Elvis Wants a Cookie

Anyone for some positive stories?

• We've heard so few words from Joy, for so long -- other than the "more" sign, some photo-choice-making on her Go-Talk, and the occasional "uh-oh". But tonight at dessert time, she echoed the word "cookie," clear as clear. Just once. JoyDad and I both did a double-take. And gave her one with chocolate chips.
  
  
• Speaking of the "more" sign. The other day at breakfast, JoyDad came swooping past to distribute kisses to his breakfasting ladies. Joy giggled at him, and tilted her face up. And then after receiving her kiss, she signed a great big "more"!
  
  
• And still more "more" -- today I was home with Joy, and had a few minutes where she was playing in the living room and I sneaked in some plunking on the piano. I've given up trying to play piano when Rose is around. I don't know why, but I get great big huge objections to my playing if Rose is within earshot. So it felt really good today to end a section of the Maple Leaf Rag with a big flourish... only to look up and find Joy grinning at me and signing "more"!
  
  
• Some totally cool imitation/initiation -- this morning one of Joy's baristas reported that Joy had snagged a tissue from the box and used it to go after the barista's nose! She did it again to me later on in the day. Unfortunately in my case it was with a nasty tissue that was blowing around the playground that she picked up. But the thought was in the right place.
  
  
• We had a therapy-team meeting last night, where positive stories are always the first agenda item. Joy bopped around the living room during the meeting, with her Baby Einstein video on repeat-play. She has never shown much interest in the meetings. But last night as the meeting was nearing a close, she decided that she wanted in on the action. She sidled up to Lynda (her Wonder Woman daycare lady) and climbed right up on her lap. And then she did this marvellous flirty little sequence of turning to make eye contact with Lynda, with a great big ol' grin. Over and over.

Accentuate the positive!

Positive Stories

Last night we had a team meeting at our house, one of those delightful gatherings that gets all (or almost all) of Joy's baristas (intensive autism line therapists) in one place at one time, together with me & JoyDad & Lynda the Wonder Woman daycare lady.

These are remarkably productive meetings when we keep them on track. The biggest thing that threatens to derail them occasionally is that everybody gets too involved in the very first agenda item...

The first agenda item is positive stories.

I love starting meetings this way, and I love the fact that people have SO many positive Joy-stories to tell, that it threatens to take up too much of the meeting sometimes!

Last night's positive stories included:

• Joy ate an entire helping of cut-up spaghetti & red sauce -- with her fork. With almost no guidance.
  
  
• When one of her baristas was playing pillow-squish game with her, and saying a big ol' "Squish!" each time the pillow came down, Joy several times echoed the unusual sound "KW".
  
  
• At daycare, Joy was in her chair at the table playing with a puzzle, something that's usually not a big turn-on for her. Another child decided to be "helpful" and came over to take over, pulling pieces out of Joy's hand and putting them in the puzzle. And Joy, instead of checking out on the interaction, got mad, tried to hold on to the pieces, even succeeded in getting some back!
  
  
• Joy imitated monkey-noises, "oo-ahh-ahh-ahh".
  
  
• The "high-five" that we've worked into Joy's greeting and bye-bye routines has caught on like wildfire. It's such a charming way that she can interact that feels "normal" to people, and they respond with such delight. She high-fived the sheriff's deputy who came to change her Project Lifesaver battery, and a whole bunch of folks at church. Plus she high-fives Rose, who is a model of patience in holding her hand at the ready and waiting for Joy to come through with that high-five.

Once we've got a good foundation of positive stories to build on, it's ever so much easier to bring out the challenges, like how do we deal with Joy's grass-pulling and rotten-apple-eating in the yard? (we're going to try to provide stretchy-sequin bands, which have helped at daycare) or how do we deal when she's pingpong-ing around and won't slow down long enough to interact (sometimes it's calming to get her sitting in the high-chair, notched down to its lowest setting near the floor.)

Positive stories. Didn't I just mention recently how much I like them?

P.S. Here are some positive stories from me. This morning I went running again (OK, alternating walk with slow-jog) for the first time since I broke my toe last month. It felt fine. And, I interviewed yesterday for the university program I was talking about the other day, that would take my plate-spinning to a whole 'nother level. I don't think I've ever been so relaxed and confident in an interview before. The program feels RIGHT for me. Now the committee just has to agree! I should find out Thursday which way the decision tips.