Aut-Isms

I am sure many parents of autism spectrum children enjoy the unusual ways our children express themselves. I thought it might be fun to share some of Pamela's aut-isms and feel free to include the favorites of your child in the coments.

• moccashoe for moccasin
• towel robe for bathrobe
• white cream for mayonnaise
• binoculators which rhymes with elevator and escalator

Her newest word is thriller hole, the hole in the porch created by a knothole that fell out. She called it that because she finds it scary wondering what is in it.


And what lurks beneath our thriller hole? Take a peek . .

Good Enough for Granny GF/CF Banana Pudding

My friend (both cyber and skin) Jamberry talked about making a GF/CF banana pudding by substituting GF/CF animal crackers for the wafers. As we were invited to a neighborhood Christmas party and one of the neighbors is gluten-free too, I decided to give it a shot! I went through all my cookbooks (it took about five minutes LOL) and found a recipe suitable for altering (i.e., it did not include instant pudding as an ingredient).

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
2 cans coconut milk
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons buttery sticks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 small bananas
1 9-ounce box gluten-free vanilla animal cookies
6 egg whites
4 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
Mix first four ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla extract and stir some more until the buttery sticks melt. Layer a 9x13x2 dish with animal cookies and sliced bananas. Pour the hot pudding over the layers. Beat the egg whites and remaining sugar until it forms peaks. Put on top of the banana pudding and brown under the broiler. Chill for several hours.

BEFORE the Party:


AFTER the Party:


Pamela loved it! My gluten-free neighbor loved it! Obviously, the partygoers that were not counting calories loved it. I think it passed the Granny test!

The Great Pamdini!

We had a lovely moment of experience sharing today. David and I were at the kitchen table, slaving away at school work. Pamela was sitting on the floor near a vent through which some deliciously warm air was blowing. She announced excitedly, "Magic! I'm doing a magic trick."

Our heads were so deeply buried in the books, we gave her one of those lackluster "uh-huh" responses. But, that was not good enough to please the great Pamdini, she repeated more loudly, "Look!!! It's magic." After I saw her clever trick, I grabbed the camera to film it for posterity. What I loved most about this interaction was that Pamela wanted to share her discovery of magic with us. She was not satisfied until we shared the experience with her.

Handling Bad News

Before I get into my post, I wanted to share a really thoughtful post about why one mother chose to homeschool her child with autism. I have been connecting to homeschoolers in cyberspace for 14 years. I have heard many, many horror stories such as children being tied to chairs, put in seclusion rooms (but not this heartbreaking), and having their mouths shut with duct tape. Diet violations. Dehumanizing treatment. Bullying. Physical abuse. Sadly even sexual abuse.

But, not everyone leaves the school system for bad reasons. We left because we thought we had a better idea of what Pamela needed. I did not think her teachers did anything bad, but rather they could not do what I thought to be absolutely best for her. Penny wrote a very eloquent post that I could not have written in my early days of homeschooling, and I heartily agree with what she expressed.

I can see signs of our work on uncertainty spilling out into other areas of life. Earlier in the week, Pamela and I spent the day wondering what was in some packages that arrived. She did not bother much at all about opening them right away, which is a good thing. One little thing I love about this clip is how well Pamela is picking up on subtle nonverbal communication. When I was talking, she started watching television through her "binoculators". Rather than verbally prompt her like an ABA automaton, I moved in closer to get between her and the television. She got the message and responded beautifully!


Today, I had to share some bad news for Pamela. I know this sounds mind boggling, but last Friday, Steve came home from a five-day business trip to Santiago, Chile. And, on Monday, he turned around and flew back for another five-day trip. That is 20,000 miles in two weeks! Steve told me this morning that he would not be coming home until Saturday, so I had the "fun" job of breaking the news to Pamela.

