Update

Just wanted to pop on by to give you an update on my middle guy, this is now week 2 on new dose of meds and it is AMAZING the changes we have seen in him over the past two weeks. I am so happ

y, and very exciting too :)!

To give you an idea of the kinds of changes I am talking about:

~He can tell us now without too much trouble what is bothering him

~He can ask for help if he needs help

~He is talking a whole lot more

~He is hasn't had as many meltdowns, and when he does have them he can calm himself down within minutes NOT hours

~He doesn't stim as much anymore either, only if his senses are overloaded or he is very upset

~He is more helpful (telling his sister who is 2 to use her big girl words or to listen to his words)

~He is telling us he loves us, without any prompting

The list just goes on and on of the good things that have been happening with him :)! There is something we didn't think was such a HUGE problem which has become more evident that he is on the meds. He is seriously lacking in the area of socialization, he is at about a 2-3 year old level we think! He has no idea how to act in public, what is appropriate to say, how to start/finish conversations, he doesn't really know how to ask other kids to play with him ( he will introduce himself, then tell them all about who is in his family and then by that point the kids have given him a weird look and run away). He doesn't understand why sometimes people don't want to talk to him or why they don't want to play...we are at the "why?" stage with him when it comes to socialization. He also doesn't know emotions, by that I mean he doesn't know how to read people's faces and tell you how they are feeling...or why they are feeling that way.

This just breaks my heart to see, but it means I have to create a program for him over the next week or two to help him learn all of these things and more. We also have to first figure out how he learns, he is a very visual learner and have used social stories for him but they don't work. The pictures have to be so simple with one to two words on it, then for some reason things click...but now here is the tricky part. How do you teach someone all the socialization skills they need when they are 5 years old by inch by inch pictures??

Inky Hugs,