Matt-Man's Going to Summer Camp!!

Matt-Man works harder than any other 6 year old I know.  In fact he's been forced to work hard since starting therapy full-time as a 3 year old.  He has to.  Simple tasks of daily living and communication are not simple to him.  He has had to invest many hours to learn each task of life slowly and as a whole series of smaller tasks.  Matt-Man doesn't get summers off.  He spends his summers in therapy or summer school, working hard all day.  Well, this year will finally be different.  For the first time ever, Matt is going to summer camp!

The Special Recreation Association in our area provides a summer day camp that is specifically designed with autistic children in mind.  The days are carefully structured and aides are available to help the campers out.  He will spend his days enjoying music, art, games, socializing, and swimming and his evenings at home with us.

We are so thankful for this opportunity.  We are considered non-residents of the districts served by this camp and had to remain on the waiting list until all residents had registered, praying that there would be a spot left for Matt-Man.  We were ecstatic to get the call that he was in.

Please pray that this is a good summer of fun and growth for him.  Matt-man has very few friends.  Not because he doesn't like other kids but because he doesn't know how to interact with them appropriately.  I've often watched him try to initiate contact with other kids his age only to get funny looks and be ignored.  I would love to see him develop friendships and better social skills this summer!

Matt-Man with his baby brother.  He is becoming a good playmate!

Growth Hormone Update after 2 Weeks

Well, we have survived the first 2 weeks of Matt's growth hormone injections.  They are going surprisingly well!  He seems completely unfazed by the shots, and hasn't cried a single tear over them.  This is a huge relief.

I did not expect to see any effects of the shots this quickly, so I was blown away by what we did see. Matt-man finally has energy!!  It's almost like he's coming out of this chronically tired, unfocused, foggy state.  He is way more active at home and a lot more focused when you interact with him or help him work on little tasks.  He actually came running to the door to greet me when I got home last night from work.  He never does that!  He has also been talking and laughing more than usual the past couple weeks.  Matt-man genuinely seems happier.

I am so hopeful that Matt-man's new energy levels will help him make even greater strides in his development and learning.  It must have been extremely difficult to spend so many hours in therapy each week with being tired all the time.

Most people think that growth hormone injections just make a child grow taller.  I had a great discussion with an endocrine nurse this week, and she told me that it is actually very common for parents to report massive increases in their child's energy levels with growth hormone shots.  I hope things continue to go this well!!

Progress

I wanted to share excerpts from an email and video I received from Matt's therapist this morning.  So encouraging to see as a mom.

"... I love, love, love to work with Matthew.  He is a puzzle in the works.  I am so encouraged with his progress.  Yesterday was really an amazing day.  He was not just conversational for just a little part of the day, he was off and on for the whole day.  I hid things I knew he liked before he came in the room in the morning and after he was there an hour or so he looked at me and said, "I want the drums".  So, I said, "oh, okay, here they are".  Then there were several other items that I did that with.  It was a bit of a test for him.  This was because we came off of a weekend where I knew that his routine of school had not happened for several days.  For him to recall such an appropriate request was awesome.  I can tell that you are working with him at home on a lot of things.  You as parents are the real reason for his growing success.  Your work is what makes the difference.  There is no one else more important or more influential in Matthew's life than his family, most specifically you as parents.

...To  explain the video.  I had made a lengthy video but it will only allow for me to send 42 seconds.... (what a rip off, lol)  We are sitting in circle time in the morning.  Between his legs are weather pictures (sun, snow, clouds, rain, and fog).  When we sing the song we are doing different motions (clapping, rubbing hands, patting knees, etc.).  He is doing all of the motions without my prompting at all.  He is watching the teacher but then does look to me for approval.  He makes great eye contact and continues with the motions as he is looking at me.  He also was pointing to each picture (the right one) as we sang about it.  "

Matt has had a good week at home too.  He initiated play with me a few days ago without any prompting from me at all for the first time I can remember.  I've only caught him lining up items twice this week (that used to be something he did whenever he had the chance).

I'm thankful for these small victories.