2016, the holidays, and progress......

A.J. is a unique and special individual,
we love and adore everything he has become.

2016 has all but come to an end,

This year has been so busy, my mind's been all over the place,

being involved in so many things and trying to keep the usually level of control and harmony with our regular routines.

A.J. faced a lot of unusual experiences, some good, some bad, some just different.

He still struggles with anything that's inconsistent, especially when it involves anything he perceives as non-relevant to him, then it is all the more difficult to accept or take hold of.

With all this A.J. has still managed to progress so much, with the support from his school being such a big influence, as they helped him understand he is more capable than he realised, with the rest he'll always have someone to help out.

Accepting that our little man is not so little anymore, seeing him consume the teenage sector of his growing stages,

and along with that bringing some bonuses, and some 'downfalls', as he discovered.

His sensory sensitivities are being tested to a new high, beginning with the hormonal changes, and all that comes with it.

A definite learning curve.

He has decided that having "full knowledgeable intake of the true world" is something that will benefit him, and others, as he progresses through life. Although now that I am stating this he has just told me that I have "doomed us all" by informing others of his learnings.

Although I stated I would never divulge his specific findings, he just shakes his head and said-

 "ohhhhh Nan, you have no idea!!!"

I guess I don't. hehehe.

So many new experiences have been encountered through accepting this new 'concept'.

The steps he has taken, progressing in so many ways,

His social connections are increasing, seeing him associating with a great 'friend' that has helped him so much,

Beginning by learning to play the guitar, it still blows me away when I see how easily he can grasp new concepts,

The result A.J. and his new friend (he plays the drums) have both joined in a great public 'jam session' together.

The other achievement, was his involvement and performances in a play with his school drama class.

These have given us a few great 'proud parent' moments.

Catching up, to see us encounter the joy of Xmas/New Year festivities and holiday season,

While I am emotional about the family and friends far away that we never seem to see, we are also enjoying the holiday break, unfortunately for A.J. he does physically struggle with no formal routine and structure, as he is so dependant on his daily school routine,

understanding it is the holidays, he has chosen to "take a break" from all things, including his medicines and supports,

I usually allow this for the first week,

unfortunately that now means he has NO sleep routine and has gone from a reasonably settled night routine, to being up all night, with morning and afternoon/evening "catnaps", and thus his emotional and physical being is effected.

To those that are from across the seas in different lands,

We in Australia celebrate Christmas during the hottest months of our seasons.

So rather than seeing all but white laden snow as far across the horizon as we can see, w face high temperatures, sometimes into the 30/40 degrees Celsius (equivalent to 85/105 degrees Fahrenheit).

Our family tradition includes salads of all types with cold meats cooked the day before, hams, turkey, chicken, etc. Desserts including home made trifles and puddings covered in rum custard, meringue piled high with scrumptious fruit combinations, and tables laid out with all the treats a child could want.

We love to head to my parents each boxing day for a large family get-together, catering for A.J. with his sensory issues and other situations that he experiences, he will still struggle with large crowds, noises and so much more, so his great-nan has a special area (spare bedroom) set-up ready for him to escape when things get too much, somewhere he is able to calm down and block out the noise and mayhem of the Xmas season festivities.

Our Xmas tree tradition, for as long as I can remember, begins with the tree covered with tiny trinket gifts instead of decorations, they will then become a game in itself for all the kids, large and small, occuring on Boxing Day, usually planned for when we have a large family gathering.

Gathering as many gifts as we can find throughout the year, all costing only $1 or $2 such as keyrings, toys, pocket notebooks/diaries, novelty pens and pencils, hair accessories, hankies, and any other unique trinket items we may find, or make.

Each gift has a number, with another set of numbers ready to hand out to each person in attendance on the day;

someone hands each person a number and then a second and third repeating until all the numbers are handed out. Once this has happened we will pick a gift off the tree, call out the number then hand it to the right person, this is repeated till all the gifts are gone.

This is when the real fun begins, as you can imagine we may get many items, not really suited to the recipient, so we will see someone else with a gift we like and hope to swap them for an item we have that they want instead.

The kids will have hours and hours of fun swapping and changing items until they are happy with the end results.

This year, was a reasonably quiet one all round, as many family members never made it home.

So we were able to arrange a calm and settled routine.

A.J. even managed to socialise, a little, with the families that were in attendance, and didn't retreat to the 'safety zone' although he did settle down in the quiet area of the lounge-room. Big steps acknowledged.

A.J has holiday mode set up, with his technology devises the priority,

Sony PlayStation 4, iPad, and with online games etc,

I know we have to allow A.J. access to the opportunities with what the world has provided through technology,

although gaining all the safety measures, allowing him the confidence to independently enter the internet world,

while also keeping a safety net around him for our peace of mind.

Moving on with the holiday break, I am now cleaning and decluttering the house of a long line of hoarded items we have all agreed we no longer use or need.

I am gathering everything into different piles-

'Toss', 'Give Away', and a few items to 'Sell' in an upcoming Yard Sale

This will show A.J. the process of selling,

and earning a little pocket money for himself, and for the support group with some items.