Summer Vacations

I was worried that how will I manage two kids during Tanishk's vacations. Tanishk is not easy to handle. Both of the kids are now very active and they need something to do every time. Tanay can play appropriately with the toys and most of the time he keeps busy himself. But Tanishk doesn't play appropriately and he asks for the gadgets every time - TV, Video, Computer, ITouch, IPad, Phone and he is stuck to the screen. Else he will demand to go outside and I alone can't take two kids outside. Tanishk runs here & there and can go far away from me.

I am happy that I was able to manage with the help of activity schedule and reward system taught by PCDI. It was not so simple, but that helped me organizing the activities for Tanishk and Tanay. Whole day - keeping them busy, homework activities, creating new activities, correcting bad behaviors, giving rewards, minimizing their time with the screen for very limited time, teaching them play appropriately, data collection, changing choices everyday for variety, bathing and feeding them, cooking, cleaning, laundry and also avoid their conflict with each other. Oops - so much.

Everyday I made a schedule for Tanishk and told him to follow start from the morning. I wrote all the available rewards on the white board. I daily changed the rewards for variety and to avoid him stuck on one thing. I avoided computer totally as a reward as he stims most of the time. I noticed that he watches anything on TV, Video, Computer for only the patterns, color changes and also repeating their dialogues. He doesn't answer any questions related to the story shown in the video.

At school, he doesn't get any free time less structured. But, at home, he gets most of the time unstructured as he doesn't know what to do when I am busy with Tanay. He just climbs on the sofa, table, and also plays with the gadgets, buttons, plug-points. He doesn't comply easily as he is distracted by what Tanay is doing. Tanay also tries to come in between us when I am talking to Tanishk. So, I have to keep both of them busy at home.

Tanishk is intelligent, affectionate, easy learning boy. Main problem with him is his focus. He can't keep focus on the activity he is doing. And also he is not able to control his behaviors. He knows when he is doing wrong, he understands gestures and also face expressions. He looks at my face and understands that he has to sit quietly and nicely.

He is a good problem solver. He likes to do puzzles, coloring and also handwriting. He is also good in counting. Now he understands all the instructions. He is particular about what he wants.

But he can't wait for anything. He can't control his behaviors himself. He needs prompts to finish his activity. He is most of the time lost in verbal stimming, scripting, spinning, nail biting, touching his toes, closing his eyes, flapping his hands and moving around here & there. If he is forced to stop the behavior or to do something he really doesn't want to do, he resists, shouts and screams.

So, how did I manage that all? I made the schedule and made him to follow the schedule. I also gave Tanay to do something so Tanay won't disturb him. Everyday, we do homework activities (9-10 activities for the data collection), play activities (bowling game, blocks, jump on trampoline, find game etc.), fun activities (tickle, squeeze, piggy back, upside down, coloring, tracing, TV watching etc.) and also routine activities for the day.

I gave him lots of choices except the computer. TV programs (Dora, Diego, Yo gabba gabba or whatever videos were available with me - he can't watch the same program repeatedly), Snacks (popcorn, cookies, juice, soda, wafers etc.) and also other toys & activities in which he has interest. Everyday, I changed the choices. Every morning, he sees the board interestingly and checks what he can get during the day.

It was very tough task but it became very easy with the guidance given by his teachers at PCDI and also the book Activity Schedules for Children With Autism, Teaching Independent Behavior. This book is very good and helpful. How to deal with the children with behaviors and how to correct them, reward them and teach them, everything is explained in detail. The staff at PCDI is also very good, they are very helpful.

Yes, it all was not an easy task. It takes lots of time and effort to teach him new skills and correct behavior. And also, the most important thing, we should have - patience. It needs lots of patience. Still, I am not perfect and sometimes gets frustrated. But, I have to keep going and not giving up. :)

Now, I am looking forward to his next vacations - Aug 15 to Sept 7. Wish me best of luck.

Street Fair

On 5th june, weather was so good and my husband wanted to go somewhere with the kids. But I wasn't feeling well and I wanted to take rest at home. He was insisting to go to parks or zoo, but I wasn't ready to go anywhere far away from home. 

Then, we just remembered that there is a small street fair in downtown metuchen and there are few fun activities for the kids. So, we planned to go there as this was very near and we can come back so fast if needed. The kids were also happy that they were going for the outing.

