Good Teachers Make All the Difference

This past week was Teacher Appreciation week, and I was very excited to be able to pamper Ethan's teachers a little bit. Each day Ethan would take his teachers a small gift, and Ethan LOVED doing this! Note cards, candy, drinking cups, etc.....very small things in comparison to what these amazing teachers have done for Ethan.

Last week, Ethan's classroom teacher told me that she caught him reading a book to another student.....sitting side by side together. That is amazing....both the actual sitting & the sitting NEXT to a child. She also told me that he sought her out & verbally asked for her help with something. She said that this was a first time. AWESOME! His speech therapist told me this week that she is working with Ethan on being quiet & LISTENING to others. This small statement almost had me in tears. It wasn't that long ago when I didn't think Ethan even HAD a voice....and now he is working on controlling it. AMAZING! His occupational therapist sent home several things from earlier in the school year, and the change from then to now regarding his penmanship is OUTSTANDING!

All of these things happening are because of Ethan's awesome teachers. They not only care for Ethan but they push him to do his best every day. I love that! They have told us that he is doing very well with transitions, he no longer fully relies on his support aids, his speech is better than ever before, his motor skills are becoming solid, and his social skills are growing a little each day. The word "thankful" just doesn't do justice to how I feel about Ethan's teachers. Grateful? Blessed? Who knows. But these 4 women are laying the ground work for Ethan's future success.....and they are doing a FANTASTIC job! We couldn't be happier!

I also am so thankful for Ethan's two Sunday school teachers. They, too, love & care for Ethan. They are teaching him about Jesus through crafts, singing, stories, play, and through their own lives. Awhile ago, I attended a Temple Grandin conference, and a woman asked this question: "How can we teach children with autism about Christianity? A very non-concrete concept?" Dr. Temple's answer? By living it out in your actions. Show them what it means to love your neighbor. Show them what it means to love like Christ. Show them how to follow the 10 commandments. Show them, show them, show them.....

Awesome.

And Ethan is blessed to have 2 teachers that show him & show him & show him. This week, after reading My Church Party, one of Ethan's teachers came to our house. Since we hadn't gone to church this Sunday due to our weekend road trip, we hadn't received any of our weekly Sunday school materials. So.....his teacher brought them to us. Are you crying? Because I am! Thank you, Ms. Randi!

Good teachers make all the difference in the lives of children. I knew that as a teacher, but now that I am a mom....I see it first hand. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of Ethan's teachers! We are so blessed to be under your care & knowledge. You have all impacted this family's life for the better in so many ways. We love you!!!!!

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me

and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." Amen!

DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN CONFERENCE!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! Yesterday, my husband, mom & I were all fortunate enough to be able to go to one of Temple Grandin's conferences. It was in Chicago, IL so we drove in the night before, stayed in the hotel where the conference was located, and attended the conference ALL DAY! IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!

We made our way to the conference room as soon as we could....7am. As we were checking in, my mom was talking to me about "Where do we go?" & that sort of thing.....but I didn't hear a word she was saying. I was momentarily "star struck" because at that very second Temple Grandin was coming our way! I was frozen as I just watched her heading towards us. Then, she walked right past me! You would have thought Temple was Elvis Presley or something the way I was so overcome with awe! I, of course, immediately started to cry! Not only was I about to hear from the woman who has helped me understand my own child, the woman who's books I am absorbing, the woman who's interviews I have practically memorized, but she was shoulder-to-shoulder next to me! It really was a surreal moment for me.

After that we made our way into the conference room. My mom & I immediately went to save our seats. Most people were at the continental breakfast that was provided, but we were more concerned with getting optimum seating. And boy did we get it!!!! Here is a picture of how close we were to the speakers.

