He can hold himself together for a good amount of time but there have been times that we are reminded to stay on top of the schedules and certain routines. When Liam interacts with Adrian he is usually on edge with one notch of anxiety, then Adrian will say something in the wrong order and there's another notch up the anxiety scale, by the time Adrian gets a banana out for the kids to eat, Liam, is midway on his anxiety and is starting to crumble, when Adrian breaks the banana in half for Gwyn and Liam to share then we have a complete meltdown that resulted in an alarm clock being thrown and breaking and about a 20 minute tantrum (progress on the time!). It still is stressful and we can never really let our guard down because everyday Liam wakes up anything could happen depending on his expectations.
I have started to write all of my experiences with Liam and autism and I'm trying to write a book. If anything it is a great reminder of where we started. I also am putting together a binder with all of the schedules, charts, and ideas and I'm hoping this will lead me down a new path, maybe to help Autism Awareness or help other parents out there that need it. We will see where this can lead me but I hope it leads me to learning more and spreading awareness to others who have a "Liam story".
Liam's teacher once asked me a question for his IEP "what plans do you have for Liam's future?" I was stumped because all I could think about as far as "future" was getting through the day. We laughed about it but I was shocked at how caught off guard I was. If I were asked that same question today, I would respond, "Liam's future is limitless for whatever he sets his mind to do."
