Home of Autism-PDD.net To Message Boards Site Map Free Autism Seminars

what a weekend

Back to Autism Information >> Next Topic

Over the weekend, Jake and I went to a conference with the KEYS ( Kentuckians Encouraging Youth to Succeed ) program. KEYS paid for the whole trip, including transportation!
We left Friday afternoon and arrived back home Sunday around noon. Saturday was spent in classes/sessions ( separate for kids and parents ). There were 3 sessions spanning the hours between 9AM and 5PM...loooooooong day. The kids had sessions on cyber-bullying/internet safety, the dangers of alcohol and a fun one based around break dancing/music. Parents were on being organized, cyber-bullying/internet safety for our kids and on school law ( presented by an attorney from the KY office of Protection and Advocacy.

Jake spent almost all of our free time in the indoor pool! He had a blast! Except for when he was actually in the pool or in sessions, Jake spent all of his time with me. We did meet 2 other mom's and their son's and became friendly while there. One family lives here in our town, the other about an hour and a half away.

I thought it would be a great opportunity for Jake ( and me ) to meet others, maybe make some friends. At the very least, I thought it would help him with his socialization skills. Also thought it would be good as far as the session topics went.
In a limited way, it did help Jake with his social skills. He had no direct supervision, only as part of a group and from all accounts, his behavior was awesome! There was only one outburst of any type and it was short lived. He was quiet most of the time but open to conversations that others started...which shocked me a little.
But...he still clung to me...was not thrilled with the separate sessions and had to be bribed into going to his...kept asking for me, about me and worried about time the entire sessions. Yet, he did not cry, did not get angry, did not melt down over any of it! ( YAY!! )

We made some progress for which I am totally thankful. We had no setbacks...for which I am EXTREMELY grateful!! We had a great time all in all and that is a real blessing!
I guess part of me was looking for a miracle, even though I knew it wouldn't happen. Jake did very well, better than I had hoped for yet I feel like he could have done more, been there more ( does that make sense?). Now I feel awful for wanting him to do better when I know how hard it was for him to even go...to do as well as he did.

All in all, it was a terrific experience and I'd do it again.

I'm SO glad for this experience for Jake. He has made real strides. But what you were looking for is a different boy, not Jake. Jake is who he is and he has to grow into being a more social boy (and he needs to be given the skills to be that boy, which takes tons of time). You can no more expect him to "make friends" by himself at this point than you can expect him to be 6 inches taller tomorrow morning. Some things evolve. And it's clear his social desire IS evolving. Congrats to both of you.yeah, I know...I went into this with high expectations...when I knew better! Shame on me.
Yet, he did do so much better than at any other function in the last year or more. I'm so proud of him. ( told him so too )
Yeah, way to go Jake! Maybe this positive experience for him will spur on many more.

Copyright Autism-PDD.net

	Back to Autism Information >> Next Topic
	Over the weekend, Jake and I went to a conference with the KEYS ( Kentuckians Encouraging Youth to Succeed ) program. KEYS paid for the whole trip, including transportation! We left Friday afternoon and arrived back home Sunday around noon. Saturday was spent in classes/sessions ( separate for kids and parents ). There were 3 sessions spanning the hours between 9AM and 5PM...loooooooong day. The kids had sessions on cyber-bullying/internet safety, the dangers of alcohol and a fun one based around break dancing/music. Parents were on being organized, cyber-bullying/internet safety for our kids and on school law ( presented by an attorney from the KY office of Protection and Advocacy. Jake spent almost all of our free time in the indoor pool! He had a blast! Except for when he was actually in the pool or in sessions, Jake spent all of his time with me. We did meet 2 other mom's and their son's and became friendly while there. One family lives here in our town, the other about an hour and a half away. I thought it would be a great opportunity for Jake ( and me ) to meet others, maybe make some friends. At the very least, I thought it would help him with his socialization skills. Also thought it would be good as far as the session topics went. In a limited way, it did help Jake with his social skills. He had no direct supervision, only as part of a group and from all accounts, his behavior was awesome! There was only one outburst of any type and it was short lived. He was quiet most of the time but open to conversations that others started...which shocked me a little. But...he still clung to me...was not thrilled with the separate sessions and had to be bribed into going to his...kept asking for me, about me and worried about time the entire sessions. Yet, he did not cry, did not get angry, did not melt down over any of it! ( YAY!! ) We made some progress for which I am totally thankful. We had no setbacks...for which I am EXTREMELY grateful!! We had a great time all in all and that is a real blessing! I guess part of me was looking for a miracle, even though I knew it wouldn't happen. Jake did very well, better than I had hoped for yet I feel like he could have done more, been there more ( does that make sense?). Now I feel awful for wanting him to do better when I know how hard it was for him to even go...to do as well as he did. All in all, it was a terrific experience and I'd do it again. I'm SO glad for this experience for Jake. He has made real strides. But what you were looking for is a different boy, not Jake. Jake is who he is and he has to grow into being a more social boy (and he needs to be given the skills to be that boy, which takes tons of time). You can no more expect him to "make friends" by himself at this point than you can expect him to be 6 inches taller tomorrow morning. Some things evolve. And it's clear his social desire IS evolving. Congrats to both of you.yeah, I know...I went into this with high expectations...when I knew better! Shame on me. Yet, he did do so much better than at any other function in the last year or more. I'm so proud of him. ( told him so too ) Yeah, way to go Jake! Maybe this positive experience for him will spur on many more.
	Copyright Autism-PDD.net