I Can't Believe It's Almost Been a Year!

I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I have posted to Riley's blog,  So much has happened this year that I don't know that I remember it all.

We celebrated Riley's seventh birthday in January with family and friends.  The Star Wars: The Clone Wars theme party was a hit as well as the LEGO models that I bought as party favors!  Toward the end of January we got the results from Riley's Autism Testing, and they found him to be ADHD with a reading disorder.  We pondered awhile and then decided in March to put Riley on medication because his reading level was not improving in school.  I felt that he may be paying so much attention to behaving that he was not concentrating on learning.  I am happy to say that medication has worked for him.  His reading level has gone from D/struggling E to instructional level K, which is practically on grade level.  Through the use of medication he is now able to sound out words or break them up in to hunks and chunks.  He has always enjoyed reading and listening to stories being read, but now finds new pleasure in reading by himself.

Riley participated in the first grade music program at school and although he was nervous; he stood in the front row and did what he was suppose to do, sing!  We also went to see Jack and the Beanstalk at the children's theater, and Riley went with his class to see Charlotte's Web at the high school.

Riley graduated as a Tiger Scout in the spring, but decided not to go back to scouting this school year.  He is in his second year of Parish School of Religion classes and is preparing for his First Communion in the spring.  Over the summer Riley passed level 1 swimming classes and looks forward to taking level 2 next summer.  This fall, Riley started wrestling kid's club and seems to enjoy it, but looks forward to taking tai kwon do in the future.

First grade was the first year for play dates.  He started going to other children's houses on his own and inviting children to come and play at our house also.  At the end of first grade Riley went to his friend's house for his first sleepover!  He asked me to chaperone his first grade field trip to the zoo and wanted me to bring his sister so that his classmates could meet her.  We went and really enjoyed ourselves.

We started our summer by going on vacation to Las Vegas.  We went to Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon as well as the pirate show at Caesars and swimming in the pool!  Although our trip was delayed by a day, we all ended up having a great time.  In July we went with the grandparents to Chicago.  It was a short trip, but we got the chance to see the Legoland Discovery Center, and it was worth it!  Riley was especially interested in the Titanic Exhibit at COSI and we went to see that together.  We finished up our summer attending library programs, going to swimming lessons and swimming afterward, completing the summer reading program at the public library, and hanging out with friends.

The start of fall brought second grade and the ability to help Mommy out more and take care of himself.  He was able to help me pass out postcards on windshields in a parking lot, build his own LEGO mini models, and learned how to tie his shoes!  Riley also started to earn an allowance of $3.00 a week to put away his laundry and toys as well as help out with other chores.  Most of the time, Riley uses his allowance every two weeks to buy a Star Wars graphic novel (comic book).  He enjoys his collection and likes to take them to school to read during self-selected reading.  A limit had to be put on how many Star Wars books he could take to school so that he can expose himself to other topics and genres of reading.  Second grade also brought some difficulty in making friends.  I think it has passed somewhat, but he has not found his niche with friends who are interested in the same things in which he is interested, namely, Star Wars.

In mid-September Riley completed his first 5K.  He walked the COMAPC 5K Race for a Pro-State of Mind with me as I pulled his sister along in the wagon.  We completed it in about an hour and were the last ones to finish.  We also celebrated his sister's 4th birthday this week, and Riley was able to help her put her new sheets on her bed.

For Halloween Riley was Jango Fett.  This is the third year that Riley has picked out a Star Wars related costume, and although this was by far the most I have spent on a costume, I bought it for him because he plays in them all year, which makes it worth my money!  This was the first year that Riley chose to go trick or treating with friends rather than with Mommy.

Riley started November with a cold or so I thought.  By the first Saturday in November, when he was breathing heavy, it was no ordinary cold.  After a trip to the doctor's office and to the emergency room Riley was admitted for two days, and we came home with an asthma action plan.  So far, since the episode in November, we have not had any other problems.



We stayed at home this Christmas, and our extended family came to us.  Santa was very good to Riley and brought him the spinning double-headed light saber that he wanted.  He also got the Bobo Fett helmet and gun.  His grandparents got him more games and accessories for the Wii.  Although Riley got mostly toys, he did get a pair of tennis shoes and a sweatshirt!

We look forward to Riley's eighth birthday in a few days to end our year.  My, oh my, where does the time go!

Update

Riley has done lots of things since I last posted for him.

In May he attended his first birthday party without parents. His friend's dad took him and some of his friends to a college baseball game. Riley was really excited to go and did very well.

At the beginning of June Riley finished Kindergaten. He is reading at grade level and did well in all subjects except writing. We are trying to continue to work together on his writing and his reading over the summer. We joined the Summer Reading Program at the library so that we can get a backpack for Riley to use next school year. He is doing very well and we are about a third of the way done, but he enjoys me reading to him rather than reading to me!

