When I look back at my first blog, I said

“life with Bear can only be described as unpredictable”.

Teddie has come on so much since my first blog but in all honesty life on the spectrum will always be unpredictable as every day is different, he may be ok with one thing today but can be an issue tomorrow.

Teddie inabilities to communicate have never really hindered him as much as you would think it would.  Teddie’s vocabulary has improved enormously since we started his journey ( he is now stringing 2-3 words together) but still, his anxieties get in the way nearly every day.

The class toilets were out of action on Tuesday, Teddie has major toilet anxieties and will only use the 2nd toilet on the left- This was one of the toilets that were broken. By the end of the day, all the toilets in the class were out of action. Teddie went 7 hours without going to the toilet as he was so frightened to go near the other school toilets.

We had a plan in place to put a photo of Teddie on the door of the toilet he uses for a few weeks then move the photo to another toilet door in the hope this will encourage him to use the other toilet. We had to act on this quicker than expected, but the result wasn’t a good one.

Wednesday morning Teddie was reluctant to get ready for school, Alfie left without us which is unheard of! Teddie kept saying; 

“No toilet! No toilet!”

I managed to get him to school where we were all very pleased to see the toilets in the class had been repaired……….thank the Lord!!!

This is still an area we need to try to resolve, for now, Teddie can happily wee away in the 2nd toilet on the left.

Yesterday Gareth and I attended a parent afternoon in Teddie’s class, it was so lovely to see him happily playing with his friends in the playground, felt for poor Mrs.Turner (Teddie’s afternoon 1:1) running around after him, it’s definitely classed as a workout!

Although it was lovely seeing Teddie joyfully playing, I came away feeling slightly despondent. Teddies differences are quantified depending on the activity, on this occasion after tiding away (he was reluctant to help) all the children headed in the class for a storey, Teddie didn’t join in at all.

Teddie was by no means segregated, he was in the classroom playing with play-doh and focusing on his fine motor skills with Mr.Turner, Gareth & myself. Teddie became slightly distressed when we said it was time to pack away, Teddie reached out for his PECs peanut ball card which is in the sensory room. Mrs.Turner allowed Teddie 5 minutes in the sensory room where he happily jumped around watching the parrot image projected onto the wall.

As much as these sensory breaks are vital for Teddie I keep questioning if a mainstream school is right for him. Adaptions will always be made for him but the curriculum is what it is, you have to conform in order to succeed. I’m not ruling out Teddie staying in mainstream school but we have to look at the bigger picture, although this year is going so well year 1 is more structured and learning levels are increased. If Teddie cannot recite words from a book, shapes and count to a million he fails it all.

I never under-estimate Teddie, his wanting to learn is so refreshing and normally does the opposite of my worries, for now, we are more than happy with how everything is going, Teddie has the best support at school, we are honestly so lucky.

We love our Bear and wouldn’t have him any other way.