one of the little gems of our neighbourhood is kidsworks. it’s a giant indoor playground. liam has fallen in love with it. i love it to because it’s so easy to get to, cheap, and a great place for pictures!
kidsworks is a fantastic place for action shots!
this climbing wall leads to a loft.
he said he was a spider.
we went back again this morning!
i think we’ll spend a lot of time there. it’s like 7.00 for all-day therapy!
as you may have guessed, my kids have never been in a photo studio. but, we do family portaits once a year, at christmas time. one of my bestest, oldest friends sara comes by the apartment with all of her snazzy equipment and we dive into photographic chaos.
family photos is always an adventure. i am happy if we come away with one photo where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera.
we always start by tearing apart the living room to accomidate the lights and such.
here are some of the better pictures.
look at kaya and baby’s dresses.
now the fun part. taking pictures of the family is a total act of frustration. but the out-takes are always great! i hope you enjoy them as much as i do!
put that damn tongue in your mouth and smile!!
the monkey and the booger digger…
get that finger out of your nose and SMILE!!!!!
me starring as the man-eating-wife!
liam’s gonna explode!!
i just can’t keep him out of my hair…
at this point we have taken to physically restraining them…
fa la la la la la la la la la la
i wanted to try and get a couple of pic of sara and the kids after.
kaya said no.
and liam was mildly co-operative.
but, in the end, we always get a good one!
only 6 more months before we have to do it again!!
liam and i were given a wonderful gift this week. a loveley friend of the family proposed that if i take her teenage boys to wonderland a few times over the summer, she would buy liam and myself both season’s passes. how could i possibly say no? liam was excited beyond belief.
so, this week we took her boys to liam’s favourite place on earth. they didn’t spend the whole day with liam and i, but their mom was glad to know that i was in the park with them.
meanwhile, liam indulged his thrill seeking nature!
on the merry-go-round.
wonderland has a huge waterpark. but, as we discovered, they do not honour the line pass. the line pass is designed so that we enter via the exit ramp of each ride. the only exits from the water slide is the slide itself. therefore, they would not let us use our line pass on any slides. we tried a couple, but the line-ups were just too much for hime to handle. eventually, the people ahead of us just offered to let us go ahead because he was crying so hard. poor liam.
i am going to try the waterpark again one day this summer. we will take along some social stories about standing in line-ups, and give it our best shot. i’ll be sure to blog it.
but, he did manage to get a couple of rides on the slide.
in the end, he was able to pull himself together and have a great time in the wading pool, where there were no line-ups.
fish face!
and off to explore some other attractions!
he loved to watch the rides that he’s still to small for. he named this coaster ‘hercules’.
wonderland mountain!
liam loved the scooby doo haunted mansion ride. he wanted to ride it over and over again. it was very hard to take a picture of the inside, but it was all lit up with black lights. we had laser gun and had to shoot targets. when you it a target ghost and stuff popped out of the shadows. liam loved having the opportunity to scream at the top of his lungs.
liam & spongebob.
and scooby doo!
jimmy neutron!
and some mini golf. his technique was to sit right beside the hole and tap it in with his putter. very efficient. but, one time he knocked the ball randomly and it bounced all over the place - then landed in the hole! hole in one!
the evening draws near as liam takes flight!
and takes us for a drive.
gearing up for one last big bounce on the trampoline.
and time to go home. what a day! i can’t wait to do it again!
my kids love summer! we’re trying to soak up every second of it that we can because i want to be outdoors before that snow comes again! and it always does.
we’ve been at the park.
diggin up stuff.
and playing construction.
shane’s ready to chase one of ‘em!
we’ve been hugging trees.
and stopping for timmies!
we’ve been in the backyard getting filthy!
and bug hunting.
and worm collecting.
and keeping cool…
phew! so, what have you been up to?
i got a lovely response to my first blog about snoezelen. people wanted to know more about the therapy. a short time ago i was at the school, and the attendance was quite low. i took advantage of the quiet morning to shoot a few more pictures.
the snoezelen is an amazing place. it can excite the senses of an under-responsive person and relax the senses of an over-responsive one. it oringinated in holland in the 70’s. it was began for adults with severe disabilities.
snoezelen is a combination of two dutch words, ’snuffelen’ which means to seek out and explore, and ‘doezelen’ which means to relax. the snoezelen was created as an environment where people of all abilities can enjoy the combination of music lighting effects, gentle vibration and touch. later, some practitioners also included aromatherapy. (our snoezelen room does not.)
free choice, safety and security are the main goals of snoezelen. children have control over their environment and their sensory experiences. children are encouraged to respond to this input in their own unique way without fear of judgement. there are plenty of choices to make. and anyone who works with children with special needs knows that making choices is often a priority and a learning goal.
the snoezelen is now used to treat people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, post-traumatic stress, autism, chronic pain, stroke, brain injuries, dementia and much more.
now the tour:
the bubble tube. making choices at it’s best. and the result is a wonderful sensory experience where the children can control the colour and frequency of the bubbles with an easy-to-hit touch pad.
the solar projector is an exciting and unique visual experience.
fibre optic cables change colour. they can be played in or tossed about. a child with visual impairment or visual sensory dysfunction can discover a world of colours and input.
the ball pit glows in fibre optic colours. the stereo above plays deep, melodic classical music. you can feel the vibrations right through the ball pit. it’s big enough for an adult and child to bury themselves in.
this silky fabric can be to tossed over the people in the pit for a more intense sensory experience.
this is a vibrating mat big enough to wrap up a person.