We also finally got a time slot for physical therapy. We only have it through the end of August, but some time is better than none. We got lucky with the physical therapy because he has never been evaluated for PT, but was somehow put on the waiting list. He did end up qualifying for PT because his age appropriate skills are good, but when he has to slow down and do more complicated steps, he cannot do them.

For a summer activity Riley has attended three weeks of gymnastics day camp. He enjoyed the first and the last week because there were a lot of kids that attended those weeks. The middle week, he did not enjoy because there were only four kids including him. His gymnastics skills have greatly improved this year. He is able to do some moves on the trampoline like the seat drop. He was hanging on the bar over the pit and was able to hold on with one hand and switch directions on the bar and put his toes up before dropping into the pit. He is able to do forward and backward rolls and jump over the mat with his hands in cartwheel position.

The clothing issue for this summer is Riley would like to wear pants everyday. He likes his uniform of white t-shirt and blue jersey knit pants. He tolerates wearing shorts on most days, but usually puts up some fuss.

Riley has a new friend in the neighborhood. He is a boy that is 3 years younger than Riley, but they have a lot in common and play very well together. They both have a crush on the same girl, but have kind of moved away from playing with her to playing together much to my happiness.

First Phone Conversation

Riley had his first friend want to talk to him on the phone today. We met J at the indoor carnival at Riley's school earlier. I just got a message left over from last night that they had invited Riley to the movies yesterday. I thought that it was for today, but we made plans to go to another movie tonight. Riley says that J is one of his best friends and after J's dad and I made plans for the boys tonight, J's dad had to call back to say that his son wanted to talk to Riley on the phone.

They had a really short phone conversation where Riley was just talking his normal crazy talk. We look forward to tonight when Riley finally gets to go out with a friend. He was just complaining yesterday that no one wanted to play with him. I know that he needs to have friends and wants them to come over, but I have not really had the chance to go and volunteer or get to know any of the parents. We should have fun tonight...

Parent Teacher Conference

We went to Riley's parent teacher conference, and I was pleasantly surprised. He seems to do well in reading and has a great deal of background knowledge about everything, but has a great deal of trouble with writing and the sound he hears in writing.

Both of his teacher had stories of background knowledge that only Riley knew as a kindergartner. His morning teacher said that he was the only one who knew what a moat was in a Katy story. His afternoon teacher said that she read a book about the president and at the end there was a picture of the Statue of Liberty, and Riley was the only one who could identify it and tell everyone that it was in New York City. (He has never been to NYC.)

His reading level is a level B. He is expected to be at a level C by the end of the school year. He also seems to have a grasp on his sight words. He has 40 to learn this year and another 60 next year. He just got his last set of 10.

We discussed Riley's sideways vision issues, and I outlined what I have done with regards to specialists in dealing with this issue. We also talked about the sideways vision of the uncles and some of Riley's generation. I talked about how I had read once that it was a sensory issue; trying to block out too much visual imput.

The teachers felt that we should work on Riley's writing and writing the sounds that he hears in words. I believe that it is a good idea and will work on it with him. We are all at a loss as to what else to do and hopefully, IAT will have some new ideas.

OT Again

We had to stop OT for awhile because Riley started going to school all day. We finally got a new time slot and he goes every other week now.

I am starting to see the discrepancies between Riley's abilities and the abilities of the typical kindergartner with regards to fine motor skills. Riley's school just celebrated the 100th day of school and as part of their celebration, they had to color 100 small things on the numbers 1, 0, 0. I use to use this sheet when I taught, and I know what I expected from my students and the way that Riley colored this sheet would not have been acceptable for me as a teacher. We really need to get to work on improving his coloring.

I can say that he seems to be doing well with the Handwriting Without Tears program that the OT started with him. He seems to get that system and keeping in the space that it gives. I see his handwriting when he comes home from enrichment and because they use a dot to tell the students where to start, his handwriting is a mess. The fine motor needs to become a priority.

I am meeting with his teacher on Monday and I am somewhat anxious to see what she is going to say. I know about the fine motor, the lack of ability to follow directions, and being easily distracted. I know that he has made some improvements because of his oral knowledge, but I do not know if they are going to be enough. He has already been referred to IAT, so I am waiting to see what they are going to say also.

I still mostly believe that Riley has mostly sensory issues although the book that I am reading right now says that SPD is not recognized by the DSM, and therefore is usually a secondary diagnosis with a primary diagnosis of Autism, Asberger's, ADD, etc. Maybe I should have Riley evaluated by a clinical psychologist as was suggested at his end of the year IEP conference last year since they knew that Riley still needed services, but was not eligible in the school setting and therefore graduated out. I think I am going to wait until after the IAT meeting to tackle that one.

