Since confirming that Brendan does have characteristics of Autism, we have been on a hunt for things that will help us help him. We cannot believe how much information there is regarding Autism. It is actually overwhelming at times because there is so much. Instead of trying to figure everything out all at once, we decided to just take things one day at a time and learn from Brendan what works best for him. We have already changed the way that we discuss things with him and are seeing a big improvement in his behavior when he has to do something that he may not want to do.
Over the last few weeks, however, there has been a behavior that has developed that has been difficult to deal with. Since the assessments, where Brendan started hitting me, he know finds it amusing to tell me often that he wants to hit me. He rarely acts on it, but he may tell me about 20-30 times in one day that he is going to hit me. It has been hard to discuss this with him because he thinks that it's funny. He laughs while he is telling me and laughs throughout our correction of him. About six weeks ago, when we had barely found out that he may be autistic, I had purchased a few books through Liam's book order that I thought may help Brendan with his behaviors. One of them is titled, "Hands Are Not for Hitting" by Mortine Agassi. We read this book the day that Liam brought his books home and we were amazed at how well Brendan has seemed to understand the message that this book discussed. It was very interactive and repeated the message of hands are not for hitting a lot throughout the book. Brendan retained almost everything about the book and still talks about it. When he does mention anything about hitting, we always ask him, "what are hands for?" He always replies with, "not for hitting." He has drastically minimized how much he talks about hitting me and we may go days without him saying it at all.
This resource seemed to be given to us at just the right time. Rather, God put it on my heart to order this book, because he knew that we would need it to help us and Brendan. We have been blessed with many friends as well that are very willing to help wherever they can with information, resources, ideas, etc. God truly has put the right resources and people in our lives to help us get through all this and help Brendan succeed.
Brendan starts his classes with the school district after the New Year. We are excited to see how much these classes help him, and us. He will be taking a bus to and from school, which is what he is most excited about. He will start having homework (mostly practicing lines, circles, letters, etc.) and will begin getting his speech therapy, sign language and behavior modification help that is so important. For now, we wait until January and enjoy this wonderful time of year. Brendan will be turning 4 next week and is soooooooo very excited about his birthday party. He tells us daily that his birthday is coming up!
Please continue praying for us as we move forward. Any information and resources that anyone has is always welcomed. We are learning as we go, and this is all unknown territory.
