my footprints

Thursday, August 28, 2008

i've a boy named ethan who's now 2 years & 3 months. for his age, he's naturally active & just cannot be occupied for more than a few mins before he starts climbing up & down the tables, chairs and even shelves in my classroom. taking him is really not just mentally but also physically challenging. even for snack time, i often need to sit him at the corner leaning against the wall at our common snack table and block him from moving around. because he would run off to elsewhere since he wasn't motivated by food and cannot really feed himself yet.

my 2 hours with him always seemed longer than 2 hours. maybe its just because i feel like i'm always moving around, chasing after him to take my instructions & cues and each time that he is unwillingly to, he would do a melt-down on the floor & cry & kick off his shoes. and everytime that he does this and i choose to ignore, he would get up quickly get up, continue crying and yet manipulate his way around the classroom for his own personal agenda such as find toys from the shelves in our play area. see how he plays on my soft-heartedness?!

but today's behaviour seemed rather different. he did his usual thing, his occasional meltdowns, cryings & screamings, climbing up & down. BUT BUT, when i pulled him away while he was trying to go to the play area, he held my hand willingingly & stopped crying. i was largely surprised and i paused then. upon my pause, he directed me at this animal farm toy on a shelf, pulled my hand, pointing and mumbling some sounds indicating that he wanted the toy.

i was simply AMAZED. many of us would think that it is normal & common for kids to do that, especially those who cannot talk yet and wanting something or help from adults. but not all children with autism can do that. ethan has a bit of problem with requesting, in which hindered his expressive communication. he usually throws an tantrum when he wants to say that he wants something. and most of the time i couldn't decipher what he really wants, but to only try my very best to guess according to my instincts & experiences, also sometimes with help from my co-teachers.

so i have been getting him to point, gesture, tap/pull me when he wants to request for something. for the past one month, i had to physically prompt & guide him in the midst of his cries & screams and verbally also saying things like, " i want ...". then i give him the object which he wanted upon the most accurate guess on my part. thankfully, my instincts have been quite helpful most of the time.

so at the end of the day, i had a really GREAT sense of achievement! :)

she pens down @ 8:24 PM --------------------------------------------------------------