These are just some of the recent ones that I have gotten on camera to keep DRs in the loop of what is going on. I have other pictures I just would have to dig through to find them.
With April being Autism Awareness Month, I want to take the time to write a little bit about our day to day with our little miss. She has opened up a lot over the last year compared to how she was previously which is amazing! She still loves her repetitive things so schedules are very important to her. Breaking them, and/or change takes some adjusting for her. So right now with the move we have been showing her some extra support in the areas that she has needed them. She has had some struggles in some areas but we have found ways to help her relax and calm back down. For the most part she senses when she has had too much and she walks away. (Unless it’s her siblings then she thinks its fair game.) We have personally seen her control herself when it comes to her little cousin (she is 1) which was the sweetest thing to witness. It wasn’t anything major, it was breakfast time and Little Miss had already had a rough past few days and baby cousin was trying to steal her cereal and we were in the kitchen. We watched Little Miss get upset, and then instantly calm herself right back down to distract the baby from her food. Then she asked us if we could move the baby away. So she is getting a lot better at using her words, which is something we have been working on a lot lately.
Another one of Little Misses coping strategies is she crosses her ankles and rocks while tensing up. When she does this I try to find different things for her to do because sometimes when she does this she tenses up so tight for such long periods of time that she causes her leg muscles to hurt. During these moments I like to try and give her a bath if that is an option because well duh baths relax us all! Also pop-its truly help her a lot as well. There Are moments when I know there will be a lot of social interaction for some reason. Rather it be something for older siblings or a DR appointment or just a trip to the grocery store. I try to always have one at least in the car that way if she needs it then she has it.
Little Misses biggest tell to us getting her tested would have had to be her zoning out. Of course everything played a part in it, but the zoning out is what really did it for us on the final decision. Even as a baby she would zone out at times, she would ALWAYS cross those ankles, curl her toes and rock back and forth and as soon as she started playing with toys everything was always in straight lines. There were times that I thought I was looking too much into it but when we moved to Ohio my Aunt was also seeing the same signs that I was seeing (My Aunt had them while my husband and I worked.) With her seeing the same signs I went ahead and got on board with her pediatrician to go from there and find out more information.
It for sure has been a learning battle for all of us, but it has been amazing to watch how much she has grown. As well as to watch how fast she opens up to someone she trusts to how fast she can shut down to someone she doesn’t trust. She can not talk to someone that she has met a thousand times, but can meet a stranger and instantly click with them. To watch that is amazing.
Watching her grow has truly been a special thing in our heart that we will never forget, because she has gone from not saying much of anything to saying a lot more. She for sure feeds off her little brother’s energy which is amazing in itself because they are best friends. They have to be together or they do not know what to think. I don’t know what I am going to do when they start school. That one is going to be fun. That will be another learning adventure for another day.
As always have a blessed day, thank you for reading and stop by the store. There is some cool stuff over there and way more to come!!