I don't have many more pictures because it wasn't allowed during the presentations. Besides, I was busy taking notes, laughing, crying, meeting new friends, buying stuff from the vendors, etc. It was a wonderful day. Temple signed the book that I had brought with me. (A long time ago, before we knew that Ethan had autism, my sister was a big Temple Grandin fan. As a teacher, she has fully embraced her classroom as an inclusion classroom, and has loved every minute of it. In order to help her understand some of her students with autism a little better, she purchased & read several of Temple's books. Well, here we are years later, and she has passed those books to me....so I can understand my child a little better. So, it was one of her books that I took with me to have signed....with my sister's permission of course. She was just as excited about this conference as the rest of us!) But here is something so wonderfully funny. As Temple took the book from me to sign, she looked at my name tag & wrote: To Jessica, Temple Grandin. LOL! So now my sister's book says, "To Jessica, Temple Grandin." HAHAHA! We all LOVE IT!!!! Temple also allowed us to take a picture with her.

Dr. Temple Grandin, me and my husband. Thanks mom for taking this picture!

Well, as you can guess, I will have TONS to talk about from this experience. It was amazing! I met some new friends, we all cried together (actually, I'm not sure if my husband ever cried.....but maybe he got that lumpy thing in his throat), we laughed A LOT, and we got some GREAT new information.

One thing that I took away from the conference is this.......we are already doing what we need to be doing for Ethan. I felt reaffirmed in our parenting, our therapies, our strategies, and so on. Yes, I will be tweaking or adding things, but I didn't leave there thinking, "Wow...we could be doing so much more for him." I felt like, "YES! We are already doing all of those things! We are on the right path for what is best for Ethan."

It was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am so grateful that I was able to go WITH my husband and my mom. Ethan stayed with my husband's parents, and it sounds like they had a great day as well....LOTS of memories & bonding. This was the first time that we both simultaneously left Ethan for more than 24 hours. This was a big leap for us to do (REALLY big for my husband), but it was so worth it....for all of us. And, as my friend recently said, maybe someday people will be paying money to hear Ethan & I speak at a conference. You never know what God has in store for this child, but I just KNOW that it's going to be AMAZING! YEAH!!!!!!

Temple Grandin - Different Not Less

A couple of weeks ago, Corey & I watched a movie about a woman who has autism. Her name is Temple Grandin. Here is the trailer to the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkN0JdXRpM

It was an amazing movie, and it has allowed us to understand Ethan a little better. For example, Temple talks about how she thinks in pictures & then connects them. This has helped us teaching Ethan about WAITING.

Ethan has a difficult time with WAITING. If we are in the grocery store & the cart stops, he starts to get anxious & upset. If we are sitting in a drive thru, the same reaction. If we put his shoes on & don't leave the house right away, he begins to panic. These are just a few examples. Well, the other day, Ethan & I were waiting in line at the grocery store, and he started to get upset. We had just watched the Temple Grandin movie, so I was quickly trying to think of a picture of waiting that Ethan would already have in his mind. GOT IT! A traffic light!

When we are driving in the car, Ethan will point out all kinds of logos. So on our drive to the grocery store, it goes a little something like this......"We go to Kroger? Yes! Turn left. Turn right. Go straight. I see a Walgreens. Taco Bell. Pizza Hut. Red light, Stop! Green light, GO! Go straight. I see a Monical's. Turn left. I see a Aldi's. I see a Kroger. I would like to go to Kroger. Turn right."

Each phrase is usually repeated over & over again until we acknowledge his request or his request has been completed. He's only 3 years old, and we already have a back seat driver!!!! And if we decide to take a different route, there's a good chance he won't like it...but that seems to be getting better.

So, anyway, back to the waiting. As Ethan's panicking about waiting in line at the grocery store, I say to him, "Yellow Light means.........", and he says to me, "WAIT!" Then I proceed to teach him about waiting our turn, just like sitting at a traffic light. And he was fine the rest of the time in line! And I have used that several times since then, and every time he calms right down. YEAH!!!!!

And this is why I read all I can, take as many classes as I can (we are going to see Temple & her mother speak in Chicago this September! YEAH!), talk to as many people as I can about special needs, mainly autism. Because not everything works. Each child is different, and what works with one child, doesn't work with another child. But, with Ethan, once he understands something......once something works.....he is able to carry it throughout every situation. So will I continue to be obsessed with learning about autism????? Green light means...........................