liam wanted to be everywhere and do everything. When he would lose track of Seamus or other kids he was familiar with he would get upset. Part of the problem was he was exhausted from his day. At 8:30 Liam and I went in for his bath where he quickly calmed down in the water.
The other big event over the weekend was we signed Liam up for soccer this fall. It will definitely be interesting, but Liam is quite excited about playing. We will see how that goes this fall. Check back in September for updates.
Let’s hope we have continued success with the potty training!
posted by Jim McIlwee at
7:46 AM
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