Skip to main content

The Sky is The Limit for this Boy!

I'm guilty. I admit it. I am reminded by both Lauren and the hubby, more often than not, that Dominic is capable of much more than I give him credit for.  I really don't know why I sometimes underestimate what he can do. Maybe it's because I don't like to see him fail? or get frustrated? I know to learn, he will get upset and cry and possibly scream. I guess it's the maternal instinct in me, I don't like to see my children or anyone else's children sad. Having to tell Lauren that Santa Claus wasn't real was a pretty tough thing. At one time, I was convinced Dominic would never get toilet trained. It truly was easier to just change his diaper or Pull-Up. We knew there was no physical reason why he didn't want to get potty trained, which made it all the more frustrating. More than once I was ready to give up, but his old teacher, Mr. P., planned out the whole process and it did eventually happen. Just in the past three weeks, he has ASKED to use the bathroom both at home and at school. Major development and milestone :) A few years ago, I tried and failed at teaching Dominic how to tie his shoes. Thank goodness for his amazing teacher and his paraprofessionals in his classroom. He learned from them how to tie his shoes!


When Lauren came home from college a few weeks ago, one of the first things she did was tell me to take off the training wheels on his bike. She spent one afternoon, helping him get his balance.



I tend to over talk with Dominic and catch myself wanting to "prompt" him still too much. The other day, he told me that I was, "busting his chops." Hmm, well most likely I was. Dominic's speech and language continues to be behind that of his peers, but he has made remarkable progress since he started fifth grade. Since last summer, we started taking Dominic to a private speech therapist once a week with the hope of one day integrating him into one of her "social groups." It's pretty intensive therapy and she makes him work really hard for those 30 minutes. She gives Dominic "homework" for the week and I try my very hardest to always make sure it's done!! Recently, his speech therapist was giving Dominic a lot of praise for how well he had done during the therapy session. She then turned, looked at me and said, "the sky is the limit for this boy!" Wow, as a mom of a special needs child, to hear those words, was pretty awesome.  Never again will I doubt what Dominic is capable of!! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Book Every Autism Mom Should Read

When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...

Mainstreaming and Inclusion

The hubby and I were discussing the other day how special education students were treated back when he and I were in school.  He remarked to me that in his time, they were "hidden away" from the rest of the students.  When I was in elementary school, I can remember seeing the kids in those classrooms pass by us in the hallway.  I don't ever recall seeing them in the lunchroom or playground.  I'm so glad that times have changed.  Even though Dominic is in a "self-contained" special education classroom, he does get to go to the art, gym and music classrooms.  He also gets to eat lunch in the school cafeteria.  He loves hot lunch on Thursday - pizza!! Given Dominic's abilities, he is able to be "mainstreamed" into the general education classroom for small amounts of time.  Every moment he is able to do that gives me so much hope for his future.  I absolutely love what Dominic's current teacher is doing.  He has started a peer-to-peer progra...

Need to Call Bella's Mom

Dominic at least a few times a week will tell me, "need to call Bella's mom!" Who is Bella you may ask? Here is the answer to that question: I first met Bella shortly after Dominic's first grand mal seizure. She and her mom approached me at the Meijer grocery store back in June of last year as I was grabbing a milk jug out of the dairy case. Dominic and Bella go to the same middle school.  I have never forgotten what Bella's mom told me that day, "I would love to get our children together and be in Dominic's life however much you will let us." Bella's mom has the most generous heart and has passed on those values to her three children.  Bella and Dominic made sugar cookies last summer: When Dominic had a choir concert at school and neither Lauren or my husband could attend, Bella and her mom surprised us after the concert! The number one thing I admire about Bella is how incredibly compassionate she is. There is a respect a...