Progress......

a rare pic of me, taken while assisting the kids at our Open day 

Coming to the end of yet another school term I am still over-the-moon with how well A.J. has handled facing the many changes and new experiences that high school life has placed before him.

I am so proud of how he has maintained self-control, with a willingness to be open and try new things.

To think that only 12 months ago we were facing daily meltdowns and repeated phone calls from his primary school requesting he go home as they couldn't (or wouldn't) handle his “outbursts”.

Understanding now how those outbursts were more a cry for help as those around him refused to accept his diagnosis and were treating him as a disobedient child needing to be 'punished', when in reality he was fading away from those who were actually exacerbating his condition.

Knowing the reality is we still have a long way to go and as his paediatrician has written in his latest review, he is facing a 'permanent' disability.

Looking at those words written clearly and highlighted on paper has made me realise that he is always going to struggle with certain aspects of his life.

Remembering how far he has come will always be acknowledged and celebrated, and as his (grand)parents, we will always understand the extra time and extra patience he needs to progress, therefore we have and will continue to give assurance he will gain the best supports needed to continue forward.

On a lighter note, with A.J. now understanding that his teachers and support team 'get' him, he is coming out of the shadows; handling his stress, anxiety, and frustration a lot better; and finally able to show his quirky side, with his comical personality and many antics surfacing to enlighten us more and more.

We've faced a few hurdles along the way with A.J. still trying to find a comfortable path through the education maze,

resulting in us addressing a few 'interesting' moments............such as-

After A.J. missed a few days off school due to a flu virus; he arrived back to some notes from his teacher on work he'd missed, to review for a test in a few days time.

Trying to help him, I asked him to read the study notes and then I would give him a quick test.

Unfortunately this didn't go well as he believed he couldn't read someone else’s notes and understand them. He stated he prefers to write his own notes to understand it better, so I suggested he do that now; unfortunately he still couldn't grasp the concept, although I feel the reality is more to being out of routine and not being the 'correct' environment, as he's still adjusting to the whole homework study routine, as “school-work should be done at school”.

- all things take time – the best things take the longest -

Maybe wishful thinking, so I may need to have a “Drink” on standby…sigh...

Later on A.J. came to me and we had another go, I suggested he read it as though he was reading a story book, this explanation seemed easier to digest and all began flowing nicely.

The morning of the test he again took out his notes and read them as he had breakfast and again before leaving for school.

I suggested the option of taking them to read during breaks before his test lesson, his response was “no thankyou, I think I've stored enough knowledge now”.

Me - “OK..............”

-returning home he informed me he was pleased with the test and felt he got a good mark.

Facing the last week of school term we were informed that Thursday and Friday would be total write-off days due to the year 12 muck-up day and formal assembly, the support teachers felt they would be too 'unstructured' and 'confusing' for A.J. and so we all agreed to keep him home.
Although within half an hour of that phonecall, A.J. sent me an email asking (more like demanding) he go on Friday;  ….....as "I need to attend my Drama class performance".......
This was to have been on the Tuesday and then postponed as his teacher was absent.
I was surprised and pleased he wanted to attend, especially as he will be performing in the play, something that would NEVER have occurred previously.

 
On the Thursday Hubby decided to pop out to our youngest son's house, taking A.J. with him, to help with some gardening and mowing; and a chance to get out in the sunny weather that is slowly creeping into our neighbourhood; although I think they decided to sneak off in-case I began to delegate chores to them they would rather avoid.

While they were out I took the chance to prepare and pack up everything ready for our upcoming Kid's Club Open Day. After organising most of the items needed I decided to take a break with a cuppa and sort out a few items that have been on my mind and try to put my thoughts down on paper and hopefully make sense of it all. My mind is pulling me in a tug-of-war between many things, including hoping I'm prepared for the open day and trying to find some get-away ideas for the upcoming holiday break.

Knowing how A.J. needs to be well prepared for everything he does we have also realised if informed too soon he will become anxious and start pacing then become overwhelmed with confusion due to us taking 'too long', so trying to find the happy medium between the two options can be very tricky.

After organising a few things in the required order, I remembered a few other things needing my attention, so with my coffee cup now empty I got back to business before the boys returned.

Without a blink, the holidays are here and first off is heading to the PCYC for our Open Day.

A.J. always seems to be in deep thought.

Waking up to drizzly weather I hoped it wouldn't deter too many from attending the day, although it went off great, with a few new members rolling up and enjoying the samples of what our fortnightly events will have in store.

A.J. however felt it would be too “busy” and opted to visit his Aunt and Uncle instead, while promising to help out with the regular meetings; as he still finds it hard to adapt to change, so may take a couple of goes before fully committing.

Once the day was done and settled I packed up all our supplies and headed home, with the plan to head over to A.J. at his Uncle's, our baby son, and his wife to celebrate their first year wedding anniversary with a BBQ and a few close friends.

A.J. had already found a quiet corner with his iPad and a blanket at the ready to snuggle away as the noise began to increase.

And so as another day comes to an end, we finally head home and prepare for the holidays and whatever we may encounter.