family together.....Christmas post III....

Slummed it around the house in the morning. Guy put the finishing touches on the iPads for the boys and we headed over the hills and through the overpass to their house.

The plan was to hang out, take them to Norms for some ice cream and enjoy the evening.
Norms was packed so we headed to the semi-empty IHOP instead. Good choice since their fries were exceptional.

This is the verdict after the initial exposure to their new toys. Spence is addicted. Tyler is hesitant but responded to the drawing app the most.

Now I think I have to record for history my fantasy. Any Autie mom will tell you that we imagine a Hellen Keller moment when communication suddenly pours out of them and we finally have the connection and closeness of knowing their thoughts. Of course that is also a double edged sword because we might hear an opinion about the things I have done. Typical feedback from children starts early but the boys have well over 10 years plus of unsaid thoughts.

Spence is very good at finding his way around a computer. Too many times than we have to count we woke up to a computer desktop rearranged and disappeared applications. He just enjoys poking around. We made a conscious decision to NOT put movies on the iPads at first. Just games, the camera and the language software. We spent the time playing the games in front of the boys. Spence got it right away.

Ty is another story. His anxiety has gotten worse and he has a hard time decided on anything. The only time he showed interest was on the drawing app.

Right now I can see that time is our friend. I didn't get my Hellen Keller moment today but I think we will make progress slowly. Each little step will come and we will all learn together how this technology hill help us connect.

Years later I can see the lesson that autism has taught me. Hours, weeks, months and years of therapy yielded small seemingly insignificant dividends that didn't seem "enough" at the time. Now those pieces help out. Now those pieces make some things a lot easier. So I guess I can expect the same from this new step for us.

And I expect Spence is going to manage a very high score in Temple Run very soon.