The Autistic Child

As requested by Nic, here is an update about the autistic boy I watch:

He was doing much better last week. His parents were given a piano by a neighbor and now the boy bangs on it when he gets upset. It seems to help! The piano gets his mind off of whatever he is stemming on.

Another thing that has helped has been cutting back on the red dye that he ingests. His teacher at his summer program found out that when he gave the boy fruit punch, that he has off days. So, by not giving the boy red punch or red cereal, he has become a better behaved boy! It's weird! But I guess every little bit helps.

The boy has one more week left in his summer stack program, then he is home all day for three weeks! This will not be good since this will change his routine. He does so well in a schedule and I don't know how he is going to handle being home with one of us three care providers. His mom has put together a daily schedule, but it just not the same as school.

And last week I found out that his parents don't want me watching the boy on Thursday evenings anymore. I haven't since summer started, but I did all last school year. But I'm not working it since his parents want to spend more time with the boy. So, I will only be watching him two mornings out of the week. I was originally going to have my sister take a morning for me(to help with my home schedule and for her income), but the boy's mom wants me to work it. She has a problem with my sister's attitude/behavior in the morning. My sis is def not a morning person, and tends to show it...and I don't know how to tell her. It will just hurt her feelings, but she needs to know. As it is she has to get a new job since her provider hours are going down to zero this school year! Like I said, I was hoping to give her a few hours in the morning, but that's just not going to happen.

Btw, as of right now, there is no plans to send the autistic boy to a special home. He is doing much better at home(with a piano and no red dye) and I hope he stays calm enough to be right where he belongs...with his loving parents!

Life is grand with your prayers!!!