"turn on please", Irlen Screening and spidey glasses

"turn on please"
With these words I continue to take comfort that my son is healing. Lochlan who turns 3 on the 17th was non-verbal less than 1 year ago. We had little eye contact and he lived in a world all his own. As a parent of a child with autism we celebrate successes that many would overlook. This is one. Today when Lochlan had finished his ABA session, his therapist and I were talking as he played Super why (on zac browser) on our computer. His therapist was telling me that he now will say the word "spin" pronouncing the "s" sound. I turned the monitor off to prompt him to first say spin and he quickly said "turn on please". This is just one of many phrases Lochlan is now saying spontaneously (not routine phrases). "mommy what's this?" pours from his mouth in song most of the day. Lochlan now thirsts to know the name for things and will echo anything. He is manding like crazy and his self injurious behavior is almost non-existent any more. Lochlan will answer some yes and no questions (although he answers more no than yes!) and can identify many familiar objects. He knows all his letters, numbers, shapes and colors and now that he has verbal language he is able to express these skills. (We had never worked with Lochlan on numbers, colors or letters!) He has made so much progress this last year. It is hard to believe it is the same boy. He is doing very well in school, is extremely bright and has adjusted to his busy schedule with ease. His ABA therapists are ready to start discrete trials and so far he is scoring very well on the VB-MAPP.

Sully we recently had screened for Irlen Syndrome (official link under my fav links). The results were inconclusive at this time as he is very young but there is no doubt that he has moderate light sensitivity. We are going to be experimenting with lightly tinted glasses, colored paper and colored lighting. This could be very helpful in helping Sully deal with sensory overload. I know we are on the right track but it will take time to really narrow in what is all causing the overload. I was able to find him a pair of Spidey light blue tinted sunglasses that are just a few shades lighter than the color of the blue overlay he responded to at the screening. We will experiment in different settings having him wear the glasses and then we will record his behavioral response. So far we have had 2 trips to the store and one day at school with the spidey glasses and he seems to be more at ease when wearing them than without. We will continue to take data over the next few months. (Irlen syndrome is very common in adhd, autism, dyslexia, and SPD/SI to name a few. )