I'm Back

Those of you following this blog will quickly learn that I have a hard time writing on a regular basis.  I will do the best that I can in regard to keeping up with my entries.

The rest of the Intensive Week with Charlie was amazing.  Charlie worked 10 hours each day while Kevin, Liz, Meredith and I worked with the wonderful teachers.  At first, I was surprised how much we were not working directly with Charlie.  I expected much more time to be spent working with Charlie in the playroom, being observed, and discussing our time with the teachers.  The total amount of time we spent with Charlie in the playroom was maybe 5-6 hours the whole week.  Instead, we spend most of our time with the teachers working on technique and most importantly our attitude and beliefs we have about Charlie, his autism, and his abilities.  It is amazing how tackling these things helped TREMENDOUSLY in the playroom.  All of our playroom skills increased dramatically by working outside the playroom so, in turn, Charlie blossomed even more.  They really are experts!

Once we got home, and kissed our precious daughters, we spent the weekend making some adjustments in Charlie's playroom and come Monday we began our home program again.  I took the time to share with Andrea and Gwen what we had learned.  It went well because I had become more confident as leader of this program and thus my ability as a trainer improved.

That Monday we did have a volunteer resign.   It is disappointing but I believe all things happen for a reason so we will look for new volunteers to become part of Charlie's amazing family and increase his playroom hours as much as we can.  We now know that he has the stamina for a full day and that a full day is what he needs and craves.  He is happiest in the playroom, most of the time :)

So that is the summary of our Intensive Week in Massachusetts.  It was awesome, life changing, exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.  It was worth the time, energy and sacrifices we made to get there and we hope to go again next year!

Till next time...

Intensive Week Day 1

Nine months of waiting and we are finally here at The Options Institute for our week long Intensive.  I can't believe it is finally here!  Beside Charlie,of course, we are here with Liz and Meredith.  These girls are the best for giving up there week for Charlie.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives!

This week Charlie will spend 10 hours in the playroom while we have classes on our attitude, belief systems, review the program, and fine tune Charlie's specific program.

I am now at the end of day one and I am exhausted!  They don't call this an intensive for nothing!!  Charlie entered the playroom at 8:45 this morning and stayed there until 7:00 tonight.  At home he is toast by 2:30.  We were all amazed how well he did and the stamina he had.  This proves the Son-Rise mantra that the attitude and energy of the person who is playing with him directly affects the outcome of his day.

We, as a group, really dug in today by brainstorming, working with Charlie, and getting tons of feedback from the fabulous team of SR pros here in Massachusetts.  This was just the beginning of the week, I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Till tomorrow...