Thank Goodness for Playstation
Where would we be without Playstation?
Our Christmas celebrations have been hailed a success. Much to the thanks of the trusty Playstation, and the DVD player - which kept Jack focussed and relaxed for the majority of the time!
(Jack and his cousin Oscar playing on Oscar’s Playstation)
Learning from our experiences earlier this Holiday season, we deliberately planned to keep Christmas as ‘low key’ as possible. And thankfully, all went pretty much to plan. We kept gatherings as small as possible and planned for plenty of ‘quiet space’ for Jack to retreat to if needed. We encountered a few hiccups socially (to be expected) but Jack coped really well overall.
When we think back to past years and how we battled the Holiday social scene with Jack, we are just so grateful for how much better things have been now that we are aware of his needs, and how best to allow for them.
Since Jack’s diagnosis of ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’ was made, family gatherings have often provided perfect opportunities to talk casually about the condition, and for family members to learn a little more about it.
Whilst there are many schools of thought as to the cause of autism, we have always been of the belief that Jack’s condition is genetic; that it comes passed through the family - Jack is the first diagnosis that we know of, but there are certainly signs of aspergers traits that can be traced back through a number of family members.
Today we learned a little more about Jack’s great grandfather and some of the similarities between he and Jack. Whilst the family history has little bearing on Jack’s daily life, in some ways it is comforting to hear these stories - at least we’re able to make some more connections to Jack’s condition.
So as we breathe a sigh of relief having made it through the major Holiday social gatherings, we’ll leave you with some photos - celebrating Christmas:
December 26th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Such lovely happy christmas photos!!
December 26th, 2007 at 11:39 am
aww…
you have such lovely kids! beautiful pics!!
December 26th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hello!! It looks as though you have had a wonderful holiday!
Have a safe and Happy New Year also!
I feel the same way as you do. I feel SOME autism is genetic, Some people do not like that line of thought but I feel that way. My fathers brother was what we would call Autistic today. Back then, there was no such diagnosis. My sisters have children with the traits and some of us have the traits. I also have my “Junior” who is moderately to low functioning autistic and my Noddy who is very sensory seeking and really, is just like Junior but has better language and concept skills.
One of my sisters sons is obviously Asbergers (sp) but she has refused the diagnosis for fear of “lableing”. He is in Special ed and has some socialization problems. He did not talk till he was over 4years old. She will not say it and have it confirmed so I do not push it, he is in highschool now.
I love the pictures and hope to be posting mine soon too.
You have beautiful children.
Mine did the “play station” thing at the aunties house yesterday.
It is a good thing sometimes!
December 26th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Looks like you all had a wonderful time! I am glad keeping everything low key worked out well. That can be tricky.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
You’re right … the source of the autism/asperger’s doesn’t really make a difference in our kids’ lives but it’s still nice to know about the family history. While we definitely see traits and characteristics in family members more closely related to SB we recently learned about SB’s great-grandfather’s brother who (by today’s standards) was clearly on the spectrum.
Thanks for sharing your Christmas photos!
December 26th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
It’s kinda neat to look at the family layout. Being around my side of the family for a change was very eye-opening. Though I don’t think anyone in my family has a “disorder” I can definitely see some tendencies of ADHD, OCD, and ASD!
December 27th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
It looks like Jack had a splendid Christmas! What matters most, Elissa, is to find the right balance: enough peace and quiet to relax Jack and a little bit of challenge (like the Santa hat from an earlier blogpost).
When Pamela was Jack’s age, she did best in the setting you had for Jack–small, cozy, family. This Christmas was the largest she has had in years. She stayed in the living room for the entire celebration. One thing that helped her keep patient as we took turns opening presents one by one is that I held back the one she wanted most until last! She knew Santa had heard her request and she knew the Baby Alive was there, somewhere. That enabled her to stick around with no meltdowns or issues whatever. We had a huge crowd by her standards (seventeen people).
It may take years, but it is possible to help our children relax and enjoy the holidays. I think what helps Pamela the most is having the freedom to come and go, depending on her sensory needs. Whenever she has needed a break from it all, we let her go. That has taught her to be aware of her sensory needs and to deal with them before they get out of hand.
December 27th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Thanks Casdok and Dextress for your comments.
A Bishop’s Wife - yes, the Playstation can be a good thing - we find it gives Jack a ’security blanket’ at times when things can be totally overwhelming, and thankfully it gave us this short break and enabled us to relax and eat lunch with the family without any dramas!
Thanks Marla - low key finally worked!!!
Tulipmom and Jen P - the family history has been really interesting to discover, and though there may not be diagnosed ‘disorders’ as such - the traits and tendencies are very eye-opening…
Tammy - seventeen people IS a huge crowd, Pamela did so well!!! I hope that one day Jack may be able to cope with a similar sort of thing. It’s funny, I know his preschool teacher used to often hold him off until last to do something he really wanted (he would sit really still and focused just waiting). I guess it takes time and patience, it would be lovely to think that one day we could participate in a family celebration without having to leave early or having things fall apart. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!