Our first snowSTORM and it's not December yet! Hopefully it sticks and we have a white Christmas.
This was our backyard this afternoon and then again this evening and it is still dumping down.



Sean and Cam are both sick. And we all know what men are like when they're sick. So it's been Cuy and I hanging out away from the sickies.

We had an integration meeting with the centre on Monday to set some new goals for Cuyler and I really started thinking after we left, what about him is SO different from the other kids that warrants a diagnosis?
I know I can't articulate my thoughts exactly, but the staff and resource consultant kept talking about how he is fitting right in and doing what all the others are doing. I'm not sure that they are looking at the big picture and just trying to be positive for our sake.
But I would mention something and their response was "Oh, he just turned 3. That's pretty age appropriate." or "All the others are doing the same."
He knows and can identify his colours, he can count up to 25, he can say the alphabet, he knows and can identify circle, square, triangle, rectangle and star.
He's not toilet trained - neither are 3/4 of his class.
He follows the routine better than any other child in the class (go figure)
His speech and articulation are delayed. The others aren't perfectly articulate yet.
He's still at parallel play. Alot of his classmates are not yet at associative play.
There are 4 in the class that are older than him, the rest are between 2.5-3.
I know his receptive language and comprehension are severely affected and that's a huge component of his diagnosis. That's the difference. For the most part - he is more LIKE his classmates than he is DIFFERENT from them. The staff even said that if a stranger were told there was an autistic child in the class - they'd have a hard time picking Cuyler out.
So I hate the fact that they're telling us "He's pretty normal..."
When I know he is autistic. I know he is...but not when we speak with the teachers and the worker...it's almost like they're trying to make everything good and happy and positive (which I so appreciate), but let's not be blind to reality.
Perhaps I'm too nervous to really relish the progress he's made...but I don't want to become less diligent about the intervention we put in place for him.

I'll not go on about all of this because, as I said, I just can't articulate what exactly my thoughts are...

Bottom line: He's doing awesome. He's happy.