Kindergarten so far

Just to bring people up to date, Sam started kindergarten in September 2006. The transition was about as difficult as it could have been. We weren't prepared for how hard things were going to be and how many different strategies would have to be implemented. Right from the start the teachers and staff at his school were very eager to help and come up with a plan to make it work. They kep assuring us that they would work it all out, and of course we did whatever we could to help them along.

It took awhile, but by mid-November, things started to improve. Sam was given a regular schedule of sensory "breaks" during the day so he could take a breather, and have some down time. He was pre-set for regular activities during the day and also for when changes to the routine were going to happen. He started to respond to these interventions, and had a fairly smooth time of it from December-mid February.

Sometime around Valentine's Day, things started to deteriorate again. At first there were minor problems- he was non-cooperative, he was screaming out at various times during the day, he didn't want to do his work. During February there were 2 1/2 snow days, then February vacation, then his birthday on March 4. Since the return to school after the break, things have gotten steadily worse. His episodes of screaming and throwing objects have increased dramatically, culminating in the episode yesterday where he threw a pencil box (it appeared to be deliberate) at the teacher and hit her.

Of course I am deeply concerned about these "outbursts". I am saddened, frustrated and confused about why this is happening. His "fits" seemingly come out of nowhere- but we all know practically that this isn't the case. Something has to be setting him off, and he has to be receiving a huge payoff for it to constantly be reinforced. I feel as if I'm failing him in not being able to come up with an effective strategy to help him manage his behaviors.

It's always been his pattern from babyhood that he has had periods of time where lots of aspects of his life are difficult for him, then things get better for an extended period of time, then back to difficult again. I intend to make it a goal of mine to
1. Better predict when a "low period" is coming
2. Recognize it when it's here
3. Come up with strategies to use that will help him deal with the tough periods when they occur.
4. Help him to enjoy and acknowledge when he's enjoying success during his "good" periods.

I know I'm probably not making much sense, but I wanted to get across in a nutshell what we've been dealing with over the past few months. Most of the time, life goes on as relatively peaceful and normal. We enjoy the same activities many families do. Unfortunately, there are those times when we go into crisis mode. Our entire lives are colored by Sam's difficulties at school. I spend nearly every waking hour (and some non-waking!) trying to think outside the box about how we can learn to live with the challenges that Asperger's Syndrome brings, and not let it define our lives.