While I'm temporarily off hiatus

A quick update on things.

I'm one third of the way through my super time-consuming paying project (that has nothing to do with autism.) Phew!

The boy is learning the way of the speech. It's still not always intelligible, but there are sentences, desires, and original opinions coming out of his mouth. Case in point. We went out for some BBQ. The boy loves French fries and asked for some. I told him he'd get some. My plate arrived before his, and I offered him a fry. He looks at me and says, "No. Plate!" as he slid my entire plate over to his spot.

For a snack last night, he asked for a cracker. We got to the crackers, and he pointed at the box of graham crackers and said, "that one." As soon as I pulled it out, he said "peanut butter." I spread peanut butter on it, and he said "sandwich," so I broke it in half and put the two halves together. He happily ate exactly the snack he wanted. And this is now typical, not the exception.

He's making mistakes with pronouns, which are expected. Like he'll say "Help you!" when he means "Help me." Yay, he's using pronouns at all.

He's started occasionally asking for diaper changes. We've got an appointment for an ABA potty party next month. He's also got Kindergarten roundup, and a transitional IEP meeting.

And at the same time, we've had to install better locks on the medicine cabinet. We've had to put shampoo higher and higher to get it out of reach, or he'll smear it on himself and his clothes. We've had problems with seatbelt compliance and have had to move him back to a 5-point carseat instead of a high booster. Having opinions means having tantrums when he doesn't get his way.

All in all, the good is outweighing the bad. I'm very happy with the progress we're seeing, and I hope to see even more.

On the girl front, her medication has been very effective. She doesn't eat lunches, but her academics have improved tremendously with her improved focus. She's also more social and better engaged with her peers. We forgot one day, and all her teachers noticed. We made exactly the right choice for her.