Amanda
The past couple of weeks for Zion have been mixed. We have had great days, and we have had days filled with anxiety. They had the spelling bee at school, and I asked Zion if he wanted to participate. He immediately said no and started to cry. His teacher asked him at school, and he did the exact same thing. Then, I tried to encourage him to do a science project (they are not required until 2nd grade), and again, he said no and started to cry. I feel like Zion thinks about these things and having to be in front of people, and he automatically freaks out. He has very high anxiety. He gets nervous quickly and shuts down. He won’t talk or acknowledge anything. This worries me, especially for the future. Even if I ask him a question in front of people that are not family, he freezes. Most kiddos I know at this age can’t stop talking (hehe), but he is not that kid. He has a doctor’s appointment this week, and I am going to mention his anxiety. I do not want to really do anything about it right now (as far as meds go), but I just need it to be documented for the future.
Zion did really well on Halloween. I had to remind him every time to say thank you, but he did pretty good. His little sister had to encourage him to go to some of the houses, but he followed her up and down the driveways. He has done so well with Amaiah, and I actually feel like he has learned a lot from her. He is better at sharing and pretend play, and I feel like she had a huge role in teaching him those skills. Crazy, huh, that a 3-year-old can teach a 6-year-old so much.
We are on Thanksgiving break, and I am looking forward to spending a lot of quality time that I tend to miss out on throughout the school year. He has been asking for weeks to go to Panera, so I am taking them there along with a couple of other places. I am also taking a larger role in trying to teach him more appropriate behaviors. At home, he has a really hard time following directions, and I mean simple things like “go throw this away, please.” This has gotten much worse over the past year, and I feel like maybe I don’t discipline him as much as I should. I never wanted to be one of those parents that make excuses for their child because of a disability, but I feel like that is happening, and I am going to stop it before it gets even worse.
Thank you for reading! Zion is such a unique child, and I am beyond blessed to be able to share his journey with people. I know Autism is growing, and there are so many parents, just like me and Jeremiah, that are dealing with challenges and building on successes of their child every single day! See you next month!
