We went away to Cairns (the top end of Australia) for a holiday in September, and I had no Internet access... so the blog got put on hold :)
We had a great 3 wks, Jono was very forthcoming to people in the swimming pool, and jumped wholeheartedly onto complete strangers backs, fortunately they were very relaxed up there and it didn't cause issues. There was also a moment where some kids were running races and tried to get Jono to join in, I explained he was Autistic and didn't understand but thanked them for trying to include him, two minutes later they were getting him to do high fives with them.
Sarah and Daniel also enjoyed being away from home, and loved Grandpa's dog. We all had a really good time, and I think Jono only melted down once or twice. We drove the whole way there and back 1700km's, with the three kids, and they all coped really well... Rob and I were quite amazed.
Towards the end of the year, Jono plateaued, he didn't really progress in speech or school, and I think he knew school was finishing as he got more difficult to direct. The last two weeks of school, I had lots of concerns and dramas about where he should go for this year, as I wanted him in special school, and he had to be intellectually impaired to be able to go. More 'labels', stress, choices, decisions, questions... it was hard, but we got through it, and he is now in Grade one at special school.. and he is doing wonderfully! More on that later.
We also had an very interesting summer holiday, it was too long and not long enough, but we all did very well... and more on that later too. Nice to start blogging again, he is my special man, and life is busy, but good :)
Karen, You haved taken great risks and won in going to Cairns. Wonderful stuff you are achieving. There are bad days...but they are behind you when you can achieve such control on a road trip with 3 kids. Congratulations!!
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