I had the pleasure to spend some time with my dear cousin, Kristin, this weekend. Kristin and I are close in age and I always enjoyed spending time with her as a kid when I would visit my dad, who lived about 2 hours away. Today we're both married, working moms who have experienced our own personal challenges and blessings in life, yet remain connected as best we can. We probably get to see each other (and each other's kids) about 3-4 times a year because of work, weekend scheduling issues, and the many activities our kids are involved in. Prior to Memorial Day Weekend, I saw Kristin and her kids around Thanksgiving/ Christmas time, so about 5-6 months have passed since we've had time together.
As always, Kristin and I had a great time catching up about our lives. What was extra special about our visit was that Kristin told me how much improvement she noticed in Bradley's speech, interaction, and behavior. I know Bradley is making progress and thank God daily for the blessing of progress and one more day with Bradley. But I have to admit... It is incredibly encouraging to have others share their observations of progress with you. Parents of autistic children will tell you that we all have good days, great days, not so great days, and pretty bad days. Sometimes we perceive our children as progressing, plateauing, and unfortunately at times regressing. Hearing others' observation of progress, improvement, and growth in your child gives you the energy, motivation, and patience for those not so good days.
Kristin told me she could understand everything Bradley was saying- audible/understandable speech has really never been at 100% for people outside of my husband and me. This was super exciting for me to hear!
Kristin has an indoor dog- a rather large and energetic indoor dog that really likes kids and is quite playful with Kristin's 2 year old son. Bradley really, REALLY doesn't like strange dogs. Once Brad is around a dog for a few minutes he usually is less upset, but stays pretty hyper-vigilant about the dog's whereabouts and clearly exhibits anxiety when he's around the dog or even anticipating being near the dog. So the large indoor dog freaked Bradley out a little, but by the end of the day Kristin talked Brad in to walking the dog and holding the leash as we went for a walk around the neighborhood. That was great! That IS a big deal!!!
Bradley usually associative plays (may play around other kids, but doesn't completely interact with them), but for some activities he cooperatively played with his 7 year old cousin, Jaxson. Brad and Jax played with Nerf guns (plastic guns with foam "bullets") together by taking turns shooting each other, which was super fun to watch! At night Kristin caught the two boys laying on one of the kid's bed, watching a movie together. It was super sweet!
I am so thankful for weekends like these filled with family, great times, and reassurance that I'm helping Bradley become the best Bradley he can be.
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