Team Henry: Expectations versus Reality - School

 

Our expectations

We were hoping that the Smart Pup would also assist in decreasing L’s anxiety during his daily routines, in particular at school. With approval from the school that L attends, the Smart Pup would accompany him to school to assist in transitions throughout the day. This in turn would mean that L would have more days at school and would also stay at school rather than running off from his classroom when he became overwhelmed.

The reality

School drop offs have become incredibly easier and L is spending more time at school and is staying at school. Henry provides lap lays in the mornings before school at home. As soon as Henry senses that L is becoming overwhelmed, he will go to L and lay on his lap. This will usually calm L enough that he can get himself ready for school.

On the mornings where L is having a rough morning, Henry assists in calming L at home, in the car and in the sensory room at school. They will lay together on the floor of the sensory room, Henry giving L lap lays or just nuzzling L. All of L’s teachers and teacher aides have commented on how quickly L calms when Henry is by his side.

Prior to Henry being placed, we had more rough school drop offs then calm drop offs. We had mornings where we couldn’t get L out of the house. Those mornings are now much fewer. Prior to Henry being placed, on L’s rough mornings, if often took a few hours at school for him to calm. Now, it takes anywhere between 20 minutes and half an hour before he is ready to verbally interact with his teacher aides and he is often back in his classroom before 10 o’clock.

The novelty has now worn off at school about there being a dog on the school grounds – initially we caused absolute chaos at school! The entire school community have embraced Henry and have welcomed him into the school. Whenever L and I take Henry into his classroom, the entire mood of the students in the room calms.

The students at the school as a whole are extremely respectful. On the mornings that L is having a good morning, they will say hi to Henry (I’m now known as Henry’s mum!) and ask the most amazing questions about what Henry actually does, what does a service dog mean, what was his training like and all manner of other questions relating to Henry and what he actually does.

On the mornings that L is having a rough morning, they give us space and let Henry do his thing. And then if they spot Henry and I on our way out of the school after L is calm, they praise Henry for being such a great helper in calming his boy.

School wise - Henry has helped L with his reading skills. Every night before bed time, L reads to Henry. The school aims for every child to record at least 300 reading experiences by the end of the school year. By November last year, L reached just over 600 reading experiences. Henry was rewarded for his reading log too!

Sometimes, sarcasm is the best way to respond!

There are times in anyone's life, that the best way to respond to questions or statements is with sarcasm. Over the last few years, I've become quite versed in interpreting how questions are asked. 

If the person asking the question is genuinely interested in learning more about Autism and our journey, I will take the time to politely correct them and education them about Autism.

And then there are the people are just down right rude and obnoxious. And that's when one of the below responses will slip out! Oops, sorry not sorry!

[Oh, you're neurotypical? So to what degree are you normal?

 Are you slightly normal or very normal?}

["Their struggles are all in their head."

You're right, their struggles are in their heads, Autism is a

neurological difference. I didn't realise that you had

x-ray and MRI vision to be able to see their differences.]

[Random person: "They don't look Autistic."

Me: Oops, my bad. I haven't taught them how to look Autistic yet.

Can you show them because clearly you know what Autism looks like.]

[Random person: "They aren't drugged are they."

Me: If you are referring to medication, yes they do take medication. At this moment in time,

they require medication to keep their anxiety at bay so that they can

learn how to self manage their severe anxiety.

Are you drugged for your stupidity?]

[Random person: "There's no such thing as Autism."

Me: Actually Autism does exist. And while we're on the subject of things that

don't exist, I didn't believe that there were walking adverts for contraception

but here we are.]

[Random person: (insert unsolicited advice here..)

Me: excuse me for interrupting you, but here's some unsolicited advice

for you. STFU and ping off.]

[Random person: "They'll get better when they are adults."

Me: Yes they will get better. Better at using sarcasm to deflect comments like yours.

Autism doesn't end at 18 years.]

[Share this on your profile is you know, or are related to someone,

who is an idiot. Idiots affect the lives of many. There is still

no known cure for stupidity, but we can raise awareness.

93% won't share this, many because they're too stupid

to know how.]

[Random person: "Don't you wish that there was a cure for Autism?"

Me: No. Why would anyone want neurodiversity to disappear? But did you

know that there is a cure for ignorance?]

[Random person: "What's wrong with him?"

Me: Absolutely nothing, he's neurodiverse and extremely happy.

What's wrong with you?]

[They don't look Autistic you say? I apologise, next time

I'll make sure that they're wearing their Autistic clothes!]

[Random person: "Don't you wish there was a cure?"

Me: A cure? You know that there is a cure for stupidity and ignorance, it's called

talking to and listening to Autistic voices.]

Autism Awareness and Acceptance 2022

It's April, which means it is Autism Awareness Month.

But you know what, we don't need more awareness. Acceptance is what all Autistic individuals want. We want to be accepted for who we are.

April the 2nd is World Autism Day.

Please be accepting of those individuals who are different, regardless of whether you know that they are Autistic or not.

We have been on this journey for almost 10 years, as we knew that L was different from the moment he arrived Earth side. Officially, our families Autism journey began in 2016.

Your view of the world changes when let yourself view the world through another's perspective. Both O and L view the world in their own ways. And we wouldn't have our family any other way!

