Another Cycle?

Just a quick observation for whatever it's worth. Almost a year ago, I blogged about my theory of Culley's sensory/autism/who-knows-what symptoms cycling. Looking back to about the time Culley's hearing loss became noticeable, he's had periods of total clarity where he acts just like an engaged, easy-going and polite little boy. Between those periods, which usually last for several months, he's had periods for the same length of time where his behavior changes to that of a child with autism or sensory processing disorder. This pattern is evident in my previous blogs.  In the beginning, the down cycles were downright scary. He'd become distant and withdrawn. He barely made eye contact and he'd lose the language he'd developed in the previous month or two. He would "sensory seek" by standing on his head and grinding his teeth. He'd also become irritable and contrary...just not himself. His last "down cycle" as I'll call it was last Spring, see the blog about neurofeedback.  Even though I'd noticed the cycle by then, I was too afraid to ride it out and just wait for the "up cycle". As was my usual response, I ran to his occupational therapist asking for the next new treatment we hadn't tried yet. The good news is that each consecutive down cycle is less severe than the one before. For example, he appears to be going into another one. For the past two weeks or so, he's been sensory seeking by putting things in his mouth, and playing with his head on the floor. He's a little grumpy, very nidgy, and easily distracted. He doesn't lose language like he used to, but his thoughts don't flow into words as easily as they did just a month ago. This time, however, I'm not going to throw him back into OT, looking for a fix. His team at school is seeing increased sensory seeking so they've been helping by giving him something appropriate to chew on and having a teacher sit near him at circle to encourage him to keep his hands to himself. With some similar small interventions at home (including getting stricter about limiting his dairy intake), I'm hoping that I'll have the faith to wait it out and see if Culley can turn this cycle around by himself. We'll see how it goes!

Ski School Success!

Will he be able to hear his instructor? Will she know how to get his helmet over his processors? Will he be able to hear well enough to socialize with the other kids? Will his instructor understand how to use the FM? Maybe we shouldn't put him in ski school this year.

Despite his mom being a Nervous Nelly, Culley did great at ski school! His first morning of ski school started with a hurried lesson on the FM system and instructions on how to manage his helmet and processors, while other cold and nervous parents waited their turn to check their kids in. The temperature was about five degrees and most of the kids, being in the 4-5 year-old range, were already crying. I knocked on Culley's helmet and said good-bye. He responded nonchalantly with a mittened wave and "Bye, Mom." Then I left. When I came back to get him, almost 6 hours later, a different instructor was with his group. He reported that Culley did great and gave me back the FM, it wasn't on. Hmm...

Culley turned 5!!

Given the fact that I was not confident at all that the first instructor really understood how to use the FM, I was sure the second one didn't get it at all. Hearing this, Culley's speech therapist in Denver, advised against using the FM at all at ski school. The next week, the first instructor was back and Culley's class had been down-sized to just three kids. One was a friend's kid so he already knew him quite well and the other was a girl with whom he became great friends...for the next three Sundays at least. His instructor said they were so cute, holding hands and hugging in the lodge, that people were taking pictures of them:)

By the end of the month, all of my questions were answered:
Q: Could he hear his instructor?
A: Well enough.

Q: Could she get his helmet on without knocking his processors off?
A: I guess they figured it out.

Q: Would he be able to hear well enough to socialize with the other kids?
A: He socialized well enough to get himself a girlfriend!

Q: Would his instructor understand how to use the FM system?
A: No, probably not. Turns out he didn't need it anyway.

Not only did Culley have a great time at ski school, he also learned to ski!!