I'm happy to report that Carson's first day back to school Monday wasn't nearly the disaster I was thinking it would be. I worked until noon and then left to get him from my mom's house. We quickly stopped by our house to let the dogs out and change our clothes. I don't think he really understood why I was getting him so early especially with his sister MIA but when I mentioned to him it was time to go to school he jumped up from his puzzle and ran to me.
It only took about 5 minutes to drive to the school and Carson was practically smiling the entire drive there. When I got to the front door I pressed the button to buzz into the school and there was his physical therapist Patty waiting for us. She had him show her how he was doing climbing stairs reciprocally (one foot on each step)-which he did well but he still isn't that great going down. We live in a ranch house so stairs really aren't much of an issue for us.
After the stairs we went into the music room (which is converted to a therapy room just for Carson). It was a beach theme this week and the song they sang (with motions) was to the tune of 'The Wheels on the Bus" but it was waves in the ocean, clams on the beach, lobsters on the beach etc. After that it was time for Yogarilla. Something that I actually like to do with him at home too. It is yoga but done with flash cards of a gorilla doing them. He had to do boat, surfer, clam and crab. All of this mind you is done with either myself and the therapists or just the therapists practically MAKING him do these motions and yoga poses. He cannot do them on his own. About the only yoga pose he can do on his own is downward facing dog and that's only because he loves to be upside down.
After Yogarilla it was his occupational therapist Jen's turn to work with him. For the past two years it has been a struggle for Carson to hold a writing utensil properly and actually use it. The only things they have been trying to get him to do is write straight lines vertically and horizontally and draw a circle. (the beginnings of being able to write) So Jen sets out a board that is rough (the 'sand' texture element for our beach theme) and hands Carson a crayon to write on paper over this bumpy table. She writes a line up and down. He mimics her. She then draws a line horizontally next to her vertical one. He takes the liberty of crossing his vertical line to make a 't'. She celebrates the T. He then frantically writes 'rain' after the t. TRAIN. Jen looks at me in wonder. I smile smugly and say you're welcome. Leaps and bounds. That's really all I can say. This summer he has grown mentally and physically leaps and bounds. Last year we had to hold him in a chair. Yesterday he sat willingly for MOST of the time we were there.
PT/OT was finished with an obstacle course and a song. We cleaned up the room for the music teacher and headed down to the preschool room with his teacher Amber and met up with his new speech therapist, Laquita. What can I say? Amber was right. She really is like Amy. Friendly, super bubbly personality. I really like her so far. She accidentally kept calling Carson 'Cameron'. He had out his iPad and on letter at a time wrote C-A-R-S-O-N. She thought it was amazing. She asked him if he knew his last name. He wrote G-R-E-A-T. So now he's referred to as Carson the Great at school. She read him a book and then basically let him show off on his iPad to warm him up to her. I don't think he ever made eye contact with her but with Carson you have to gain his trust.
Amy stopped by for a few minutes. It was great to see her. She seemed truly upset that she wasn't teaching him this year. Another teacher who knew him stopped in as well and was telling Laquita that she felt like Carson was teaching her last year-not the other way around. That made me feel good. I looked at Amy and told her that I guess it was time for Carson to teach someone else and that's why she wasn't with him this year. She promised me that she would be around and wouldn't be out of our lives.
These women love Carson and he loves them. I am learning through this process that Carson is a very unique child with a very unique diagnosis. No two of these children are alike but they all seem to touch the people around them and that is more special than their diagnoses. Here's to hoping that the rest of the year just gets better :)
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