Meltdown Schedule Explained

Tomorrow (technically today as I'm writing at midnight) is Ava's first day of school!  She's in for 1/2 days this week, two days off, and then full time on next Wed.  I'm scared.  Nervous.  Excited!  And I can tell she is too.

I've been tracking our schedule, and with it Ava's meltdowns.  She has a lot of them.  The good news is, Daddy & I have gotten better at helping prevent them.  This doesn't mean she's spoiled and always gets her way.  She has Autism.  Sometimes she just doesn't get it.  Sometimes we do change our minds & it looks like we're giving in.  All the time, with every kid, you have to pick your battles.  We fought a BIG one today.

Ava had a meltdown that lasted an hour.  I'm not exaggerating.  Sixty +/- minutes!  Over walking the dog.  You see, we were headed for a walk in the mountains.  Both of the big girls wanted to hold the dog's leash.  So we played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would walk the dog up the hill, and who would walk her back down the hill.  Ava lost.  We're working hard with her therapist on making a plan & sticking to it.  This was one I wanted to change, but I held firm.  Poor Daddy & Omp (our special name for Grandpa) were left behind.  It was heartbreaking - pounding on the window, screaming so loud we could hear her 3 cabins away, drooling because she was so upset.  I can't imagine how exhausted she was from it.  A meltdown takes a lot of energy - both emotional & physical.

Here's our chart of the last week.  Sunday was the meltdown.  All meltdowns are in black, but you can see how short most of them are.  Last year, when we first started therapy, they could easily be 2 hours long.  And they were 30 minutes at a minimum!  THAT is improvement.  Even if our outside world doesn't see it - we do.

Its all color coded.  Purple is sleeping; Green is active play, household chores, being outside, running around;   Blue is quiet play, reading books, quiet imaginary games; Red is anything tv, computer, ipod related (not counting using the ipod for music).  And of course Black is the meltdown.

See the two days where I can't remember what happened?  They were either really good.  Or really bad.  I honestly couldn't remember.  I now fill my chart out several times a day.  We used to always see meltdowns during transitions - sometimes they occur because of a transition.  Other times we need a transition to get Ava OUT of a meltdown.

Wish us luck & say a prayer.  We're going to need it!  It will be interesting to see how our chart changes with school starting up.

More Schedules

Tonight was day 2 of "get ready to go back to school"  It was a rough one.  It was a rough day.  Its been a rough month.  But we're hanging in there.

Here's what I made for Ava to remember what to do at bed time.

Night time Routine

Its cute - its worth clicking on the link.  This is the same routine we had last year, but now its written down with pictures so she can remember.  I asked if she wanted velcro cards to remove what she'd done, but she said no.  So this is what we have.

Then I ordered a Medicine timer from Amazon.  I'll be able to record 6 sayings and add a timer - starting with "you have 5 minutes before bed."  Its supposed to go off every 5 minutes until you hit the alarm button.  We'll see if this works!

We've been using our seat belt cover quite a bit.  Its a great thing to have, but its distressing to see Ava meltdown when we're driving.  She knows how to unbuckle, so I have to be extra careful to remove anything in her reach that she can use as a tool.  Today, I didn't lock the belt tight enough around her & she wiggled out.  Luckily, I was stopped in a quiet neighborhood at a stop sign.  Unluckily, it was 102 degrees outside and we didn't want to hang out there all afternoon waiting for her to calm down.

Which brings me to this...our Calm Down Box.  I saw the idea on Pinterest (come follow me!) and Emma helped me make it right away.  Ava even got into making it, since its to be her box that's even better!  We used an old pencil box and added a straw, wedding bubbles, Halloween/birthday party PlayDough, a few crayons & a tiny note pad, a small squishy stuffed animal, a whistle, gum, life savers, BandAids, and a lip balm.  (The photo isn't ours, but its similar)

Hope these ideas help us!  The Calm Down Box didn't help today, but you have to use it BEFORE the meltdown starts.  We were too late.  Maybe next time I can catch it before it goes too far.

Oh, one last thing.  I'm going to start tracking meltdowns again.  We know they happen when there's a transition, but there may be more patterns happening that I'm not noticing.  Here's the file we use: Scheldule  I color in the boxes with a crayon/marker/colored pencil, and I keep it color coded by major activities (active play, calm play, school, sleep, electronics).  I color meltdowns in with a thick black sharpie.   She'll see her Neuro Dr in about a month, so this will be good info for the dr.

Swim time

A few weeks ago, we were able to meet our therapist in the pool!  We are working on things that will help Ava be comfortable washing her hair & getting water on her face.  Right now, she'll do those things but you MUST have a towel near by to wipe off any drops of water.  It gets a bit exhausting.



