Autism Progress Weekly
Each week, I like to share information about Antonio and his autism. This week I want to sort of take a step back and tell you about some of Antonio’s weekly accomplishments! Autism diagnosis not with standing, it’s always important to notice the small baby steps and victories you see each day.
- Antonio points now. This is a constant pointing he thinks it’s cool. I can see him smiling when he is pointing, feeling a sense of self-fulfillment. He points for small thing like a drink or toy and expects them when he does it. This is a good thing, a skill we have worked on for many weeks. My kid can be stubborn sometimes but this really showed a breakthrough!
- He likes to take someone’s hand and walk with them to what he wants. There was a balloon on the table that he wanted, so he took his daddy’s hand brought him to the table and pointed. It’s tough that he still isn’t talking, but the fact that he has found other ways to communicate is incredible. As he is doing these things I make sure to talk and give him words of encouragement so that it sticks with him.
- He loves playing hide and seek. Not that he didn’t before but he is totally loving opening a door and closing it then making us ask “Where’s Antonio?” and when we find him he giggles so hard. And then he quickly runs to the next door. It is the cutest thing ever and this is a new development.
- We are slowing breaking bad habits. One of the habits we are trying to break is biting on his sippy cup. He used to chew through so many nipples and refused to use other cups. It’s been frustrating, because even if we watch him closely and remind him to stop chewing on it, he still ended up damaging it. We have encouraged him “put down” the sippy cup when he is done using it.
- Playing with balls. He has loved balls for a little while now. But he loves to throw it and watch it bounce. This is one of the greatest things ever, for him. He will be amused with this for quite a lengthy period of time. We are currently working on helping him roll the ball, to show there are other ways to use a ball.
- His eye contact has gotten better. He doesn’t look when we call him yet, but he definitely looks at us when we play together and I am in his face.
- He sits for longer periods. When he is playing with a toy he likes, it can hold his attention for five minutes. I know it may not seem like a long time, but five minutes is a huge improvement. We want to make sure that we are continuing to reward him when he accomplishes new things, reinforce good habits and continue striving for more improvement.
A few of our upcoming goals include using verbal commands without the gestures he has been used to and getting him to use another sip cup, one that doesn’t have a nipple.
He is super smart and knows what he can get away with. It’s been quite fun and entertaining to see him change each day!
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