One of the major focuses of RDI is social referencing. Our work on uncertainty is a form of social referencing because Pamela is learning by watching my face, tone, and demeanor, that not knowing is okay. "We'll live" when things are uncertain. Rather than melting down, she can pay attention to my reaction and, if I am calm and neutral, then there may not be any reason for her to flip out. Page 12 of Solving the Relationship Puzzle says,

By the end of the fourth month, the typical infant has learned that the soothing voice tones and facial expressions of familiar adults can serve as a reference point, bringing instant emotional relief, even when not being held or physically comforted. Faced with confusing or ambiguous situations, it becomes second nature for babies to respond to their increased anxiety by gazing at a parent's face. If their facial expressions are calm and positive, this produces a rapid reduction in the child's distress, Alternatively if the parent's facial expression appears anxious or it is blocked from view, the child's distress will rapidly escalate. This process, called Social Referencing, plays a crucial role in the further development of Experience Sharing. Through Social Referencing, the infant gains security and confidence in interacting with his world. Once it has been learned, parents can begin more actively introducing novelty and variety into the child's life. They know that, even as they make the inevitable errors in providing too much or too powerful stimulation, the infant will be able to easily recover, through gazing at Mom or Dad and using their calm and happy emotional reassurance as a reference point for his own emotional state.

In the following clip, you can see Pamela's mild meltdown. Mild because I have seen her cry for five or ten minutes over unexpected changes in Steve's schedule. About forty seconds into the clip, Pamela begins to reference my calm and neutral reaction and you can see the "instant emotional relief" she felt by paying attention to me.


Tomorrow, we will have even more practice because the hot water heater stopped working today (and thankfully, my dad, Handyman Howard, lives across the street) and I have two toilets acting up. But, first, I need to practice my own calm and reassuring demeanor (instead of primal scream in a fetal position). I guess that is what happens when you choose to live in a house that is older than Steve and my age combined! (I'll let you do the math . . .)

We'll Live!

Autism Remediation for Our Children is an email list for people interested in remediating autism from the perspective of Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), who might not be able to afford a certified consultant, who are building up confidence to pay for one, who have had one and feel they can fly solo, who are consultants, or who have one and wish to share what they have learned. In short, a mixed bag!

From time to time, someone posts great links to articles or the work of other professionals that dovetail nicely with guided participation (which is the model RDI uses). A recent post spotlighted the ideas of Dr. James McDonald, founder of Communicating Partners, who focuses on relationship over mechanics in his blog.

One post answers the chicken or the egg question, "Which comes first cognitive learning or social learning?" If you really think hard about it, the answer is obvious. Because most autistic children are static thinkers and spot patterns quickly, early cognitive learning such as colors and numbers are easy for them to master. So easy that we ought not to spend any time on them at all! Pamela taught herself to sight read by figuring out how to much videocassette tapes (even pictureless ones) to their boxes! Since static learning comes so easily to them, I believe it is counterproductive to develop that part of the brain even more. Imagine a tree in which some branches are completely lush, full, and heavily laden with fruit while other branches are nothing but sticks. Pamela's branches for patterns, numbers, and static bits of knowledge is the former, but her ability to relate to people is like the latter.

Like RDI, Communicating Partners works on social learning first. Dr. MacDonald writes,

In fact it is now evident that a child will learn more of what he needs to be included in the social world from frequent daily interactions spontaneously than he will from intensive drilling on facts and skills for school. Making a child a successful student does not make him less autistic in real life and less isolated from society. Early and intensive social relationships are needed for that.

I especially love his point that "Treatment is no longer limited to trained and paid persons, but is available to anyone interacting daily with the child." I have watched situations unfold between Pamela and cashiers, kindred spirits who instinctively know how to slow down for Pamela, my random dad and son who both create lots of uncertainty, my patient German mother who knows how hard it is to learn a second language, Steve's doting parents who think Pamela is smashing and love to see what she will do next, her loving aunts who think nothing wrong about Pamela toting around her babies (Baby Alive and Baby David), etc. Often, she applies the discoveries she learns from me in situations with other people. They unwittingly work on our objectives without even knowing that what they are doing is vital!

I used to be very skeptical about what social milestones Pamela might be able to develop since she is nearly twenty years old. Based on what I have seen her learn in the past two years, I completely agree with Dr. MacDonald's assertion that, "contrary to the belief and practice of many, most children diagnosed on the autism spectrum can become much more social and genuinely communicative than they are." As you know we have been working very hard on helping Pamela to feel okay about uncertain situations. The following clip demonstrates two very exciting discoveries Pamela is making (1) we can feel comfortable about not knowing exactly when Steve (her dad) will return from a long trip and (2) we do not have to be upset about broken things (Opa's truck and the radio).