Throughout the month of April, I am going to share ways in which you can show a little more Autism Acceptance. But acceptance shouldn't just be in April, it should be year round.

[Raising Autism Awareness 101

Autism has no look. Every individual is unique.]

So how can you show more Autism Acceptance?

If an individual tells you that they are Autistic, don't question their diagnosis.

Autism has no look. Too many times, and far too frequently we hear "they just don't look Autistic."

By stating this, or something similar, you are not helping. You are in fact questioning their every being.

It can take families time to actually get an Autism diagnosis, and when you question the validity of the diagnosis, it can be a huge kick in the guts to them.

Don't question, just accept and open your eyes as to how they view the world.

 

[Raising Autism Awareness 101

Autism is for life. Autism does not magically disappear 

when an individual turns 18.]

Autism is for life. Autism doesn't disappear at the age of 18, but unfortunately therapy services for Autistic adults can be more difficult to find and access. An Autistic individual won't get better, life at times doesn't become easier for the individual.

Some new Memes

 Who loves a Meme? Here's a few that we've posted on our social media profiles!

[If an Autistic person is non-verbal, still include them in conversations.

You may be surprised at just how much they are taking in.]

[Meet your child where they are developmentally here and now,

rather then be concerned by where medical or education

professionals say that your child should be.]

[Stop and admire the little things in life,

the tiny details that we miss through

being busy, because these can be the most

wonderous things.]

[Be so completely yourself that everyone else

feels safe to be themselves too. Unknown.]

[Normal is not a goal for me.

Normal isn't a compliment.

Normal is too much like playing tetris,

fitting in for the sake of fitting in.

O, 12 years.]

[Neurodiversity is....

A different way of thinking.

A different way of processing everything that an individual

sees, feels and hears in th3e world around them.

A different way of communication ones needs,

thoughts and wants.]

[Remember to choose the battles that you want to fight.

But also, for your children sake,

fight the battles that need to be fought.]

Team Henry: Expectations versus Reality - Sleep

Our expectations

L struggles with sleep and has averaged roughly 4 and a half to 5 hours sleep a night since he was the age of 4 and a half months old. We were hoping that a Smart Pup would provide L with the level of comfort that he needs to fall asleep and stay calm. The plan was that L's pup would sleep in his bed so that when L woke in the middle of the night, he hopefully wouldn’t need us every night.

The Reality

We have always struggled to get L to 1. sleep in his own bed and 2. stay in his own bed.

From the moment that Henry was placed, he has slept in L’s bed. The first month or so, L would last a few hours in his bed and then would come into us, with Henry following him.

Now, we are having more nights of L staying, not necessarily sleeping all night, in his own bed for the entire night. This is a first since L was a few months old.

And when L wakes up early because he longer needs to sleep, Henry goes with him. Prior to Henry, we would tag team so that we would have alternating good nights of sleep, so that one of us was always awake with L. Now he has Henry and is happy to lay on his bed playing on a device until the rest of the house wakes up.

 #teamhenry #smartpups #smartpuphenry #autismassistancedogs #labsofinstagram

Team Henry: Expectations versus Reality - Nuzzling

Our expectations

We were also hoping that the Smart Pup would be trained to touch, nudge or lay on L to disrupt repetitive or disruptive behaviours, in particular when L enters into meltdown mode he punches his own face and pulls his eyelashes out. We were hoping that the pup would be trained to disrupt these behaviours.

The reality

Henry was giving lap lays to L the afternoon that he was placed with us. Within the first week, Henry had begun to pick up on the cues that L was giving prior to entering meltdown mode and was stepping in, calming L before the meltdown had even begun. The deep pressure from Henry’s head and upper body on and over L’s lap is enough to calm L. Henry picked up on body cues, perhaps chemicals that L was releasing, that we missed every single time.

Henry has been trained to nuzzle L's face when he is in meltdown mode to disrupt L’s self harming behaviours of punching his own face and pulling out his eyelashes. L has since started rubbing his eyes when he is anxious or frustrated, Henry has picked up on this and now nuzzles L's face to disrupt this new behaviour. This nuzzling is enough to distract L that he stops and begins cuddling Henry.

#teamhenry #smartpups #smartpuphenry #autismassistancedogs #labradorsofinstagram

Team Henry: The Why!

We're often asked why did we choose to apply to Smart Pups for an assistance dog for L.

We had a chance meeting with a Smart Pup who was still in training in mid 2019 – I can remember that the handlers said that the pup was to be placed with a boy who was Autistic and had epilepsy. We were at Northlakes Shopping Centre to watch a movie and prior to going to the cinemas, L had entered full blown meltdown mode. At that point nothing we said or did was helping him. Cue the entry of a Smart Pup. The handlers, who from memory were foster carers for the pup, asked if L would respond to the pup. The pup, not knowing L, was taken over to where he lay on the floor and immediately went through its training and calmed L within about ten minutes. It was truly remarkable to watch this young pup respond to a child that he didn’t know in the manner that he did.

For the remainder of the year, Scott and I talked about applying to the Smart Pup program as we saw the benefit that Ruby had on L and were hoping that a dog specifically trained for L’s needs would be extremely beneficial. We applied for the program in October 2019 and were accepted in November. The rest, as they say, is history.