Back again

We had to take a little break in our food activities. Since starting 1st grade, Jocie has been struggling with so many things. Just having to attend school for a full day was very hard on her. Then add in the sounds of a lunch room, school bells, fire drills etc, well- overwhelming to say the least. Over the last 9 weeks or so since school started, we have watched Jocie fall back in so many ways. No longer eating during much of anything during the week. Dinner if we are lucky, but nothing for breakfast, snacks or lunch! We have started giving her supplements and having her drink pediasure just to make sure she stays healthy through all of this! It is all we can do to get her to drink. She is so stressed she has begun wearing her headphones from the time she wakes up until around dinner time every school day. What started out as being a way for her to muffle some of the sounds of school, turned into a 'security blanket' as well.Some days she spends more time OUT of class than she spends IN class(usually in the office with the school counselor or psychologist). Afraid of the other kids, afraid of the noises, movement, and everything else she cannot predict. She started out crying when it was time to go, and progressed to where we have to pry her off of the furniture to get her there. Getting her to stay, well that is a whole other story! Heart breaking to say the least! Stimming behaviors, aggression and many other 'old' behaviors have resurfaced and her poor little body is just exhausted. We are working on new ways to help her and finding things for her to enjoy while she is there. Baby steps! With the help of her private counselor and psychiatrist as well as her therapists, we are getting there and helping the school to understand her needs. 


So, because just getting her to EAT has been such a challenge, we didn't want to push her wit hthe food activities. Jocie is now on a 2 week break from school (which si is really ENJOYING!!), so we decided to try some of the activities again. So far it has been met with mixed feelings from Jocie. She WANTS to participate, but is not liking to much of the messy parts. Hides a lot but does come out to check on what we are doing. Mew is having a blast! so we will just keep trying to do our activities and letting Jocie participate as she feels she can. 


Please bare with us as we try to re-start where we left off and hope fully we can continue through the rest of the alphabet.