Last week, the radio station really did go out the day we had a tornado watch and Pamela cried and cried for about five minutes. Anyone who has watched an autistic person meltdown over broken things knows how heartbreaking it is to see these very real tears. The cool thing is that I did not spend the week getting Pamela used to walking in the kitchen with the radio on static. Instead, we practiced Pamela seeing my calm, neutral face when we were in the middle of uncertainty and Pamela knowing that, as long as I appear calm, then things were going to be okay in the end.

I will close with another lovely conversation--and Dr. MacDonald wrote a neat post on that topic, too. Steve was out gassing up the cars (an enjoyable task now that the price of gas has dropped).

Pamela asked where dad was. I told her, "I don't know!"

She said, "I don't know!"

Then she asked, "Is it gas?"

I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders and said, "It's okay."

She nodded and told me, "We'll live."

Yes, indeed, Pamela! We'll live.

Wordless Wednesday: GF/CF Fudgesicles (Click for Recipe Link)

Uncertainty: Advancing to a New Level

I finally got my act together with uncertainty. Here are two recent clips of our work on uncertainty in which I get it RIGHT. The first one was a quick blurp I uploaded to the consultant as soon as I got off the phone to make sure I was on the right track.


The second one shows the culmination of what we have been doing after one week of steady explorations of uncertainty. Steve left for Chile yesterday. Whenever he heads south, people invariably email or call him and beg him to pick up the latest gadgets and toys. Sometimes, he is finds himself carrying more stuff than necessities (clothes, toiletries, etc.). On this trip, he dedicated a small carry-on bag to things for other people. Unfortunately, he had to be at work by 8 o'clock for an important meeting and three UPS deliveries would not be arriving until later in the morning. That meant the kids and I met Steve at the airport (a 2.5 hour round trip for us). Fortunately, I needed video and the trip gave us many ways to explore uncertainty!


My consultant and I agree Pamela is ready for the next level. We are going to skip a step that Pamela can already do (solving a problem or finding out when she realizes she does not know). Our new level is when I know something, but Pamela does not know. I am transferring to her the responsibility of her telling me when she does not know. This may sound obvious to a neurotypical person, but we need to make sure that Pamela recognizes that she does not know things that other people might know. At first, we thought I might have to scaffold this discovery by stopping and gaze shifting between something she does not know and her face. Pamela caught on IMMEDIATELY and she took my breath away. There are times in the video clip below in which I did scaffold with a declarative comment like, "I bet you don't know where we are going."


Today, we did have a moment of uncertainty in which Pamela was unhappy and did NOT reference me at all. The kitchen radio cut out for a few minutes; and, no matter how hard I tried to let her know that I did not know when the radio would be back on air and smiled, she was too upset to feel reassured. Hopefully, some day, our work on uncertainty will help her deal with situations like this better.

GF/CF Fruit Dessert

We celebrated Steve's forty-something-eth birthday on Friday, and, since he prefers semi-healthy treats, I baked a fruit dessert in lieu of cake and frosting. Between missing ingredients and stripping it of gluten and casein, I revised a recipe from a church cookbook in a major way. If you have a sweet tooth, you may want to add up to a cup of sugar to the filling. It must have passed the taste test, for it vanished in less than 24 hours!

Filling:
1 21-ounce can cherry pie filling
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple
1 15-ounce can peaches (lite syrup)
1 15-ounce can pears (lite syrup)
1/3 cup tapioca
2 cups fruit juice (drained from fruit)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar and tapioca with liquid. Let stand for five minutes. Cook and stir constantly until thickened. Add the remaining filling ingredients, dicing any that need it.

Crust:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup buttery sticks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 cup gluten-free cornflake crumbs
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free baking flour

In a separate bowl, cream brown sugar and buttery sticks. Beat in the rest of the crust ingredients. Press 2/3 of the mixture in a 10 x 13 inch pan. Spoon in fruit filling.

