Sunday 30 June 2013

Let the Summer Begin...

Tomorrow is July 1st.  It is the first day of summer in Riley World which means it is time to get the summer “fun” going again. 

As you can imagine Riley is so not thrilled.

While we have continued with some of Riley’s summer “fun” from last year over the winter, we have not been as ummm consistent as we should have been.

In my defence when you have a child/teen who has significant communication challenges (like Riley) and they communicate something with clear intent whether verbally or using a communication device…THIS. IS. HUGE!!! 

Of course in order to reinforce the positive communication your child/teen has shown, you reward them by honouring their request. A given. Right??  Absolutely.

Theeennnn…after the first dozen or so times the waters start to get murky. Riley, like most, is one smart cookie. Once he started to see the power of “I communicate a want/desire/need. You respond by giving me what I want.” life in Riley World began to mellow. Yes at 19 we still have the occasional meltdown (sorry) but they are not happening hourly/daily any more (there IS light at the end of the tunnel).

Riley still fools surprises me at times with his uncanny ability to seemingly operate under the radar and then out-of-the-blue come out with this:

R:    You can do some laundry?
Me:  Uhhh okay. I can do the laundry?!?!  (Very confused)
R:    Oh…okay.  (Relieved voice)

Later I figured out the reason he was asking was that he was out of underwear. Hard to believe if you read last summer’s post I know.   

After the first 3 or 4 times I added a little something to the conversation:

R:    You can do some laundry? 
Me:  Sure.  I’ll do laundry when you’re at school. 
R:    You can do some laundry when I’m at school.  (Happy voice this time. Uh-oh…)

See what I did there???  After 15 years in Riley World I still made a rookie mistake. While trying to give Riley more language I also gave him ammunition to use against me. Gah!

The conversation then moved to this:

R:    You can do some laundry when I’m...followed by at school/work/on an outing

Sneaky monkey. Yes I fell for it a couple of times. Not to worry I now come back with:

Me:  Sure. I’ll do laundry when you’re fill in the blank and you can help me fold it when you get home.  Bazinga!  

How has your summer been going so far?  I am hoping to catch up blogging about all of Riley's end of high school activities this coming week. You're excited I know.  :D



2 comments:

  1. My first thought was.. weren't you teaching him to do laundry some time earlier?? lol I'm surprised you didn't toss a "WE can do laundry!" hahahaaa We start the wash, but Tommy can move it to the dryer (which for SOME reason he really enjoys lol) then he'll get it out and bring to us to fold. Somehow.. Tom got Tommy to help him bake cookies tonight. Even after Tommy was calling him lame and stupid...lol Me? I was laying on the couch strategically placed so that if something went flying, I wouldn't be smacked lol My new trick is.. if you want something i'll HELP you. If you don't help, you don't GET lol For now it works. I'll keep you updated ;)

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    1. SEE...still learning. *sigh* My next "something different" line will be "WE can do laundry!" :)

      Wait...even better...your "HELP you" line. Glad it's working for you! I'm going to try it only for some reason I have a feeling R would rather go without. Oish.

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