Just Like Mommy

We have now been in school about two months and the teacher came up to the van last week as I was picking up Riley and asked if she could meet with me to discuss a behavior plan for Riley. I told her we could meet on Monday.

At the meeting the teacher said that Riley is a really nice boy, but he had some trouble focusing on what he was suppose to do. She wanted to set up a plan where Riley would be rewarded for completing his afternoon work. He had trouble completing his first assignment of the day; he liked to talk instead of completing his work.

I agreed to the behavior plan and gave the teacher some suggestions that the OT had given to us with regards to Riley's writing and coloring like having him use a short pencil and half crayons to strengthen his fingers. I also asked that if Riley is switching hands for her to encourage him to use his left hand because he has been left hand dominant since he was 14 months old.

As I was in this meeting, I thought he is just like I was when I was young. I liked to talk and socialize rather than complete my work in school also. In many ways Riley is just like me. He is his mother's son.

Well, he was able to stick to the behavior plan for one day. The other two days this week, he did not complete his first assignment. We'll see what he does tomorrow after all the sugar tonight from trick or treat!

Pledge of Allegiance

As we were walking out of school today, Riley noticed that the safety patrols were taking the flag down and folding it in front of the school. He asked me why and I told him that the flag could only stay on the flag pole at night when it is lit. He told me that he had a flag in his classroom, and it was on a stick. I asked him if he said the Pledge of Allegiance in his classroom. He said, Yes. I asked him if he could recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and he recited it for me perfectly except for the word liberty, which I corrected, and he now says properly. I asked Riley who taught him the pledge and he said his teacher. I asked him if his teacher last year did the pledge with him, and he said no. I am so proud that he learned something in the first weeks of school, and this shows that his verbal and auditory skills are his strengths.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten seems to be going well. Riley is excited to go everyday when it comes time to go to school. He likes to see his friends and seems to have a way with the girls although he would prefer to play with boys his age. At night when we talk about school, he tells me he does not like school and that school is boring. In his language, school is boring means that it is hard for him. I think that sometimes when he is asked to do things that are hard for him like writing or possibly even sitting still in his seat, he tends to give up without even trying. Some of his problem is that he is very insecure, somewhat emotional, and a worrier. He worries about everything, but especially if people like him and want to be his friend. I keep trying to reassure him that if a friend does not play with him, it is not because they do not like him anymore, but they may want to play with someone else that day. I try to explain the dynamics of friendship, and that it is a give and take process where sometimes you have to play what your friends want to play. I hope that he eventually trusts the friendships that he makes and know that they will not disappear overnight.

Preschool Graduation

Riley graduated from preschool on Wednesday night. He was very cute and did a great job. Even though he did not sing any of the songs, he did do the hand motions. He looked so grown up and will be going to kindergarten next year, half day in the afternoon. I think that he is excited about this prospect.



We got his final progress report yesterday in the mail and it seems that Riley has improved in many areas with regards to communicating and listening to others as well as making his needs and wants known to his peers.

From preschool graduation class of 2008 to high school graduation class of 2021!

Transition Meeting

Riley is well and made it back to school after spring break healthy.

As I thought Riley did not qualify for services next year and will go onto regular kindergarten with no services. They did feel as I do that there is something there, but not something that is affecting his educational progress at this point in time. In other words, he does not qualify for services in the school setting.

I did contact the occupational therapist and Riley is suppose to start private OT soon.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Confusion

After Christmas Riley's classroom implemented a new behavior system that started each child off each day with three thumbs ups. For misbehavior Riley would have to go and turn one of his thumbs to the down position and miss five minutes of recess if he could not correct his behavior. He would have the opportunity to return his thumb to the up position if he corrected his behavior and would be given a small treat at the end of each day for having three thumbs up.

About a week after the behavior system started, I started asking Riley each day how many thumbs up he had at school, and he would always tell me two and show me his two thumbs. Then, he would proceed to tell me that thumbs up meant open, and thumbs down meant closed. (The last is from an episode of Handy Manny when Manny and the tools give Kelly a sign for her store.) I then showed him the example that the teacher had sent home and asked him if he saw these thumbs in his classroom and how many did he get up and he would still tell me two.

Finally, I had to ask the teacher. I explained to her my dilemma and his confusion of having two thumbs, one on each hand v. having three thumbs posted at school. She told me that he has never gotten a thumbs down, and he gets the prize everyday. She said to try and ask him whether or not he got the prize for the day. Today, I asked him if he got a high five, he said, "No, Mommy, but I got a sticker on my mitten, see!" That meant that he got three thumbs up for the day. We are making progress at understanding!