There is just something about this boy. Everywhere he goes, he charms everyone he meets. Don't get me wrong, he drives many kids crazy. I'm not talking about that, I am talking about all of the professionals that work with him. He seems to be a favorite (in my opinion) at school, at his therapies, even at the pediatrician's office. Meanwhile, he is often driving me nuts. But I get it, his really cute quirky behaviors are not as cute to me because they affect every single thing I do on a daily basis. Like the fact that I just spent 10 minutes imploring him to put his socks on because he still has trouble with it and tries everything under the sun to change the subject and avoid the task. It's cute for a 20 or 30 minute period though, that's for sure (not the sock thing, the quirky thing).
Yesterday's assessments brought out a really funny aspect of Mr. Jack's personality. His fixations and stubbornness are very real and apply to every area of life for him. There is not one thing that he does not argue about, down to how I repeat things that he asks me to repeat. Sometimes I have to try 4 or 5 times to get it "right". Right tone of voice, right speed, right facial expression- it's a very complicated procedure. So he had an IQ test yesterday as part of his assessment. I didn't even realize that the doctor was doing it at first, as it is all pictoral at this age, but I knew he was having one and the only other assessment was the play one, so that's what that was. She would show him something like a picture of a sock and he was to choose a picture out of 5 others that would "go" with the sock, like a foot. That's the simplest example. At one point, there was a picture of a bed, the options where something like a sandwich, a ball, a pillow, shoes, and...well, a picture of a bird. Guess what my kid chose? HE sleeps with several birds every night....so....yeah, he chose the bird. Another choice on a different one was an airplane, which was completely irrelevant to the answer, but of course he chose it. Made me think of an inkblot test and the fact that my kid would likely see a bird, horse, crab or plane every single time. Once again- FAIL standardized test, FAIL. You will never know how smart my kid is because you can't think like him. I don't even care what the "result" might be, because I sat in for the test and know what he missed and why. He has Aspergers Mr. IQ, ask him to problem solve regarding his areas of interest- he will blow you away!
Also, my son was the first kid in the history of the world to be EXCITED to have an ecg. I convinced him that it was a robot detector. The only issue was that the doctor kept telling him that if he didn't hold still, the machine would think he was a robot. Ummmm, don't you get it? He would LOVE that! Being a real boy would be pretty disappointing to him. Anyway he cracked the doctor and the study coordinator up many a time yesterday.
They also got to see how difficult many daily life activities can be with Jack. And how careful you have to be about what you say in front of him. When we were coming back from the blood draw, the coordinator told him that the doctor was just going to look at him, like in his ears and stuff. Yeah, he almost bolted right then and there. Do NOT touch my sons ears! He was like, I can tell you, they are fine, thank you. Then he had to give a urine specimen- the doctor walked into the communal bathroom with us and someone had the hand dryer on- Jack screamed bloody murder and tried to run. Luckily the person drying her hands was a psychiatrist so she got it and stopped right away. The doctor had a propeller in her office- I don't even have to say a word right?
But all of these little quirks are cute as can be on a individual basis, it's only when you deal with every single one of them every single day that you begin to pull your hair out.
Oh, by the way, one of Jack's new things is to pause, fast forward, rewind or change the movie on the tv approximately every 30 seconds. He stopped Curious George this morning and Nathan screamed "George!!!!" when he turned it off. And when the bus pulled up this morning Nate said "Sam" (who is his bus aide). So Kennedy Krieger, you can just....well, this is a family blog. Rest assured, you got it wrong. No regression here.
Yesterday's assessments brought out a really funny aspect of Mr. Jack's personality. His fixations and stubbornness are very real and apply to every area of life for him. There is not one thing that he does not argue about, down to how I repeat things that he asks me to repeat. Sometimes I have to try 4 or 5 times to get it "right". Right tone of voice, right speed, right facial expression- it's a very complicated procedure. So he had an IQ test yesterday as part of his assessment. I didn't even realize that the doctor was doing it at first, as it is all pictoral at this age, but I knew he was having one and the only other assessment was the play one, so that's what that was. She would show him something like a picture of a sock and he was to choose a picture out of 5 others that would "go" with the sock, like a foot. That's the simplest example. At one point, there was a picture of a bed, the options where something like a sandwich, a ball, a pillow, shoes, and...well, a picture of a bird. Guess what my kid chose? HE sleeps with several birds every night....so....yeah, he chose the bird. Another choice on a different one was an airplane, which was completely irrelevant to the answer, but of course he chose it. Made me think of an inkblot test and the fact that my kid would likely see a bird, horse, crab or plane every single time. Once again- FAIL standardized test, FAIL. You will never know how smart my kid is because you can't think like him. I don't even care what the "result" might be, because I sat in for the test and know what he missed and why. He has Aspergers Mr. IQ, ask him to problem solve regarding his areas of interest- he will blow you away!
Also, my son was the first kid in the history of the world to be EXCITED to have an ecg. I convinced him that it was a robot detector. The only issue was that the doctor kept telling him that if he didn't hold still, the machine would think he was a robot. Ummmm, don't you get it? He would LOVE that! Being a real boy would be pretty disappointing to him. Anyway he cracked the doctor and the study coordinator up many a time yesterday.
They also got to see how difficult many daily life activities can be with Jack. And how careful you have to be about what you say in front of him. When we were coming back from the blood draw, the coordinator told him that the doctor was just going to look at him, like in his ears and stuff. Yeah, he almost bolted right then and there. Do NOT touch my sons ears! He was like, I can tell you, they are fine, thank you. Then he had to give a urine specimen- the doctor walked into the communal bathroom with us and someone had the hand dryer on- Jack screamed bloody murder and tried to run. Luckily the person drying her hands was a psychiatrist so she got it and stopped right away. The doctor had a propeller in her office- I don't even have to say a word right?
But all of these little quirks are cute as can be on a individual basis, it's only when you deal with every single one of them every single day that you begin to pull your hair out.
Oh, by the way, one of Jack's new things is to pause, fast forward, rewind or change the movie on the tv approximately every 30 seconds. He stopped Curious George this morning and Nathan screamed "George!!!!" when he turned it off. And when the bus pulled up this morning Nate said "Sam" (who is his bus aide). So Kennedy Krieger, you can just....well, this is a family blog. Rest assured, you got it wrong. No regression here.
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