We had to take both the strollers as sometimes Tanishk feels lost and just walks away from us. It was a very small street fair, where most of the stalls were for the promotions. And there were shops were for jewellery, clothes, accessories, beauty items, craft items, massage and also toys. And there were some food stalls too. There were few fun activities for the kids - pony riding, small petting zoo, sand activity, face painting, inflatable rides, balloons, hoop dance, etc.

Most of the things were very expensive. We didn't buy anything, we just walked and looked around. One lady gave kids a balloon. Tanishk was not ready to hold it and Tanay didn't know how to hold it. We tried to tie the balloon with the stroller. The balloon was loosened from our hands and went up in the sky.

We reached till the end of the fair. We had to turned back but Tanishk refused. He started to scream that he doesn't want to go back. I gave him some juice so that his screams stopped and we turned back. He was lost in his own world and was just flapping his hands. With prompts, he was answering the questions. He didn't show interests in anything or any activity.

Tanay was happy and enjoying the crowd. He was looking at every man, woman and kid who was passing in front of him and was also passing the smiles to them. Most of the kids were moving around with painted faces, Tanishk didn't notice them but Tanay was watching them continuously and was staring at them.

We went to the kids' section and go for pony ride & petting zoo. Here also, Tanishk didn't show any interest. We asked whether he wants to go for pony ride, he refused to go. When we reached there for the sand play activity, he was happy as he likes playing with sand. He had to fill the bottle with sand of 9-10 different colors and its cost was $5. We helped him to fill the bottle with all the colors available. The bottle was in the shape of monkey. Tanishk enjoyed it and Tanay was also looking at him very interestingly.

Then we went for the inflatable rides. There were 3-4 inflatable rides of little difference. There was one inflatable ride with 3 slides. Tanishk went in the bouncer inflatable ride. Initially he was not going in. When he went inside, we were just wondering, how will we call him back if he is lost there. Started with, he wasn't able to hold himself as other kids were jumping and he was falling down again & again. After few seconds, he got hold of himself and started to jump. He was enjoying the ride. When time was over and we called him, he came immediately and that was good for us.

Tanishk is in orange shirt - jumping in the inflatable bouncer ride

After walking through the street fair, we got tired and then went to a restaurant. I gave kids dosa to eat and juice to drink. Tanishk was so tired that suddenly he slept in the stroller. We ate our food and then started to walk again to see rest of street fair. Tanishk was still sleeping.

There was a hoop dance. Music was on and the little kids were dancing in the hoop. Tanishk was still sleeping. Tanay was interested and he picked up one hoop. He tried to dance holding the hoop, but he did not go in the hoop. We tried to help him, but he refused for the help.

Tanay is holding the hoop and trying to understand how to dance with hoop

When we left from street fair, Tanishk was awakened and started to scream again as he didn't want to sit in the car and wanted to go back to street fair. It was strange for me as I thought that he didn't like the street fair. I think it was not about the street fair, he liked moving when sitting in the stroller. That's my thinking.

We enjoyed the street fair a lot. It doesn't matter for me that there was nothing to buy for me or it was expensive. We were there only for the kids and if kids are happy we are happy. We wanted also Tanishk to enjoy and explore new things. But he is always like that. In the crowd, he is always lost and doesn't show any interest even in the kids' activities. He is never curious about his surroundings and happenings. He doesn't try to take part in any activity.

When he enjoyed the bouncing inflatable ride and sand play, I was happy that at least Tanishk did something and enjoyed. There he screamed very less - only once or twice, when he wanted to move in the particular direction. :)

Maakhan Chor

What is Maakhan Chor? Maakhan is hindi word and Maakhan is called as Butter. Chor is thief who steals the things. Lord Krishna was being called as Maakhan Chor (Butter Thief) in his childhood, as shown in the following video. Maakhan Chor Krishna Kanhaiya

But that butter was made from cow's milk and it was not GFCF. Our kids are on the special diet - GFCF diet. We don't give any dairy products to them. Our elders haven't seen this kind of diet. 

They say, how will he grow without milk? How will he get strength without butter and cheese? He has become so weak. Give him milk and he will be OK. When all others are eating ice-cream, chocolate, cakes, cookies - give him a little bit, it won't harm him.

Anyways, I was talking about butter thief (maakhan chor). Our kids also drink milk and eat butter, cheese, yoghurt but all GFCF. I use Smart Balance butter for Toast. Tanishk likes the butter very much. That's why I call him as maakhan chor. I can explain it in the detail.

