How is Elijah doing?

Great!...and some times not so great. We have really good days, and some not so good days. But isnt that parenting?

Since becoming verbal (meaning using words) since June/July he has come so far. By leaps and bounds! We chose ABA as his therapy route. Its just amazing. I was worried if i was gonna be able to find a therapy who lined up with my thoughts and parenting style. ABA is such a gift. It goes after the behaviors while teaching the child. So i know when Elijah is in therapy he gets away with nothing. And his therapists are amazing. They respect my parenting style, and continue it in therapy. This consistency is key with Elijah, he needs the black and white rules and expectations.

Elijah can count to 10 pretty well, sing parts of songs, knows his shapes and colors. Can build amazing structures out of blocks, legos etc. Is #1 trained, and recently requested to use the bathroom for the first time (he will run and use it himself but never verbally request) He recently learned when asked for his name to say "Elijah" (or as he says whyjah) He says excuse me when interrupting, thank you when receiving and please when asking. Elijah loves to play pretend (no easy task for an autistic) often plays dress up, love to play with imaginex, dinosaurs, toy story dolls, and loves puzzles! He also loves trains, the play ground (green ground as he says) is starting to enjoy being read to and will sit to listen for a couple pages, although receptively he still is delayed enough that reading to  him is over his head. Elijah has an insanely amazing memory, the kid forgets nothing. seriously. He is a great color er, and loves to play in water. His best friends are his siblings who see he as an equal and they all get along so well! Its funny how they don't even notice anything.

Elijah still has a way to go, he just turned 4 and still isn't #2 trained. The toilet scares him, daddy is gonna build him something so he can brace himself better. We have allot of sensory issues there and this will take time, but we are forming a new plan, after seeking advice from other moms who kids have the same issues. He needs to be de sensitized and we will be starting that soon! He does really well for hair cuts now, only gets antsy at the end, but not anything unusual. He still hates to have water pored on his head at bath time, he freaks out and covers his ears but i have some sensory ideas i have been using and its gotten much better. Elijah wearing clothes is also gotten better...we have de sensitized him to those also. Getting dressed for him has become so much easier..he still prefers his comfy jammies but so do i ;) Elijah's eating habits have greatly improved, his pallet is broading and i am thrilled. We have his diet mostly under control and therefore his diapers are no longer toxic..yay!

Goals we have? #2 trained, cant wait for that. I will be starting some pre school with him. He still has some ways to go behavior wise, but has come so far i am not worried he wont get there. He still doesn't understand when to be quiet and why and those type of things. But with repetition he learns. Elijah is learning to apologize and "make it right" as we call it in our family, he still doesn't understand the concept though and often if one of us gets hurt or if one of the kids is being disciplined he will apologize..its kinda funny. He also doesn't like when we have to discipline his siblings..he feels like their protector. And often chastises us for chastising his siblings.

Elijah is a really happy kid, he has an awesome smile. He also is very smart. He retains all he has learned well. But getting him to understand what he is learning is difficult. Often we still revert to visual cues as he is a visual learner. Elijah loves to cuddle, and wipe kisses away so i have to re kiss him. He loves to play with other kids.

I will have to post a video of him talking some time soon, it is hard because he doesnt converse but he does express need!

My Bubby is a great kid. He is a favorite with the therapist because he has such a huge heart..he feels all emotion to the extream. I am so proud of how far he has come...every 2 weeks i have a meeting with his therapists (all 4 ABA therapists) and we set new goals for him to work on. Often they are speech related, his intelligibility right now is poor because he had a language burst. He continues to struggle with compliance and understand allot. But honestly he is catching up so quick, the more he understands the easier it gets!

What a bright future Elijah has! I believe there is nothing he cant do, he excels at all we ask of him and amazes us! But don't be fooled. All Elijah has learned so far has taken so much work. It is so well worth it. Good Job Bubby!