Visiting Santa

Joseph's enthusiasm for Christmas continues to grow. At OT the other day, he strung some beads on a pipe-cleaner and made it into a loop, then held it up to his therapist and said, "Christmas tree!" His teacher at school emailed us the other day, telling us that anything Santa related has supplanted Gogurt as his number one motivator in the classroom.

Saturday afternoon, after an exceptionally stressful morning, we took the kids to see Santa for the first time. Joseph never really seemed to show an interest before this year, so I thought that since Christmas is such a big deal for him this year that going to see Santa was important.

We took them into the store, a garden center, without telling them why we were there. We got them in line, and Joseph still couldn't see. He calmly munched on a cookie for a few minutes, but as soon as the man in front of him moved out of the way, Joseph exclaimed, "Santa!" and started trying to get away from us. He continued to pull on Kristy's arm until the kid before him had finished and we let him go. He jumped on Santa's lap, and sat there beaming. Santa gave him a little bag with a coloring page and a package of hot chocolate.

Thinking about this time last year, Joseph almost never spoke. He usually seemed either confused or oblivious to what was going on around him. He had a grasp on the concept of gift-opening, but that was about the extent of it.  In November last year, we had his hearing tested and we were just starting to consider that he might be autistic.

I didn't start writing this story with a point in mind, I just thought it was a cute story and I needed to post this week. I suppose the point is the progress Joseph has made this year. With all the horrendous suck that 2010 has brought us, Joseph is doing so much better and is making so much progress and I can't wait to see what he's like next Christmas.