The pool has 4 large "steps" that go across for different depths.  And it looks like a watering hole on the farm.  So cute.  Basically, Ava got to play with whatever water toys she wanted for our 40 minutes.

Then, just as she was supposed to get out, she was asked to inch herself along the wall.  It was all great exercise and I'm sure she can't wait to do it again.  

Just before we had this session, I came up with the very basic idea of letting her play in the shower.  For some reason I think of baths as playtime, and showers as time to get in & get out.  Then I thought, why?  Why not turn on the shower & let her do whatever in there?  The therapist LOVED the idea.  Ava LOVED the idea.  I LOVE that she's getting better with water.

Play therapy

Ava & I now spend 4 days a week at Children's Village.  I'm so glad its here in town!  What would we do if  we had to drive to Seattle?  Yikes!

Children's Village Blog

I've joined the "Holland" group - its support for moms of Special Needs children.  I never thought I'd be one of these moms.  http://childrensvillage.memfound.org/holland  Its still a bit hard to get used to sometimes.  Ava looks so typical.  You'd never know she might have Autism.

Here are a few pictures of what goes on in Occupational Therapy.

This is a great little board on a lazy susan.  It just spins round & round.

The sensory bin was filled with scented cotton puffs.

The only bad part about OT is leaving.  Transitions are hard for Ava, but this is super fun...I don't want to leave either.  I can't blame her.  Tomorrow, we'll practice leaving - before we even get started.  Wish us luck...and PRAY!  We'll need all the help we can get.

Sensory Processing

Years ago my mom told me about something called Sensory Processing.  I was so intrigued.  The thought of kids needing bear hugs to calm down sounded soothing to me.  I knew they had special clothes without tags, and vests that were heavy - like the apron the dentist gives to to protect you from the x-rays.  I never knew it would consume me to this point.  


Fast forward to 2007.  Our beautiful baby girl was very vocal about being over stimulated.  I thought I was just a better mom.  I'd been though this before.  I knew more about parenting.  I'd read all the books, and put them into practice with the older daughter.  Ava needed to be put down fairly often.  She was happy to lay in bed awake, then fall asleep.  When she was two, she'd put herself down for a nap.  When she was three, we knew something was off.  It just wasn't typical.  When she turned four, we finally got in to get help.

We don't have all the answers for her yet - there's still more to learn.  But so far, we do know without a doubt, she has Sensory Processing Disorder.  Online I see it called SPD.  I haven't gotten comfortable enough to call it that yet.  You see, I'm still explaining it to those friends & family around us who don't know what it is.  Think of it like the "Princess & the Pea."  The tiniest grain of sand in her shoe feels like a boulder.  That little brush against her skin is a major scratch.  That itty-bitty bump, it was a hit.  It goes the opposite way too ~ she can hit you, and barely notice she's touched you.

Along this voyage of the past year, I'm also more confidant that Sensory Processing is part of my being as well.  You'll never catch me without sunglasses ~ and if you do, we either turn around to go back & get them, I buy new ones, or I'll whine until you give me yours.  I spent 3 extra minutes this morning getting some odd seed out of my sock.  I could feel it...but I never did see it fall away.  As a child, I remember spending hours swinging in circles.  Or tipping my whole body so that my head was upside down as I swung.

Which leads us to our newest house project.  An indoor therapy swing.  During our intake meeting with the occupational therapists, Ava was introduced to a swing that had a platform, but could go round and round like a tire swing.  She swung in a circle for almost 45-minutes, with just a 15 minute break somewhere in the middle.  I knew we needed one for the house.  And secretly, I've always wanted a swing in my house.

Ava at therapy.  Now that I have the hardware, I may need a swing like this one too!  Its just a piece of double knit fabric.

 

 We ordered a tire swing kit from Ace Hardware for the parts.  It can support 350 lbs of weight.  I found some great fabric on sale - nice & sturdy, upholstery stuff to hold up to kids.  I also bought 2 large pieces of batting for the cushion.  The seat is 36 x 36 square plywood with rounded corners - just for a bit of safety.  I stapled the batting on to the board, one piece at a time.  And then finished with the upholstery fabric.

We know this will crash into the walls and the sisters! It will hold all three girls at once.  Or just one.  They can swing round in circles, go back & forth, or swing side to side.  If you sit on it, it sways just a bit and is very soothing.  I'm still learning all the fancy words and what play works with what sensory system.  But its my understanding that this is hitting both the proprioceptive and vestibular systems.  The board bounces just a bit, and of course - it swings!  This will help to organize thoughts, calm & soothe the rider.




I have just a bit more work to finish this completely.  You can see a small bit of fabric that wasn't stapled in properly.  But for now, its good enough.  And we have four very happy girls at our house...even if one of them is 36 yrs old!