bountifulplate

Back a few weeks ago, I "snapped," at Dominic. Lauren used to call it "barks." I typically reserve my louder, "bark-like," voice for when I think the situation calls for it.  Dominic didn't really do anything, I was stressed because I was running late and he kept repeating the same thing over and over. You could say, I lost my patience. Anyways, he got upset. After I calmed down a little I said, "I'm sorry, do you forgive me?" He said, "no." I was like, "excuse me?"  I repeated my apology again and he said, "no." This went on a few more times and then I let about 30-40 minutes go by before I repeated my apology again. This time, he accepted my apology. When I retold that story to my dad, he said, "does Dominic understand the concept of accepting an apology?" I was like, "yes, he most certainly does!" This past Sunday afternoon, I was resting on the couch in our living room. I have told Dom...

This past Tuesday was Dominic's first day of sixth grade. The hubby, Lauren and I were all part of the send off "crew." Shortly before his bus came to pick him up, we were explaining to Dominic that when he came back home (he had a half-day), Lauren would need to leave to go back to college. Both Lauren and I saw the tears welling up in his eyes. Even though Dominic has Autism, and a "classic" symptom of Autism is "impaired" social interaction, he is one of those kids that wears his heart on his "sleeve."  You can tell by looking at him how he is feeling.    The "kids" were able to spend an hour or so together and then she had to pack up. Dominic really did not want her to go. He even went over to his daily "schedule" and crossed off, "Lauren go back to college," which I had written earlier in the morning. I said, "Dominic, did you think if you cross it off, that means she would stay here?"...

A common characteristic of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder is the difficulty with being able to express and/or regulate feelings and emotions.  Dominic has been working on some homework from his social worker that was eight pages long. Each page had a feeling - happy, sad, angry, excited, disappointed, tired, upset, and afraid.  On each page, Dominic had to list something or someone that made him happy, sad, etc.  We worked on it a little last night and he had a very hard time with the assignment.  He kept repeating the same people that made him happy, sad, etc.  I don't think he truly understood what he had to do. One emotion that I know Dominic can express is compassion.  During this past holiday break, we watched a DVD of Frosty's Winter Wonderland many, many times.  It's not the original version, it's actually where Frosty gets married to his snow "wife." Jack Frost is in the movie and is jealous. There is a scene after Frosty gets married, wher...