Just wanted to write a quick little blog and let you all know we’re still here, and we’re still smiling.

So what’s new since our last blog about my meltdown?

Well, Bryce got a hair cut, which looks pretty sharp. Oh, and he is still wearing his orange and brown shirt everyday. And despite the cold weather and occausional snow falls we’ve been getting, he is still blowing bubbles.

Bryce is also becoming more of a picky eater. He’d refuse everything we made unless it was hotdogs (which seems to be his phase of the week or month). We’ve resorted to a reward system, offering him a sip-worth of almond chocolate milk (which is excellent by the way) with his dinner for every bite he has. Surprisingly, this is working out really well and he’s actually finishing his plate.

In other news, he still continues to scream when he doesn’t get his way, gets frustrated, or just can’t find the words. And like I’ve mentioned before, this is rather new behaviour. I have a feeling it’s related to puberty, but Daniel says he’s too young for that. I don’t know. I’ve read all sorts of horror stories from families having a child with autism and what it’s like when that child goes through puberty. The hormone levels just go through the roof and it usually ends up with an aggressive child. This would explain a lot of Bryce’s recent behaviour. I haven’t done much research in this area yet to know much about it to discuss, mainly because that means my little baby is becoming a little boy, and that in itself scares me. He will be turning 10 in the beginning of July.

One way we’ve been ‘dealing’ (and I use that term lightly) with this screaming behaviour is taking away Bryce’s privileges. Like if he screams (for no explained reason) he loses his magna doodle, or Nintendo DS, or Wii, or even television. Depends on what he’s doing and what would be more of an ‘end of the world’ item not to have. This was something that Daniel came up with, and again, surprisingly, it seems to be helping. Right after Bryce screams he is given a warning, and we let him know right away that if he screams again that he will lose whatever it is that we decide at that time. For the most part he doesn’t scream again, but he has had a completely empty room on a couple of occausions. ‘Be good, and get it’ Bryce will say, and after a couple hours, or even until the end of the day, he will get it back. It depends on his behaviour.

That being said, we’re not just taking things away the second he screams. Everything Bryce does and the way he acts has a reason or meaning behind it, and we usually try to figure everything out before we discipline him. Sometimes we blame the behaviour on autism, but we never excuse the behaviour.

Anyways, that’s what’s really new with us. We keep on living, keep on smiling, and we’re still here.

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Thanks for reading,
Tanaya