Before the weekend starts we have another OT & SLT session with Christie and Joyce.  Elliot really enjoys his sessions with Joyce and is continuing to do well with out me staying in the room with him.  As I sit in the waiting room I can hear him screaming and laughing and generally enjoying himself.  The good news is that as the weeks go on it is taking less time before he is warming up to Joyce and really getting into his sessions.  Joyce as ever is really pleased with his progress and gives me a quick update.  It seems that Christie (his SLT) was concerned about the Specialist wanting to put him on Zoloft last week and has mentioned it to Joyce.  She has a quick chat with me and just reaffirms what everyone else has told me.  Whilst Elliot has issues he really doesn’t need to be on Zoloft there are lots of things we can talk about doing before we get to that.  I breath a big sigh of relief and am tempted to hug Joyce but think she may not appreciate it ;o) 

This year is proving to be a really hard journey not just for Elliot but for me too.  I know that Elliots “condition” isn’t life threatening and there are children with much worse forms of Autism that really struggle to function but it is still heart breaking as a parent regardless.  Trying to get him the right help has been hard and invloved a lot of soul searching on my part.  As Elliot is so borderline it is difficult to be sure where to start with him and to be sure that certain characteristics are not being imagined or to wrap bad behaviour up in the “or he can’t help it it’s his condition umbrella” and also to be sure that you are not missing anything and that you can fully see what is happening.  All this considered in a new country with a Health system that is so different with out the support of family and friends can definitely be very over whelming.

The good news is that after the sessions with Christie (SLT) we always feel and know we are doing the right thing as we can both see a huge difference in his speech and his language.  Elliot is always so receptive to her and really opening up.  It really helps that this weeks exercises involved Pixy dust and tootsie rolls (for anyone British reading this sweets)  Elliot thought this was great so much so that when I asked him what he had enjoyed the most in our fun packed day of, going to the park and playing in the sand box and the water sprinklers, then going to Bens birthday party at the splash pool then going for tea at McDonalds he said he enjoyed seeing Christie in the morning the best :o)  You can’t ask for more than that….

So in addition to the Monday session at TSSV we have a session in the park on Wednesday.  Again the same as the Monday session working on SLT and OT in a group setting helping to encourage the children to socialise and integrate in a group setting.  The session starts in the sand pit and I sit at the edge with Elliot to try and encourage him to join in.  I realise that me being so close is not helping so I move away from the group and let the therapists get on with it, that is after all what we are paying for.  I sit just in view so that Elliot knows where I am but far enough away from the children that I am not interfering.  I watch with interest as the therapists engage the children and keep there cool when they act out.  There are lots of very cool activities such as playing in the sand, climbing on the play structures and an obstacle course, finally the children make pictures from things they have found in the park such as sand leaves flowers. 

Elliot from my observations has been stood on the outside of play reflecting and watching a lot.  He hasn’t joined in as much as I would have liked but I have to accept that Elliot is a very shy little boy and these situations make him feel really uncomfortable.  All of these things can make his anxiety worse.  So I have to be careful to find the happy medium as I need to push him beyond his comfort zone but not to far.  I guess the trick here is to determine how to do that.  The specialist tells me that the anxiety is currently his biggest issue but I am not so sure so I speak with the lead therapists at TSSV and ask for some advice.  I tell her that they are wanting Elliot on Zoloft and ask what she thinks. She also agrees that Zoloft is too extreme for Elliot and that he does start to respond he just takes a long time to warm up.  I have high hopes for this summer as the majority of his therapy is group situations to help him.  Fingers crossed it’s going to help.