"March 10, 2009: This day will go down in history as one of my favorite days ever." [Insert row of smiley faces here] That was the first line of an entry in Evan's progress journal. It could have come right out of my sixth grade diary when a new seating assignment put me next to the cute boy in class, but I was actually referring to the day Evan turned a HUGE corner. It was literally like he woke up and the cloud of Asperger's lifted a little. He left a bit of his world behind and decided to hang out with all of us. He started communicating and understanding in a way that was so much more clear. He began making more observations, asking for help, answering questions, conveying things that were happening, speaking in multiple sentences, displaying less show talk and generally being more aware of the people and world around him.
On the way to school (a 20 minute drive) he did not revert to show talk once. He stared out the window with a wide-eyed gaze and told me all of the things he saw- trucks, school buses and birds. It felt like he was noticing it all for the first time. When I picked him up his teacher had picked up on it too. He had been more engaged and communicating more appropriately. She said at lunch he saw a girl crying and went up to her and asked, "what's the matter?" At home I documented some of the highlights: "Mommy, can I have a fork please?" "Mommy, I got a boo boo on my knee. Can I have a band aid to make it feel better?" "I don't like that noise, it's too loud."
This overnight progress was mind-blowing and definitely worthy of making March 10th one of my favorite days ever!
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