and oh, there’s always lots of fidget toys!!
this guy sits on the wall beside the door. when you push his buttons he make funny noises and lights up.
while i was there, i also shot a few pictures of the school gym. this is a place designed for children with special needs and typically developing children to enjoy together. there are activities for all abilities. it’s in this room, that sometimes you can’t tell the special needs kids and the typical kids apart!
each child has an individualized gross-motor plan.
phew! i feel like i just wrote a research paper!!
i plan to use this blog to share a lot of things. first and foremost - i want to share with you all the joys of our lives. yes - liam has autism. yes - that can make life VERY hard. we’ve been through some really rough times. from him getting kicked out of his first preschool, to constant comments from strangers, to the tantrums and anxiety we must deal with on a daily basis. i could go on all day. life is never normal. but, i made a decision early on to live my life to the fullest, and offer my family the most typical and wonderful life possible.
there have been blocks in the road. i had to give up working full time when liam was diagnosed, to co-ordinate his care. from this, we lost the beautiful apartment that we had when he was a baby. i still miss that place!
but - i ramble.
the other thing i want to focus on with this blog, is what is available to us, and how we use it all to make our lives the best that they can be. there is a lot of resources in toronto for a child with special needs. in fact, as i’ll share in another blog, i’m in college right now, furthering my education (i got my ECE a few years back) to be a resource teacher. i have learned so much about the system, that i want to be able to help other families to embrace their lives the way that we have.
so, a trip to the dentist seems like as good of a place as any to begin. the good news for us is that the dentist is at Bloorview Kids Rehab (here’s their page ) Bloorview is the coolest place ever.
first of all we went in february, and the temperature was -15c (or 5 fahrenheit) BEFORE the windchill!!! so - we took a cab to bloorview.
this is a waiting room for many different services, including the dentist. liam could wait in this room for hours!
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and he LOVED the dentist. the spit suctioner is technically a vacuum, right? that was all he needed, as he ’s a little obsessed with vacuums.
i took a couple of shots of the lobby as we left.
god bless canada - none of this costs us a penny!
then we ventured into the super cold temps and went to play at the giant mcdonalds down the street! i remember while we were there, someone said to me “he doesn’t LOOK autistic.” i gotta tell you all - that’s one of my #1 pet peeves. how does someone look autistic? he just looks like a kid! it’s not like all autistic kids have a big A stamped on their foreheads. please, never say that to the mother of a child with autism.
taking a break!
and home we go!!
he just looks like a kid because that’s just what he is!
this year for march break, my parents and i took liam to niagara falls for a night. niagara falls is a lot more than just the falls. it’s a big tourist area with lots of attractions. we squeezed an awful lot into 36 hours.
while we were ther, kaya had a sleepover with my aunt. she reports it was ‘delightful!’
our first stop was the butterfly conservatory. one of my classmates who is an autism consultant suggested that it might be a wonderful experience for liam. she was so right!!
what an amazing place!!
heading in. it was obviously quite wintery. don’t miss that much, do we?
and now we’re inside.
a squished penny.
the conservatory was a photographer’s dream. enjoy!
look how many butterlies are in the leaves right infront of him.
the joy is so visible in his face. it’s like they’re having a lovely conversations. the butterfly looks like it’s looking at him! one of my all-time favourite liam pics.
this one was very friendly.
and my favourite because of the shadow..
i promise many more adventures to come!
obviously, autism has never held us back. believe me, we have to approach pretty much everything a little differently, and always expect the unexpected. but, there will be nothing that my son does not get the chance to experience, if he wants to!
i am so thankful for all the things that he can do!
what a difference a year makes. i was just looking back a kaya’s preschool graduation at riverdale farm.
last year at this time we went to liam’s preschool graduation at the same farm.
both last year and this one, we were there when it was time to milk the cow.
i will never forget this picture. liam had no interest in seeing them milk the cow, and he was panicked by the children around him. all he could think about was getting out of there. the lady behind him told him to sit down and be quiet, and he punched her.
now look at this year’s picture. he’s in the heart of the crowd. he was completely engaged by the milking of the cow, and had no difficulty dealing with the crowd around him.
recovery is possible. one tiny step at a time.
the kids are out of school now and it’s time for me to try and play catch-up. a couple of weeks ago, kaya’s school had their anual graduation party at riverdale farm. kaya is not graduating, but the whole class goes, and each child gets a lovey certificate.
for this occasion, gramma and liam came along too!
there are lots of animal, of course.
liam spent a looooong time looking at the chickens!
and the tractor’s always a hit.
kaya and i went walking with some of her buddies.
find the turtle..
watching the milking of the cow.
liam LOVES sam! a little guy in the preschool.
time for music circle and grad certificates.
time to go home! maybe a nap is in order?
a little while ago we took the kids for another great adventure at canada’s wonderland. they loved it so much and beg me to go back all the time. next year we’ll have to get season’s passes because it’s waaaay too pricey to go back again this year!
we met dora on our way in!
kaya’s favourite place is te giant playground.
and she loves the merry-go-round!
little planes.
bumper cars!!
liam and i checked out some of the scary rides!
pirate ship…
clockwerks..
thunder run.
ghostercoaster! oooooh!
we tried a few games…
and kaya took us for a drive.
both kids LOVED the trampoline set-up. beynd cool! check it out!
kaya met some more old friends!!
and gramma almost got sick on ther jimmy neutron ride.
ha! ha! i can’t wait ’till next time! maybe we’ll just have to break the bank and go one more time…