If there is butter in food, he will eat it definitely. He eats toast with butter, roti with butter, dosa with butter, waffles with butter etc. and he eats only butter too. He eats jam, jelly, peanut butter too but not so much. He can refuse these things, but butter - no way. He asks for more butter when it's finished in his plate. He says - "I want more butter" and gives stress on "more".

Dosa is only the thing he can eat without any thing. When I give him roti with vegetables, he refuses because of the texture. But I put butter with vegetables, he eats it with easily. When he eats himself, he doesn't eat roti with butter, he eats butter with roti. He uses roti as a spoon and takes a big slab of butter and puts in the mouth. :) If I put the box of butter in front of him, he dips his roti or toast like a spoon and takes out butter himself. He will keep eating if I don't remove the box.

That's why, I call him maakhan chor. He is my GFCF Maakhan Chor. :)

BowCraft Amusement Park

On 22 May, Sunday, we went to BowCraft Amusement Park. It is located on US22 in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. It's official site is www.bowcraft.com. It's a very nice place for family outing. There are several rides for kids of every age and also for adults. There is also a party place where one can organize birthday parties or any type of events. And weather was good but a little bit cold.

My husband was excited about the place as we went there last year too and Tanishk had enjoyed a lot at that time. So, we were very hopeful that this will be a great outing for him and Tanay. When we entered to the park, Tanishk was excited to see the rides. It was first time for Tanay, but he was also excited to see the people and especially the kids.

We went first for Super Truck. It was a simple ride with small trucks linked like a train and every truck had two steerings for the kids to pretend that they are driving the truck. Tanishk & Tanay sat together and they were very happy. Both brothers enjoyed the ride. This was Tanishk's favorite ride. He still says that he wants to go to Super Truck.

Tanishk sitting in the Super Truck with his brother Tanay

After super truck, we went to drop zone, it's like frog hopper, but bigger size. The 5-6 kids sit in one row and they move vertically up and down. Tanay was not allowed to go on this ride. Tanishk sat there alone as there was no other kid at that time. As a surprise, he was scared and was closing his ears. He bent down as he was afraid. We had to tell the attendant to stop the ride and get him down.

Last year, Tanishk enjoyed the frog hopper ride, which is small but same kind of ride. We were very much surprised that he was scared this time. But his teacher explained us that maybe he is afraid as there is a big gap of one year and he didn't remember that ride.

Then, we went for balloon ride. We three - Tanishk, Tanay & I sat in the balloon. I accept that I am afraid of heights. Here, Tanishk was also closing his ears, but he was happy and enjoying. And Tanay was so small that he can't hold himself. The balloon was moving in every direction and was turning here & there. Tanay was sitting with me, I was holding his hand, he wasn't able to hold himself and he was slipping down. When I saw his face, his expression was like "Mumma, save me!! I am going to fall down!!" I shouted "Stop! Stop! Stop the ride! Tanay is slipping down!!" 

Tanishk with his father sitting in front seat of the car

Then, Tanishk went for car driving with his father. This he enjoyed very much as he was sitting in the front seat of the car and next to his father, who was driving the car. The car goes on one circular trail and stops on the same point from where it started.

Then, we went for boat ride and motorcycle ride. Boat ride was very simple and both brothers enjoyed it. And they also enjoyed the motorcycle ride. Tanay was feeling happy as he was moving. Tanishk was feeling that he is driving the motorcycle and was very happy at that moment.

Tanishk & Tanay riding the boat

Tanishk & Tanay riding the motorcycle
 

After that Tanishk tried Dragon roller-coaster and Frog Hopper, but in both of them he showed the same expression. Closed his ears, bend himself down and but wasn't resisting to ride. The frog hopper was the ride last year he enjoyed most, but this time it seems he wasn't comfortable in rides and we had to ask attendant to stop it.

Both brothers also had a lot of fun in helicopter, train and carousal rides. Although it was first time for Tanay, he was very much comfortable for the small rides and have fun time.

Overall, we had a very good time. Tanishk's behavior was good. He didn't shout, scream or cry. He was little bit scared on the rides, but he didn't resist on any ride. And also when we were calling him, he was responding to us and was not going too far from us. Tanay had all the rides first time but he also had a wonderful time. He was busy in looking at other people, kids and making new friends.:)