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut

Mix the rest of the crust mixture with the nuts and coconut. Crumble over the fruit filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. If the topping gets too brown, cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Undoing 27 Years of Military Training

Changing my parenting style is so difficult and brain-numbing. The latest twist is to say those dreaded words. What dreaded words, you ask? Well, back in the summer of 1981, the very first thing I learned at the boat school was the five basic responses of the plebe. There are only five ways we could respond and saying the wrong thing could cause your squad leader to yell at you at the top of his lungs with about one inch between his nose and yours. The five basic responses were "Yes, sir!" "No, sir!" "Aye-aye, sir!" The answer or "I'll find out, sir!" It took quite a bit of yelling and screaming in my face for it to be drilled into my head to say "I'll find out, sir!" instead of what most people say when they don't know. Yes, those dreaded words, "I don't know, sir!"

What does this have to do with parenting? My RDI consultant has wisely observed that Pamela has a difficult time living with uncertainty. And, when I think about it, her worst crying jags (short, but intense) are caused by true uncertainty. For example, we do not know how long it will take for power to come back on when it is out. We do not know when the cable box will come back on if it dies. We do not know when Steve will come home if his flight is canceled. We do not know how long a traffic jam will last (especially if we are late for a very important date). This kind of uncertainty does cause Pamela to become unglued because there is no answer and know predicting when we will have an answer.

While what we were doing was helping, I did not have it quite nailed. I was just letting uncertainty flow into little guessing games, which misses the point of living with uncertainty. The following two clips show how I have been missing the boat because knowing that there is an answer if you wait long enough sweeps away uncertainty in Pamela's mind.




Keep in mind--what we are doing was sweet and fun, but we were NOT working on uncertainty, which was the objective! The focus is that we don't know and we can live with not knowing. The key is to stop and freeze that moment of uncertainty in time so that Pamela has time to process that I am perfectly fine about not knowing. She needs space around the "I don't know" moment so that it will register as being a neutral moment for me (and I hope she will reference that and decide it is neutral for her, too). We do not need to play guessing games or solve the problem because, in our messy world, that is not always possible. Sometimes, there is no answer or solution.

Once Pamela relaxes and accepts being uncertain, we can resume the action and go back to what we were doing, which may very well include solving the problem or finding out the answer or living with uncertainty even longer! The problem with this is that it will be hard to record these moments because moments of true uncertainty happen unannounced. You almost need TiVo in your eyeballs!

In the past day, I have already seen how hard this is for Pamela. For example, Pamela loves commenting on which car Steve takes (one car does not have a radio and she loves her music). The first time she asked me what car he was taking I did the slow, neutral, calm "I don't know which car Dad is taking" and started World War III! She kept rotating between the three car colors (red, gray, or black). I must have repeated the "I don't know" mantra about eight times. She was not happy and fussed and blustered at me. She gave up. A minute later, she ran to the window to see three cars still there.

Later, I tried the IDK car mantra again. I was unable to prevent her from running to the window to check to see Steve switching around cars. Later, Steve was busy switching cars around. I tried the IDK car thing, and Pamela got so frustrated she used her power words. After guessing each car several times, she finally said, "Failed. Game over!" Aha! I thought she thinks it is a game in which there has to be an answer. Not knowing is not an option in this game. So, I said to her, "This is not a game. I don't know which car Dad is taking. It's okay." FINALLY, she got it. Pamela relaxed, nodded, and smiled back, then went back to eating!

Later in the day, we were coming back from picking up Pamela's dinner. We always do that on my choir night. As we turned onto our street, we saw Steve drive off. Pamela asked, "Where's Dad going?" I stopped the car (we live on a dead street) and said, "I don't know" and smiled. She smiled back and let it go! NORMALLY, she would have said something like, "Daddy's getting gas" which is what he usually does when the price of gas is low. After we got home, I walked into the office/TV room and said, "I don't know where Dad went." I was relaxed and neutral. Pamela nodded and smiled back!

That does not mean she has mastered this concept in a day. The true test will be the next time something unpredictable happens for which we have no answer.

RIP: The Sacred Hour 4/6/2007 - 11/13/2008 (Click Picture for Background)

Never Too Old for Advent!

The past two Christmas seasons have been so hectic, we did not have time for advent. This year, we decided to do it even if it meant sitting around the wreath and singing on a Tuesday night. Sure enough, by the time David got home from youth group last night, Pamela was already in bed and Steve was fading fast.

