Zigging and Zagging Along

So the fish are no more. I watched the algae overcome the tank and just couldn't get it together enough to clean it again. A couple of days after a distinct smell started to eminate from the tank I wondered aloud to RT what was worse: letting the fish choke to death on the algae, cutting off their air supply, or consigning them to the porcelain chair in the next room. In the end the sound of swooshing water won out because I couldn't live with the smell of that water for another day.

The image of the two little survivor fish trying valiantly to escape my little green net by zigging to my zags was brought to mind on Friday afternoon when I took Oliver for his first session with the OT from our school district. Since Oliver is on track to start Kindergarten next year the idea was that we should start taking a look on what additional motor skills he might need to work on. This first meeting was meant to be a get-to-know-you kind of thing where she (the OT) would just observe Oliver at various activities set up throughout the room. The trouble though was that Oliver, much like those fish, wasn't keen on coming to rest in any place in the room where he could be trapped. So as the OT zigged my boy zagged. It was kind of amusing to watch at first but also frustrating that she seemed so inept (although she does have experience with children with autism and is every inch the caring professional) and then a little sad as I tried to imagine if this is how Oliver might experience kindergarten. But I'm not going to get to ahead of myself here. Who is to say what might happen in the next year? I've committed to keeping our appointment with the OT this friday but if I still feel this way afterwards we won't be going back. We have enough to focus on.

There are two things on our horizon that I feel very excited about: first, we have made an appointment with Judith Bluestone of the Handle Institute and will be seeing her in December and second, I have engaged an RDI consultant who will begin working with us in January. RDI is something that I read about earlier this year after reading posts by some of my blogging friends. At the time I did my initial research the approach sounded intriguing to me but I put it aside as too expensive and too complicated. The truth is that it is neither. And after testing Oliver's response with some simple activities I am more and more convinced that RDI is a good fit for us as a family. I'm not prepared yet to chuck the ABA program that we have going but I now feel that I am in a position to be more discriminating about how his program is put together.

Anyway, I hope I'm not too much like those fish, myself. I hope I'm not zigging and zagging too much here. My poor husband's head is spinning. But I feel positively bouyant and I can't wait to get home and RDI with my son. Can't say I ever felt the same about ABA.

Stay tuned.