Spring into Summer

Although there have been no real new milestones since the last post, that doesn't mean there hasn't been any excitement around here. School has been a steady stream of good reports and projects, with Elijah excelling on his spelling tests, getting bonus words such as "valedictorian," "subterranean" and "corduroy" (yes, I needed spell check for them!) correct. He has gone through his lunch account faster than we can replenish it by going through the entree line twice a day to get an extra Uncrustable (a processed peanut butter and jelly sandwich), which we have plenty of in the house (for which we paid 1/4 of what it costs him at school).

Most important, he seems to have been accepted as

part of his class, with his classmates (especially the girls) attempting to interact as much as possible.

As previous posts have mentioned, there is one classmate, Sofia, that Elijah is really fond of, and she is really sweet to him. His affection can be seen clearly in their class picture below, as everyone, with one exception, is looking at the camera. Yes, he told us, he was looking at Sofia.

Elijah did something else pretty cute involving Sofia. After he begged us to invite her over one Friday immediately after school, we reminded him that "Miss Nikki," the KU graduate student working with him, was coming over. Though her visits are always something Elijah looks forward to, with the constant "Is Miss Nikki coming by today?", nothing was as important as Sofia coming by to play. So Sarah e-mailed Sofia's mom to ask if they could come over one day -- and the big date turned out to be a day that Nikki was there. The thought of having Miss Nikki there when Sofia arrived was too much for the little guy. He tore through his lesson and, once done, told Nikki as he was literally pushing her out the door: "You can't be here when Sofia comes over." Heaven forbid his "women" were to cross paths! Nikki did meet Sofia, but once Nikki was gone, the kids had a great time together playing both outside on our swing set and inside in the basement (especially in the bouncy house). It was a great day for Elijah, and hopefully there will be more visits in the future.

As for Miss Nikki, it appears as if her work with Elijah is near an end. Elijah is doing an excellent job with her math program and has reached the levels needed for her to use the data. She has been great with Elijah, and we are going to miss her visits, though she has promised to keep in touch and be part of our Autism Speaks walk team, Elijah's Wanderers. As I have told her, and anyone else who has worked with and moved Elijah forward, I will always consider them part of our extended family.

Another recent event was the first-grade musical, presented for the entire school (during the day) and parents (at night). Although he constantly wandered off the stage (to get drinks of water, he later said), Elijah delivered his line and sang along with the rest of the first-graders. Of course, there was a little girl assigned to make sure he stepped off the risers at the right time (which she did). His enthusiasm for the show has continued -- he now recites and sings all the songs when the mood hits him.

It will be a very busy next few weeks for the little guy. Graduation from first grade, a trip out to see relatives in California, the beginning of his annual summer camp with Miss Tiffany (along with the continuation of his piano lessons with her), and a trip to a water park and cavern ride for his birthday. As to what he wants for his birthday, Elijah has made it known that at least TEN characters from Toy Story 3 (although he will settle for just a Buzz Lightyear, which has already been purchased) and markers are high on his list. Of course, with Elijah being Elijah, he made one other request for a gift, something he wants for his room. He drew a picture of it and gave it to us...a snack machine:

And, as the close-up shows, he had definite ideas about what should be in it... Oreos, M&Ms, and Crunch and Hershey bars are among the mix.

So if the next time you see us, we all seem to be a little heavier, I guess it will mean that Dad has given in again.

One of a kind

We're in the middle of a giggle-fest today.

Elijah is prone to outbursts of enthusiastic laughter, most of which appear to have no trigger and can last, off and on, for a half-hour or more. As anyone who's ever dealt with a therapist might expect, some of his therapists (not the ones described below) have declared this a problem -- something along the lines of "sensory overload response." Further proof of the old adage: To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Yes, I suppose he could have a problem there. Or he could simply be a happy child. I'm going with Option 2.

I was reminded yesterday of how fortunate we are, all things considered. Elijah and I were at a local university teaching hospital, where he gets weekly one-on-one therapy provided by graduate students in speech-language pathology. As I was sitting in the observation room, the professor who oversees the program recounted a conversation she had had recently with the student who worked with Elijah last semester and is now in a classroom with two autistic children. The conversation went something like this ....

Student: "It was a rough day in class today. I got kicked, bitten, punched, sworn at and spit on. I really didn't know what I was getting into when I decided to start working with autistic kids."

Professor: "Well, like I've told other people: They can't all be Elijah."