So, we celebrated the first Sunday of advent on Monday! We lit one candle and cycled around the table, letting each person pick a favorite song. I can tell how much Pamela has changed because, this year, she gave me face to face contact as we sang several carols. She has a very light, sweet soprano voice and decent timing, but the lyrics definitely need more work!

Steve never sings because he has about one note in his repetoirie. This is the first year David opted not to sing, in spite of the fact that he can carry a tune and has a soft baritone voice. I did not act disappointed and was later rewarded for my patience. After we were finished with the pumpkin pie for our advent treat, David ran upstairs to his bedroom and spent about an hour practicing Christmas carols on his recorder so that he can accompany us next week!

Sixteen years old and David is still suspectible to being bitten by the advent bug . . .

Doing the UN-Thinkable

Pamela is ready for the holidays year-round because she loves watching Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole Christmas and even snagged a copy of The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat and Grinch Night but, thankfully, drew the line at the live-action version. She even loves Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer plus the highly cheesy spin-offs, Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July.

But, that is not what was un-thinkable about yesterday . . .

For the first time in her life, Pamela succumbed to the Black Friday hoopla and decided we were going shopping on that ominous day. Ominous because I hate shopping and the day I hate most to shop is black Friday! However, I will do anything for Pamela and we braved Walmart together in search of stuff for an elder basket and an angel tree child. Fortunately, because we waited until after lunch shop, we did not witness any stampeding shoppers. Of course, in a town south of the Mason-Dixon line with population 4,000, one would not expect such unladylike behavior.

We picked out three of four items on the wish list of a four-year-old girl who is part of the angel tree program hosted by our church for foster care children in our area. Pamela enjoyed picking out a Baby Alive Sip 'N Snooze for she thoroughly adores the Baby Alive (a baby, not a D-O-L-L) she received for Christmas last year. She scratched and sniff all three kinds of Dora dolls present (lemon, cotton candy, and cherry) and chose lemon, of course: Stylish Scents Dora- Lemon Drop. She smiled when she tested out the Vtech Write and Learn Letter Pad and wrote a letter on the pad. We included extra batteries that came with a wind-up panda toy plus two books: The Animals' Christmas Eve and God Knows All about Me.

Our church also participates in an elder basket program in which people fill an ordinary laundry basket with packaged food, personal care, and household items. Pamela helped me pick out items for our basket and I used up the rest of the baby blanket cotton yarn on a Basket Weave dishcloth, nubby-scrubby washcloth, and extra thick potholder and I still have enough remaining to knockout another basket weave dishcloth I plan to include two bars of Ivory soap for the under-a-dollar gift I'm supposed to bring to the monthly Bible study class next month.


David, the giant, jolly elf, decorated the Christmas tree. He also terrified our gentle parakeet Lily by putting a gargantuan lifelike bird on top of the cage. She flustered about the cage, so he took it off after a minute and replaced it with less intimidating froppery. And, when he was not busy entertaining the neighbor's grandsons, David took a picture of the Arwenator wearing a Santa hat . . . I guess all that hard work makes up for the disappearance of half a container of ice cream, egg nog, and pumpkin pie . . .


Steve nearly finished his mammoth to-do list, which included doing Christmas cards, which he decorated with the most interesting collection of stamps. . .

Thankful Thursday Thanksgiving Meme

I found this meme at a knitting blog:

1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? Hint: Last year, we served champagne in Dora the Explorer paper cups last New Year's Eve. I am not Martha Stewart, nor do I play her on television. Of course, I prefer going elsewhere so I do not have to overextend my meager decorating and culinary skills!

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? I buy frozen, or better yet a ham to avoid being the subject of any thanksgiving horror stories. While my dad is brave enough to manage a fried turkey without blowing up the house, I am better off with a plain-old, garden-variety ham!

3. What kind of stuffing? I like gluten-free, casein-free cornbread stuffing with mushrooms, nuts, and other goodies (but no innards or oysters, please); Steve prefers Stove Top when he is not visiting his mother, who makes fabulous stuffing that I cannot match!

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? About the only thing I can do well is a gluten-free, casein-free pumpkin pie, made with a nut crust, except for this year because I blackened the outer edge in honor of my Cajun friends.

