Week 78

This week we were finally able to play a scheduled soccer game.  This was Ryan's first game and he did well.  He kept talking to the other players and was not that aggressive trying to get the ball.  At the end of the game he was very upset.  He hit himself in the head numerous times, and started crying into his coaches's arms.  I had to run onto the field to get him and bring him back to the sidelines.  He was disappointed that he did not score a goal.  He told us that he had "a little bit of fun" at the game.  However, he did stay in the entire game and did not walk off when he got frustrated like he does at practice.  Hopefully with time he will get better and he will score a goal so that he can be proud of himself! In the meantime we will keep telling him how proud we are of him that he has been sticking with this! 

I was videotaping parts of the game and did record him hitting himself and having a breakdown in the middle of the field.  It was very upsetting to me so I will not share that video here, but I will share this clip instead.  While Ryan is certainly not as aggressive as some of the other kids, he does seem into the game.

Next Sunday Ryan will be in his first wedding.  He is walking down the isle with his cousin, Amelia.  We had the rehearsal on Saturday and he did fantastic.  He followed directions and he listened extremely well. The wedding planner and the Priest even made a mistake and had Ryan do something that was incorrect. The old Ryan would have had a difficult time understanding the mistake but he simply walked back to where they wanted him without missing a beat.  Hopefully next week he will do well with a church full of people.

Frakie, Alyssa, Ryan, Amelia, and Julia... all in the bridal party!

Walkig down the aisle.  A little zombie-ish but we'll work on getting him to smile this week.

One of our biggest fears with Ryan was that he was not going to make friends.  A child with Autism has difficulty reading people and understanding social interactions.  So far Ryan seems to be making the transition into the world of play dates just fine.  We had a play date today with a young boy from his old school, PARC.  His mom called us a few weeks ago to set something up because their son was constantly asking for Ryan to come over.  We went today and they had a blast playing together.  This Tuesday James from his Kindergarten class is coming over to our house for a play date.  This is the boy that had the birthday party a couple of weeks ago.  James actually left a message on our answering machine asking if he could come over one day and play with Ryan.  I guess we all worry that our children will have difficultly making friends on their own, but so far Ryan seems to be doing okay.

When we were visiting Pittsburgh, Aunt Anne took us to a Pick-your-own orchard that has a gluten free specialty shop.  We were able to find French bread that he really likes and that tastes really good.  He liked it so much that we made it a point to try to find it this week at Nature's Pantry.  Lucky for us they have this and we are going to pack it with us when we go to the wedding next week.  This has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks when we go out to eat.  Most restaurants bring bread to the table and Ryan has a difficult time understanding that this is not for him, especially when he is hungry.  Now that we have this bread, we can plan better and bring our own supply.  Below is a picture of the bread.   The brand is Schar and we highly recommend you try it if you are on a GF diet.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, as we pulled out of the driveway waving back to Aunt Anne, Megan, and Kate, Ryan says, "I will miss them."  Awww!!! 

Conversation as I put him to bed the other night.
Me: Good night, sweetheart.
Ryan: Good night, my beautiful love!
Double awwww!!!!

Phil and I want to thank everyone who read the blog, especially those who converse with us about it.  Your insight into what you ejoy reading and the changes you notice in Ryan are refreshing and it's what keeps us going each week.  After last Sunday's blog we received our more than usual "fan mail" this week, with lots of people encouraging us to keep it going, but also understanding and appreciating the time we put into writing it each week.  I want to share one of the messages we received this week.  It comes from my former high school math teacher, Ms. Pfleger:

I do want to let you know that I read your blog about Ryan's journey each week. I need to say that it has been a privilege to follow his progress. I really see a difference in Ryan through pictures even though I am not personally acquainted with him. If I compare this week's picture with his Aunt Anne to some of the first pictures that you posted, I see a much happier boy with a real smile on his face not a forced smile because someone is expecting him to smile for a picture. I have to believe that the course that you and Phil have chosen to help Ryan is the right one. Take care and God bless.

May God bless all of YOU who are the backbone behind what we do!
Have a great week!
 
DC & PC