I didn't!
So, Zoë's latest all-purpose phrase is, "I didn't!" She uses it all the time, and in very annoying ways sometimes. You can catch her right in the act of something (slamming doors, pushing her sister, eating something without permission, etc. etc.) and she'll say, "I didn't!"
Today, we were coming up the front path after the bus arrived and I was holding her hand. She didn't want me to hold her hand, so she reached around and grabbed my fingers and bent my thumb back so hard it actually audibly popped. I said, "OW! You hurt my thumb!"
To which she replied, "I didn't!"
Lying, of course, is a known sign of intelligence (seriously, it is, look it up!), and I do realise that up to a certain age, kids think that if they say something, that makes it true (magical world and all that), but I really do know when someone bends my thumb back so far it pops! There's no convincing Zoë of that, though...
A Conversation with Zoë
Me: What did you do today at school?
Zoë: Cooking.
Me: Oh? What did you cook?
Zoë: Zucchini slice (note for non-Aussies, in this case, "slice" is more or less a baked casserole)
Me: Did you help?
Zoë: Yes.
Me: What did you do?
Zoë: I broke the eggs.
Me: You broke the eggs? Wow! And did you eat the slice when it was done?
Zoë: Yes.
Me: Was it nice?
Zoë: Yes.
Me: If we cook some zucchini slice at home would you eat some?
Zoë: No.
Me: You wouldn't eat any? Not even if you help cook it?
Zoë:: No. I'll eat chicken.
Hugs
Zoë is getting funny about giving hugs. She used to be very physically affectionate, but lately she doesn't seem to want to cuddle very much.
Today I met her when the bus arrived and I gave her a hug on the porch before we came in. A little while later, I said to her, "Come here, let's have a hug." Zoë answered, as clearly as you please, "No, we already had a hug outside!"
School Dresses
One of the little girls in Zoë's class this year has outgrown her school dresses (the plaid gingham ones; there isn't really an American equivalent, but they're ubiquitious here), and so her mum asked if we'd like them for Zoë. We did. Zoë was incredibly thrilled. She put on the "new" dress (new to her, anyway) and whirled around and said, "Look! I'm Chelsea and Rachael!"
What she meant was "I'm dressed like Chelsea and Rachael," as both the girls customarily wear dresses to school. Personally, I don't find dresses very practical for school, but maybe that's just me. Zoë is certainly pleased to be like her female schoolmates.
This is an interesting development, because it means she's paying attention to what other children are wearing.
She's also been paying attention to what they're eating, because her lunch menu has become much more varied lately. She's having all kinds of different sandwiches for lunch. Last year, she had ham or ham and cheese, always on a roll, every day. If we tried to vary it, she wouldn't eat it. This year she's having sandwiches as well as rolls, and she's having all kinds of different ones. Ham, cheese, egg salad, vegemite and cheese, peanut butter...
If only we could get her to eat vegetables...
Largest Ever Autism Study Identifies Two Genetic Culprits
The largest genome scan ever conducted to get to the bottom of autism has pinpointed two locations in the human genetic makeup that may trigger the mysterious mental condition. The Autism Genome Project, a collaborative effort of 120 scientists representing 19 countries and 50 institutions, compared the genomes of 1,168 families with at least two autism sufferers in them to try to track down the regions. The consortium reports its findings in this week's issue of Nature Genetics.
Swimming
Zoë has a new set of bathers (swimsuit). She picked it herself. It's got Hi 5 on it, and it's two pieces with bottoms like shorts. She's been waiting impatiently for swimming day at school to wear it.
Today is Miranda's no-school day. She'll have Wednesdays off for the remainder of this month, and then go for the full week starting next month. So Nanna and I decided we'd go to the swimming pool and take Miranda with us.
This morning, Zoë had her own "pool bag" packed (bathers, towel, hairbrush, etc.). She insisted she had to take it. Her dad (who gets her ready in the mornings) told her it wasn't swimming day but she was determined that it was, so he let her take it to save a big fight. (We think that she overheard us talking about the pool last night and that's how she got it into her head.)
When she came home, she was carrying her pool bag. I said, "Did you have swimming today?" She said, with a somewhat annoyed expression on her face, "No." I said, "Well, Daddy tried to tell you..." to which she immediately responded, "SHH!!" and stormed off in a huff...
She did ask if she could go to the pool with Nanna and Grandpop and me. We'd already discussed it, and the next time her school has a "pupil-free day" (in a few weeks), we'll take her. So I said to her, "Next time you have a holiday, you can go to the pool with us." She gave me a huge hug and grinned and then said, "I don't wanna go school tomowwo. No school any more for Zoe!"
It seems she must really like the pool if she's willing to give up school to go swimming!
General update
Zoë seems to have finally settled into a routine at school. Her class is bigger than last year, with eight students and two teachers. Two of the other students are even girls, which is quite unusual in a school for autistic kids (since autism is much more unusual in girls). The routines this year are very different from last year, so it's just taken some time for her to sort it out in her mind.
She's speaking in spontaneous, complete sentences now. Examples:
"No, I want to stay with Nanna and Grandpop"
"I don't want a roll, I want a sandwich"
"I don't want ham, I want chicken sandwich"
She's also got a program at school on the computer where she tells about what she did on the weekend, by making a sentence with pictures and words. It's very clear that she understands the past tense (what did you do on the weekend) and she expresses it in sometimes detailed ways. For example:
"On the weekend I played with my toys. Rabbit, dog, and doll." (And she did, too.)
Her social skills are still pretty bad at times, but that's improving slowly. It's just something she has to learn by instruction and observation, and until fairly recently, she hasn't had any need or desire to observe social behaviors (and autistics are notorious for "not getting it" when it comes to social subtlety).
Anyway, she's doing well and settling in. When she gets home from school she's always very tired and fairly grumpy (fights with her little sister quite a bit), and just wants to have a drink, a bite to eat, and watch television!
School is good
Zoë started back to school on Wednesday. New teachers, mostly new kids in her class, although she knows most of them from the playground, it seems. One of the little boys from last year's class is in this one with her, too.
She's thrilled, to say the least. She's not quite back in the "gotta go to bed" routine, but she's so very happy to be going back to school. She practically runs to get on the bus, and when she comes home she's always tired but seems very happy and content.
We haven't yet met with teachers to work out a plan for Zoë's goals for this term. Last year, she met pretty much all of her goals and then some, so it'll be interesting to set some new ones and see how that goes.
She's speaking in complete sentences now, often without prompting, and using phrases quite creatively at times. For example, the other day, her dad asked her to tell him about her day at school and she was quiet for a bit and then said, "She lost her voice." Now this is from The Little Mermaid, but Zoë was using it to describe her feeling that she just couldn't talk (too tired, pretty much).
She's also asking for things ("Can I have this?") and telling us about things she sees or does (after seeing a particular commercial, she informed me, "We could get KFC Meal Deal and eat it outside"). She comments on a lot of things "Is a shower, not a bath"). Her pronunciation is still quite poor, and when people hear her speak, they know she's not up to speed in the speech department, but that's okay. She can answer questions and ask for things and describe things (sometimes), and the pronunciation and diction will come later. Just getting her to speak at all has been quite exhausting.
I'll leave you with something she said to me last night. Miranda was in the other room practicing the piano and I asked Zoë (who, by the way, has an excellent sense of rhythm), "Would you like to learn the piano?" Zoë shook her head. I persisted, "Wouldn't you like to learn to play the piano like Nanna and Daddy and Miranda?" Zoë informed me, "No play a piano. Play a toys!"
So there you go.
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