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? Any leftover is a blessing in the home of the anti-Martha Stewart! I grew up on Exxon Valdez stew (leftovers with a splash of lard to stick to your ribs).

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu? I am pleading the fifth because none of my side dishes are that popular.

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock? Yes, I do and that is why I am the Queen of the Crockpot!

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier? I wish I had someone else to do the cooking. Oh, wait, I do! It's my husband, Steve!

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour? Snort! We eat dinner when it is done. The year we lived in Oliver's Fun House in a fishing village in Alaska (see the image I found online of one--no, that is not me nor did I ever smile while cooking on my oil stove), the turkey wasn't ready because our dual-purpose stove (which heated the house and the hot water heater, neither very well) had a cracked kiln. We could not crank up the thing to avoid sooting up the house. So, we rotated the bird periodically to eat it evenly.

10. If you go to somebody else's house, what's your favorite dish to bring? I always bring homemade cranberry conserve and pumpkin pie!

11. What do you wish one of your guests wouldn't bring to your house? I guess it would have to be Senor Influenza!

12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see? We keep it small and cozy to avoid the drama for my momma, who lives across the street from us.

13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu? My absolute favorite thing on any menu is dessert!

14. What are you thankful for this year?

• We live in a country where we can speak freely, worship God freely, and homeschool!
• My husband is a great breadwinner, who does not mind cooking or helping out with the house.
• My two kids have taught me so much about patience and never giving up.
• Our extended family loves and accepts our autistic sweetie pie for who she is.
• I am thankful for my local skin friend (and the one who moved away last spring), my skin friends from high school and college, and all of the aut-2b-home, homeschool, RDI, CM, gf/cf, whatever cyber friends.

Wordless Wednesday: Nine-Inch Nails

County Champs!

Tonight was David's last soccer game for the year. He did not start playing soccer until three years ago. He has been playing on the same team for our county recreational league since we moved here: the first year they won, last year they lost, and this year they won again (there are three teams). The first two years, David played defense, but this year, his coach moved him up to midfield! He started out the year playing the mininum required quarters (two), but tonight he played all four quarters--I was so excited for him! He is definitely more aggressive with going after the ball and has enough control to pass it to other players. He does not have the skill of the teammates who probably started handling a ball as soon as they could walk, but he has made great progress in the past three years.

Tonight the weather was brutally cold: my car said 38 degrees Fahrenheit, but, according to weather.com, that felt like 32 because of the mild wind. As you can see, I bundled up and am so thankful for the alpaca poncho that Steve bought for me on his first trip to Chile. I was fairly warm with all of the layers (three pairs of socks, one of which was thermal). But, still . . . it's cold out there and the weatherguessers are predicting freezing cold temperatures tonight!

Operation Christmas Child

Before I get to the main course, I have to share two appetizers. Yesterday, Pamela did two lovely things.

When David came downstairs, ready for church, he sat on a chair to watch television. Pamela walked into the room, and he said, "Good morning, Pamela!" She walked to him, gave him a big hug, and said, "Good morning!"

Later, at church, Pamela was being very static about Steve's traveling schedule next week. He told her he was flying to Atlanta on Thursday, but she was trying to convince him to drive instead. He explained that the flight to Atlanta is short, but it would take eight hours to drive there. She still thought her idea was better. She tapped him on his forehead and said, "Use your brain!" This was pure Pamela because we have never said nor done such a thing to her!

This year, Pamela and I put together a shoe box for Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child. Pamela decided to do a box for a little girl between the ages of five to nine. On Friday, we walked to a local discount store, bought a plastic container, and filled it with toys. Since we are working on living with uncertainty, I showed Pamela some money and put it in my pocket. We went on a walk, but I did not tell her where I was going. Clearly, she was curious because she asked me about it half-way to the store (there are several stores within walking distance of our house). However, she was collected enough to avoid the static on our walk and made lovely comments about what we experienced on the way.


