Summer 2020 - Just the good stuff

Somebody asked me the other day what I believe is amounting to Grant's progress as of lately. While I don't know that I am clear what part they mean. The short answer is dad. The positive outcome of being home 24/7 with one very passionate and invested teacher is that Dad/Scott is focusing on things that are very critical to our life at home.

The main one is food. Not only is Grant eating without an adult (not all of the time and it depends on the item), he is also eating an expanded diet which I am most proud. You will see above he prefers to eat out of that sectioned bowl which is left over from eating therapy.

Notice he is not in a special chair, dad is recording this and this is a pretty normal sight at our home these last few months.

The other skill that we have been working on for years, but not consistently, is having G put away silverware because it's basic matching/sorting which everyone has asked him to do for ages. He can do it with every other item, so we figured we could start doing this with something more practical.

What is particularly awesome about this video, is that it shows he is going over to the counter and putting it away without physical or verbal prompting. Well, we have to put the utensils on the counter. But, I love that we have found a way to communicate that this is yours to do and he does it without a fight. This was not possible before.

Some other thoughts on why Grant is making some progress has been discussed before, but for anyone that is new. It's time, practice, and maturity. This does not mean that he is not self-injurious. He's immensely self-injurious and can be aggressive especially towards me.

I do not know that Grant would be where he is without meds, devoted teachers, and ECT. We have a million goals, but it's so fun to share the good stuff with you today.

I really appreciated the celebration on social media when I shared the one video a few weeks ago. You all know how to make this mom beam with pride when you share this joy with our family. Thank you kindly for "getting it"!