Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Hop

It’s getting worse.

That hop she has to do between every transition is getting worse.

It’s making me crazy.

Here’s a message from her teacher that I got this morning:
Tommie,
Today, I got upset with Olivia because she wanted to argue with me about a direction I gave her in math for an assignment. Afterwards I asked her if she knew why I was mad at her and she didn't know. I decided to place the work aside and work on it during recess. At recess time, she completed the work with no arguing and was sent to recess about 5 minutes late. I believe she didn't mean to argue about the directions, but she is constantly questioning orally directions given by myself and Mrs. S, the classroom aide. Is there a strategy you use at home when this occurs? We will continue to work on this at school.
Next, I have noticed over the past few months that she has to jump in place at least once, sometimes more than once before she will sit down. She also makes a clicking noise when she does this. I'm wondering how you want me to handle this behavior? I have asked her why she does this, but she doesn't know, so I've ignored it. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you:)
She has also started to write a number 1 after her number before she writes her number, which is 8. (Olivia 1 8 - is what she writes on her paper). Do you know why she might be doing this? When I ask her to erase it she says why? She has also told Mrs. Shellhorse that she doesn't have to erase it at home.
Finally, thank you for being such a great support to the teachers at school. I'm proud of how far Olivia has come in so many areas as it relates to school. I want her to continue to improve on her academic and social skills at school. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on how the 'team' can do this.
Thank you again for all you do! You're a wonderful parent!
Blessings,
K

So yeah, it’s not just a bother at home, it’s starting to affect school.

Well, the hopping and the arguing. The hopping, I’m not sure we can stop without some sort of therapy, to be honest. I mean, what can you do, spray the girl with water each time she hops?

No, we’re not going to treat her like a cat on the counter.

The arguing, well, we’ll see about that one. She doesn’t really argue with me as much as she does with her dad but we can still talk about the issues at school with her and try to figure out why she does it and see if she can stop herself.

I know how badly she wants to be ‘normal.’ She wants to be one of the kids playing on the playground at recess. She wants to invite friends over and just be one of the girls. She wants to stop hopping but I’m not sure she can do this on her own.

The plan, for now, is to make an appointment with our GP, see if he thinks we’d benefit from a referral to a therapist of some kind (ABA? Other ideas I’m missing?) and see if we can help this amazing, smart, beautiful girl of mine.

I could probably deal with my own frustration with the hopping if she didn’t seem bothered by it too but since it is bothering her and seems to be affecting school, it’s time to stop ignoring it and figure out what she needs from us to get over this most recent speed bump.

1 comment:

Kandi Ann said...

Being autistic, I know how movements can just happen. I also know I am driven by reward. Maybe tell her if she can stop hopping she can have dangly earrings during non school hours? Or an anklet she can wear all the time that is really pretty? Maybe put it on a counter so she can see it? If she can control it at all, for a big reward, she will. If she cannot, a therapist telling you and you telling the school would probably help everyone just try to ignore it more. I know things I cannot control that my husband points out, makes me feel crummy inside. So there is that.