On Friday, we bought all kinds of toys (a Beanie Baby doll, yo-yo, jump rope, ball, pink boa, and Slinky), school supplies (glue, markers, and crayons), and personal items (a handmade washcloth--I crocheted it, soap, barrettes, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, and pretty socks). Pamela focused intently on her mission and did not always communicate well. When pointing the way, she did not always check to see if I am paying attention. As usual, I talked too much! I love her little asides . . . "I stole it" (when I told her I lost the list), "Ha, never mind!" (after I found the list), "No, I can't! How come?" (when she was ready to stop), "Over there, I told you" (after I failed to follow her). I loved our little problem-solving moment at the end when we were deciding if the box of crayons might fit. And, of course, I accidentally left one segment upside down . . . I'm tired, cold, and cranky and I'm leaving it as is!


On Sunday, Pamela typed a short letter with a picture of her and her babies. We wrapped the box and took it to church to meet today's deadline. First, we packed the box. Pamela focused on packing but did pause to make a couple of comments about the glue made in Columbus, Ohio, the Beanie Baby doll not being an animal, and the soft boa. She adjusted to me when I suggested doing the big things first, picking a better spot for the yo-yo, and looking at the musical toothbrush after I shook it.


When we wrapped the present, we kept our roles fluid to create uncertainty. Sometimes, I cut the tape and she placed it on the gift, and, at other times, it was vice versa. After we finished, we talked about what the little girl receiving the present might say and our favorite things in the gift. She was so delightful and really seemed to enjoy putting together the shoe box.


Here are some close-up shots of our box and all of the boxes our church donated.




Our next big projects are delivering meals on Thanksgiving and putting together an elder basket for Santee tribes in our state (due November 30).

Breathtaking!

Pamela surprised me today several times in very promising ways:

1. Pamela is loosening up on the "sacred hour" which has been an institution around here since before we started RDI. She used to be quite adamant about watching television between noon and one, kicking David out for the duration. She only allowed exceptions for travel and for expected appointments away from home. I have noticed her loosening up on the sacred hour for the past two weeks. Today, David called me and said, "Mom! Look at the time." It was 12:25 and Pamela was soaking up rays on the back porch.

A few minutes later, Pamela happily checks to see if we have GF/CF chicken broth so she can make alphabet soup when we get back from shopping.

2. We drove to Walmart and picked up a couple of things. My mind was on all the things I had to get done today and it was Pamela who pointed out some girls' underwear with Sponge Bob, Dora, the Little Mermaid, etc. Although it was a short interaction, I felt she was truly sharing joint attention with me. Later, we looked at the books and she pointed out different picture books to me.

3. Then, a mini-miracle happened. We were heading over to the self-checkout and bumped into a kindly lady I know from church. Pamela has been staying home from church, and I am hoping she will choose to go with us one of these days. She had not seen this lady in ages, so I introduced her as J.B.'s mom (J.B. rented a house to us for 18 months and Pamela knows his name and who he is, so this was my way of scaffolding interest). The lady said, "Hi, Pamela, I’m N."

Pamela smiled and said, "Where are you from?"

N. needed me to repeat Pamela's question and said in a very engaging way, "Why, I'm from Manning, just like you." She patted Pamela on the arm.

Then, Pamela said, "I was born in Alaska."

"Alaska? It's so cold in Alaska."

"Yes. Where's David?"

I told N. that David was at home. Then she said, "Was David bad?"

Pamela shook her head and said, "No. David's not bad." Pamela likes to cheer people up after an argument (which we did not have with David today), so she gave me a hug.

Then, N. said, "Why Pamela, I just love hugs!"

And, Pamela hugged her. Pamela asked to go sit on the bench and I agreed. N. told her goodbye and Pamela waved to her!

4. And, if that wasn't enough, Pamela had brought a thick stack of old photographs in the car. While I was driving, she would make comments. Usually, she talks about the state, time zone, and/or Chinese astrological sign for the year the picture was taken. Today, she made very declarative comments with very little of the static.

She looked at a picture of a bunch of us midshipmen jumping into the pool with full dress uniform. Pamela said, "Swimming pool." So, I said, "Did you see what we were wearing?" She laughed and said, "Yes, clothes!" (I am one of the people in the blur . . . after the final parade before graduation, we all jump in a pool to celebrate because we no longer need those uniforms . . . crazy tradition, huh?)


Pamela was very fascinated by a picture of Hawaiians standing on boats at the Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii. She said, "Boats." I told her that her dad took Grandma and Grandpa there when he lived in Hawaii. (This was before he and I met!)

