Just in case you haven't noticed, I have had a wee break from blogging. It's been great!
Nick is fine. I am fine. We are just cruising along, living life in the slow lane with the occasional adventure thrown in for good measure.
I am still practicing my photography. Check out my Instagram if you are interested. I generally post one image a day. You can find me here.
I have been finding it difficult to photograph Nick. He goes into *serious mode* when I pull out my camera! He is also constantly in motion. He blinks frequently and also uses his teeth to make mouth movements. It's quite a challenge to capture him with his eyes open and his mouth/teeth looking natural. :)
Anyhow, I have decided to practice my 'Nick' photography while he is using his iPad. He is conscious of me being in his space, yet he is very relaxed and expressive. Perfect for the both of us.
We have had a proactive day that involved a few changes to our regular family routine. In fact, I threw Nick a huge curveball by postponing shower time until late morning! Wearing pajamas at breakfast time is not usual in this house! He helped me unstack the dishwasher, mix up a big batch of cereal, measure out some ingredients for Play Dough and assist with washing some dishes.
In my quest to expand on Nick's limited diet, I decided to make Butternut soup for lunch. Unfortunately, I was missing two major ingredients, so decided to change the flavour by adding some curry powder. Nick is not used to strong tasting food so I only added a teaspoon! His lunch is pretty much the same each day, therefore it was a new challenge for him to have the soup, especially one that was a tiny bit spicy! Woohoo, he ate it. #happymum
Nick and his Dad went out for a walk to get some exercise in for the day. When they got back, I gave Nick the go ahead to have some iPad time. He had far too much, but hey, his folks needed some space. He also needed some time for himself and I think that it is important to respect that.
We received an invite from friends to go out for supper to a local Indian restaurant. To be honest, I was a bit concerned about taking Nick, as my Butternut curry soup is far removed from Chicken Tikka Masala! Thankfully, the husband was adamant that we could make a plan and he ordered Nick a takeaway Spaghetti Bolognese from the local Italian restaurant. Everyone was happy and we had a lovely time, thank you very much.
All in all, Nick was an absolute star. We were able to be spontaneous and go out at the drop of a hat. Our morning was upside down, yet Nick just went with the flow. I let go of the mother guilt and didn't worry about the extra time he spent on his iPad.
It's been a wonderful public holiday for us today. Happy Women's Day, South Africa.
I took my Mum and Nick to visit one of my favourite coffee haunts, Churchill House. Their space is incredibly tranquil and it is very easy to linger for an age over a lovely cappuccino and an exceptionally delicious Bee Sting (small cake).
Upon arrival we found a little spot in their garden and promptly ordered drinks and fattening stuff. Nick settled himself down and requested a milkshake. To our dismay, the waiter came back to inform us that the Bee Stings were still in the oven and that they didn't have any milkshakes! Eeek.
What to do? What to do?
I deliberated over our dilemma for a minute and then decided that we could walk to the local mall and spend some time wandering around. Nick took it all in his stride, although I could sense that he wasn't keen to go *window shopping* again! Typical boy. I also bought him a flavoured milk to drink back at Churchill's.
Anyway, half an hour passed and we headed back, lured by the smell of coffee and the anticipation of devouring a freshly baked Bee Sting. We chose a different table in the garden, placed our order and requested a glass for Nick's milk. The teen plonked himself down and asked for the iPad.
I have a mini iPad that I carry around with me. It has communication apps (which we very rarely use ~ blush), an app that we use ALL the time (Abitalk) and a ton of music. I handed the iPad over without any qualms. Nick stimmed away on his music and gulped down his milk (a new taste ~ woohoo).
I was so impressed with Nick's ability to cope with a lot of variation/change without any warning. A far cry from a few years ago. To be honest with you, if he needs to have some escapism time with the iPad after new experiences and challenges, then so be it! He gets such a kick out of listening to music and my brain switches off to the fact that I am hearing the same old pop song AGAIN!
Nick was diagnosed with...."the neuro-developmental disorder of Autism Spectrum Disorder with co-occurring verbal, oral and motor dyspraxia. A person with dyspraxia has problems with movement, coordination, judgement, processing, memory and certain other motor related activities. Nicholas also has low muscle tone, no speech and requires assistance with motor planning, although he is able to walk unaided and move independently".
Quite a thing, hey?
He can't ride a bike or write with a pencil. Stairs are a problem and he really battles with walking on uneven surfaces. He can use a keyboard and type out quite a few words (singular). We are not sure of how many words he can read, although I have a feeling that we need to presume competence in this area!
I recently bought Nick an app for his iPad, called AbiTalk Sentence Builder. It has a library of sentences that can be constructed with a relating picture. It also has voice output. The aim is to listen to the sentence and then construct the sentence. The beauty of this app is that you can also create your own personal sentences and pictures.
The following were created by me and Nick. We chose a picture of the dog, then Nick typed the words as I called them out. I then added my voice to the sentence and each individual word. Nick had great fun helping me with the recording.
This second picture spotlights the problem Nick has with creating sentences. He can listen to the sentence and read each individual word, however, he finds it extremely difficult to follow the sequence and plan how to construct the sentence. #dyspraxia
With some guidance, Nick was able to create the sentence correctly. I called out each word, one by one, and Nick was then able to get them in the correct order.
This app really spotlights Nick's dyspraxia and it is a good reminder to be mindful of what to say when speaking to him or making comments. He will hear all that you say BUT what will stand out for him are the last words that you speak. For example; if I say to Nick, "I need one orange". By the time he goes to the fridge and finds the oranges he has lost the context of the sentence and invariably brings me two oranges!
Anyway, enough of the teen. Let me give you just a little taster of what you might see when you come to visit. Some words of warning ~ the weather at Mbona is unpredictable and it is possible to have four seasons in one day! In fact, if the weather is the pits, we will be spending the time huddled around the fire, glass of wine cup of tea in hand, moaning at the whiny dogs! Bring your walking shoes just in case the weather works in our favour!
The following board was created on Proloquo2go. Each box represents a sound or a word. For example, the word kah represents the sound 'K". Nick is really big on sounding out the letters in each word, therefore he is still tending to sound out "k...a...h" instead of listening to the sound and then repeated "kah". It is all a work in progress.
I am sharing the following (very short) video just for fun. I am so delighted that Nick is making sounds and as time goes on, each sound and/or word is becoming more meaningful to him. He is beginning to connect the dots!
