Our little rain man

As of today, next year I will have four kids in four different schools.  Nick will be in high school, Maddie will be in jr high, Zach will go to the neighborhood elementary school, and Christopher will be shipped off to a different elementary school.

There was the chance that he could go to the local elementary school since they have a spice program there (that's what they call the classes for autistic kids) but our school is a Spice 1, which is for kids who need more help, but Christopher will be in Spice 2. (higher functioning)

I went to a meeting with his teachers the other day.  It was really good.  It was great to hear how much they adore him, how smart he is, what a great kid he is, etc.  He does really well in class, finishes his work, respects his neighbors, etc.

He still has issues.  He still doesn't like to be told no or that he is doing something wrong.  He tends to shut down, and they have to work with him to bring him back.  Apparently failure and the fear of failure is a bit paralyzing to him.  That's probably why potty training took so freaking long.  I think what finally worked was watching the other kids use the bathrooms day in and day out until he finally decided that it was something he could do.

Apparently he is an excellent speller.  He likes to memorize his sight words and he is at or pretty dang near the top of his class.  We're working on sounding out words too, and he does pretty well, but he really likes memorizing words.  In fact, all day long we are spelling things.  Sometimes it drives me a little batty, like when I am concentrating on something else, and he is asking me to spell the name of every person he knows (even though he has those all memorized).

The problem though is that while "Spelling Bee Champion" might be in his future, his comprehension of certain things isn't up there with his ability to read them.  He gets nouns and verbs and most adjectives (red, big, soft)  but it's all those other pesky little words that are proving to be difficult.  Take for instance two, to, and too.  I think he thinks they are all acceptable spellings for the number 2.  The End.  The concept of "too" as in "also" seems to be over his head.  (He frequently asks me to point out the "too" in a picture of a book we like to read together.  The line in the book reads "You can, too!")

And lately there are the numbers.  He's becoming very aware of numbers all around us, and he likes to tell me what time it is all the time.  "Six four five!  Mom!  Six four five!"  And then while we are driving, he reads aloud the numbers posted on the front of the houses as we drive by.  Last night he surprised us with this little parlor trick- "Christopher's house is one-three-seven-four.  Braden's house is one-three-eight-four."  I got curious so I started asking about his friends' houses- He got the numbers right every time. (I had to look them up)

I'm very curious to see what the next few years will bring.  It's fun watching these funny little quirks and talents emerge, and while I know that there will be struggles ahead, I feel positive that with the continued help of his teachers we can work through those.  It's amazing to me the progress he has made in these last 7 months already.