She showed me another picture from the same place. I told her that Lisa met her husband Johnny at the center when he worked there. Last summer, we met Johnny and their beautiful daughter Leilani for the first time. (Lisa and I met in high school in Newfoundland.)

She showed me a picture of Steve boogie-boarding in Hawaii. She asked me, "Where's that?" because she truly did not know. I told her that her dad was at a beach in Maui, Hawaii. She did mention Hawaii Standard Time, but then asked for the city. I told her, "I don't know!"

She asked where this picture of Steve and I near a flooded swing-set. I asked, "Where do you think?" She said, "Sand Point." I said, "No." Then, she realized it was another island with tundra, "Adak, where you were born!" Again, she did not know the location of this shot.

She looked at this baby picture of herself and said, "Eating food." I said, "Yeah, you made a mess!" (Wasn't she a cutie?????? I can tell this was taken in December because four red advent candles are in the forefront!)

Then, she looked at this picture of Steve's parents' house in Louisiana. I know she remembers the house, but there was snow on the ground. She asked, "Where's the house?" I said, "In Louisiana. In 1989 Grandma and Grandpa had a crazy snowstorm." She smiled and said, "Uh-oh!" I laughed and said, "Yeah, God sent a big surprise."

Pamela saw this picture of her aunt and herself near a pool. Pamela said, "That's Florida." I said, "Yes, that was Aunt Essie's house. She’s in heaven." (I took this picture when Pamela was fifteen months old. When we got home, we took her to that fateful vaccination (MMR and DPT on the same day). What a mistake! She was already having health problems with never ending diaper rashes and ear infections. Her illnesses and autism ramped up after this!)

She showed me this picture from Disneyland and said, "Rocket!" I replied, "That's when we took you to Disneyland!" (We visited my sister in San Diego and hit Disneyland on the way back. We had just started the process of getting Pamela evaluated. We did our best to fake enjoying the trip for Pamela's sake. How could she notice our heartbreak?)


She showed this picture from Germany, "It's a church!" I replied, "That's when we saw Oma and Opa in Germany." (Pamela was four on this trip. She was afraid of Mom's canary and hid behind the couch a lot. She did well on the trip except the jetway terrified her and the people smoking after dinner triggered an allergic reaction in her. David was a baby, and his great Oma just loved him because he would play with the ball of yarn sitting in the basket!)


Then, she held this picture of David and her in the plastic pool. She pointed, "David's in the pool." I said, "Oh, yes, you were playing." Then she said, "Ariel." I said, "David was so cute." She pointed to his shirt and said, "Baloo!" (Pamela attended special education classes in the local public school. Steve and I were on active duty in the Navy.)

She saw this picture of her on a slide and said, "Florida!" I said, "Yes, that's when we moved to Connecticut!" (We visited my sister in Florida on our way to Connecticut. Both kids enjoyed playing with their cousins, who are about the same age as my kids.)

She looked at a picture of her and David on farm and asked, "Where's that?" I replied, "Allentown, near Philadelphia." Then she said, "Five more states" because she realized it was during our move to Connecticut in 1995 after Steve and I left the Navy and began homeschooling.

Then, she saw a picture of David at a playground. She said, "David's sliding!" I said, "That looks like fun!" She said, "Just like gravity!" (Pennsylvania had several wonderful playgrounds, and we had a pool, swingset, and climbing trees--a kid's paradise. They spent many happy hours playing in our backyard.)

She commented on this shot of the kids doing a homeschool Christmas program. Pamela said, "David's signing 'Silent Night!'" I said, "He did such a great job!" (We attended a fantastic co-op in Pennsylvania. The kids loved going to classes and all of the field trips and other activities. It was a blast!)

She showed me this mystery road and asked, "Where's the road?" I told her I didn't know but said the date was August 2001. Then, she told me, "That’s Alaska!"

I felt like this conversation was much closer to the joint attention we are seeking because many of her comments were declarative. When she did ask, she truly did not know or was confused. When I did answer with the name of the state, Pamela did not fall into her typical patterns (state, time zone, Chinese astrological year). She did not ask me to tell her what she already knew in a static conversation. She made different comments based upon the pictures themselves.