Megan’s First All Dayer

Its been a turbulent few days for Megan lately. First of all, one of her LSA (Learning Support Assistants) has been off sick most of the week and she’s definitely noticed the change. Its made her uneasy and her more challenging behaviour (pinching/scratching/biting) is resurfacing. We’re not overly concerned about that as it’ll settle down. It’s not meant as naughtiness – its a way of communication for Meg. A bad way obviously but its not meant personally.

Also, preparations for the imminent new arrival (due in less than 4 weeks!) have started to impact on Megans cherished routine. For a start she’s going to have to share a bedroom with her older brother when he comes over at weekends and the bunk-beds went up today. She’s aslo noticed that Mummy is so big now that she can’t play as well as she used to. However, she’s obviously excited at seeing her new sibling and has taken to hugging and kissing Naomi’s tummy.

The biggst change today though is that for the very first time she’ll be at school all day. She usually has a session in the morning then comes home for lunch and then returns in the afternoon but today its her first all-dayer.

Its been prompted by her growing interest in the social aspects of school. Autistics are famously reclusive but over the last couple of months Megan has gone from being happy to be alone to really wanting to participate in what the other kids are doing. I took her to school the other day and had a genuine lump-in-the-throat moment – two of the other little girls grabbed her hands and the three of them started playing ring-a-ring-a-roses. Obviously, Megan didn’t sing along but neither did she just wander off. She maintained good eye contact with her friends and found the whole thing (especially the falling over!) highly amusing. Its the first time I’ve seen Megan want to engage with other kids. That’ll be one of those memories you take to the grave with you.

At the moment I’m at work waiting to hear from Naomi how it all went. My hearts in my mouth a little bit but I’m sure it’ll have gone OK. This school and these educators really have worked their socks off to get Megan to this point and I’m really glad that the efforts we’re putting in at home in not judging her autism in a negative way and always including her in everything are paying off – we have a mostly happy and confident little girl and thats good enough for us.