Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everybody! This year we went trick or treating around the neighborhood and it was really fun. I got to be Batman and my brother Jay was Darth Vader. I carried my pumpkin basket like a big boy even though I don't eat candies at all. It was a fun night that ended in our neighbor's house, which I love.

Scary Story with a Happy Ending

A while ago, I used to have an obsession with water, very common among children with autism. Our family has a house with a private backyard, no pool, no conservation lot and NO POND. Mama and Papa knew any of these could be dangerous for me.

On the Spring Break of 2003 (I was 3 yrs old), I was playing with my mom and my brother in our backyard. Houses around us were still under construction with the exception of a couple of houses across the street. While playing, Mom went inside the house for a couple of minutes and told my brother to keep an eye on me. My brother got distracted and didn't notice that I took off to cross the street, onto the neighbor's backyard and into the pond.

My mom and my brother were running hysterical trying to find me. By that time I have already went to a screened porch where a neighbor was cleaning his pool and immediately walked to the pond and inside it, thinking I could float. I was so used to wear life saving floaties that I didn't realize I couldn't swim without them.

The neighbor, realizing what I just did went running to my rescue. I was completely under water and mud and leaves got inside my mouth and ears. The day before there had been an alligator in that samespot. My rescuer called on his neighbor to help him since he thought I would need resucitation from drowning. Fortunately, I was fine. Either from drowing, or from getting hurt by an alligator, I was saved!!!!

My mom and dad bought a basket with wine and cheeses for our neighborand his wife. This is smaller than a grain of sand in comparison withthe wonderful, corageous and life-saving act he did, but it was the only way they knew how to say thanks.

Thinking back about this experience, I believe there is an angel watching over me. I could have gone straight to the pond and nobody would have noticed. For some reason, I went to touch the screened porch where my neighbor was and got his attention. Without him, I wouldn't be alive.

Now I know how to swim and I have a tremendous respect for water. I took swimming lessons and don't use floaties anymore. I can be around water, ponds and pools and I never go in without permission and when I go in I am very careful.

Three years had gone by.... God has great plans for me. I need to stay in this earth to teach and learn many things. And that is precisely what I am just doing....

IEP Time!

In school, I have a set of goals that my teachers and therapists follow to work with me and that help them to have a plan of the things that we are going to be working on. These set of goals is what is called an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan).

The IEP contains, besides the goals, a description of the things that I am doing presently. It is called the Present Level of Performance. It was written by my teacher, Ms. Lauren with the inputs of my Speech therapist at school, Ms. Patty and my Occupational therapist at school, Ms. Sabia. This section was read in the IEP meeting and received the approval from my Mom and Dad. I will transcribe a little part of it, so that everybody who knows me and is interested can see where I am right now:

Diego adapted to the new school year very easily... Diego enters the classroom with excitement.... Diego does very well learning new activities... Morning circle and circle time are two of his favorite activities. He follows along with every song and movement visually by looking at his morning cirlce flip book... Diego also enjoys "Specials" especially P.E. and Art time... He loves the interaction with classmates during physical activities... Diego shows awareness and interest in daily classroom activities... He has made excellent progress with following daily routines and transitions well.

The IEP also has other interesting sections. It contains the services that I receive in school like Speech and Occupational Therapy. It even specifies services like the School Bus picking me up every day and that besides being in the classroom with other children with Autism, I also need to spend part of my day with other kids that do not attend Special Education.

My IEP says that I can receive 2 hrs of Speech Therapy and 40 minutes of Occupational Therapy in one week. This amount of time is really low and is not even close to what I need to progress, but this is what is offered in the state of Florida.

My teacher, Ms. Lauren and my teacher aid, Ms. Angie, know a lot about what we do in therapy and they practice things with me every day. Also, my teacher sends homework home and my Mom and my therapist at home, Devoni, can continue practicing skills with me.

Some of the goals in my IEP this year are:
* identify lower and upper case letters in the ABC
* identify colors, shapes and numbers
* learn new words and use picture symbols to communicate

This year is very exciting in school because I am receiving Specials. These are classes that are not offered everyday but that complete the curriculum of our class. They are offered my different teachers and they are P.E., Art and Music and even Science. I LOVE SPECIALS and have a lot of FUN with them.