progress

As J comes up on his last few days of "school" or what i like to call his transition to school; I'd like to share a progress report!
And not just in title, this really is progress people!
Exhibit A:

Yes, this doesnt look that impressive, but to us it's like gold.  Here's why:  Before school J could not draw a line.  Or a circle, much less a letter or his name or a picture.  At first, the OT and his teachers strictly worked on getting him to draw.  Something.  It started with marks on a page, then turned into lines, and eventually circles.  When he started he still held his pencil with an 'infantile grasp'.  While he's still working on feeling comfortable with a pencil or crayon, he was able to do this ALL INDEPENDENTLY the other day.  Huge for him!  We are way proud.  The fact that he matched his letters wasnt the shocker to me...he's known them forever....but the lines made me dance! 

He's also requesting things he wants and needs in complete sentences!  This is huge!  He has a sentence strip that is prominently displayed on the counter.  It reads "May I have ____________".  So when he's yelling one word phrases we'll grab the strip and it prompts him to correctly ask for what he wants/needs.  I was so skeptical but it works like magic.  You can tell he's proud of himself for asking the right way...and the goal is to eventually eliminate the need for a prompt.

Exhibit B:

We had a pre-IEP Friday to determine goals for next year.

Jordan will remain in the self contained autism class for Pre-K.  He will start the school year with 15 minutes in a regular ed class for center time mainly for social.  His teacher said his academics are excellent, well beyond where they should be...but we pinpointed the deficits as still fine motor skills (writing/coloring, zipping, buttoning, etc) and social skills (attending to an activity, relating to peers).  We are also scheduling additional OT time at North Oaks (Rehab Hospital) to give him extra help with life skills stuff.

Just wanted to give a general update on the J bug.  We are so proud of him and looking forward to summer time!