Oh, The Places Hayden is Going

I am owning the fact that I am three weeks late completing Hayden's monthly evaluation.  I complete the evaluation monthly.  From the evaluation I write program goals.  I was late completing the monthly evaluation because I was afraid.  I was not afraid of the evaluation showing that Hayden is not making progress.  I was fearful that the evaluation would should that Hayden is ready to go back to school.  Which is great, amazing, what we have been working towards getting Hayden ready for.  Honestly, though Hayden going to school again is scary for me.

What am I afraid of???  I am fearful that going back to school will be too much for Hayden and he will regress.  In all honesty if Hayden regresses, he regresses.  I will look at the situation and make adjustments as needed.  I can still choose to be happy and accept that there will be bumps in the road.

I am afraid of leaving Hayden with complete strangers that don't know his life story.  Really.....why be afraid of this??  I know that I will do my absolute best to prepare the school for Hayden.  I will educate them on how I want discipline handled with Hayden, his diet, and how I want him treated in general.  I will meet with his teachers and the school prior to Hayden ever stepping foot in the school.  If I really think about this Hayden will be going to one of the Montessori schools he has attended in the past.  So I won't be leaving him with complete strangers.

I am afraid that Hayden will be nit picked at.  Hayden will have some challenges to overcome when he transitions back into school.  I want to continue celebrating all of the amazing, super, wonderful things he is doing.  I don't want the focus to be put on what he is not doing.  I will be upfront about nit picking.  I will communicate with the school that this is not how we roll :)

So really there is no reason to be afraid of Hayden going back to school.  I will do my best to prepare everyone involved and celebrate like a mad women that we have reached this milestone.

Did the evaluation say Hayden is ready to go back to school........................NO!  I am completely, 100% okay with that.  Hayden made MIND BLOWING progress and is doing super awesome.  The evaluation process is based on 5 stages in areas of eye contact, language, interactive attention span, and flexibility.  Stage one is lower functioning and stage five is high functioning.  Once you complete stage four in all areas it is recommended that your child is ready to go to school.  When we started Hayden's Son-Rise Program 11 months ago.  Hayden was at a low stage 1 for all areas.  Drum Roll Please!!!!!

Hayden's Eye Contact is at Stage 4.....WOOT....WOOT!!!  What does this mean?

-Hayden looks to maintain other's attention span 60% of the time
-Hayden looks while talking 60% of the time
-Hayden has acquired the ability to demonstrate a range of facial expressions
-Hayden uses spontaneous gestures to enhance verbal communication 80% of the time

Hayden's language is at a stage 3.......YAHOO!!!!

Hayden is right on the edge of acquiring stage 3 for language.  We are working hard on asking what, who, where questions. He does ask them 60% of the time.
-Hayden speaks using simple sentences
-Hayden has conversations that consist of 2 or more loops (he is consistently meeting 4+ loops)

Hayden's Interactive Attention Span is at a stage 4........Yep, that is my son!!!  WTG Hayden!!

Hayden is super close to meeting the all of the requirements of stage 4 interactive attention span.  Here is what we are working on still:

-Duration of interactive attention span 15-25 minutes (based on age) Hayden is achieving this 80% of the time
-Generally polite and respectful.  Hayden is achieving this 80% of the time.  He still wants to be naked from time to time :-)
-Interacts appropriately with a peer.  Hayden is achieving this 60% of the time

There are 5 other areas in stage 4 interactive attention span that Hayden has acquired!!!

Hayden's Flexibility is at a stage 5.................That's right STAGE 5!!!!!!  Hayden Rocks!!

He has actually acquired one of stage 5 goals.  Hayden calmly and easily manages most transitions and unstructured situations.

-Hayden's big work in this stage is to be flexible within another's activity

I completed Hayden's evaluation with the students and looking back at session evaluation forms from all of Hayden's team.  I have always done Hayden's evaluations by myself and questioned if I was properly documenting the level he was at.

The reason I questioned myself is because I want Hayden to recover and am I wanting it so bad that I am making it happen faster in my mind than it really is??  Well I now know my answer.......NO!!  The students actually wanted to rate Hayden higher in a few areas than I did.

What does all this really mean?  Well Hayden is making great progress.  Do I know when he will recover from autism.......no.  Do I know when he will go back to school..........no.  Does it mater that I don't know when these things will take place........no!!  Why Not?

I know deep inside my body in my heart and soul that Hayden will recover from autism.  I don't need him to recover from autism.  I want Hayden to recover from autism.  I love and accept Hayden just the super amazing way he is and I don't want to change who he is for anything.

Thank you for all of your amazing expressions of support!!!