In the summer holidays, I wrote about the difficulty our daughter has with understanding that her bed needs to be changed regularly and when I do it, a meltdown normally follows which can last hours. Something that should be a simple task becomes a huge drama. Generally, this is because in her eyes the cushions and soft toys are not placed back on the bed to the exact millimetre.
We have had a breakthrough this week and she changed her bed while I was out walking with a friend. She was so excited to show me when I returned home that she had put on a new sheet, quilt cover and pillow case on her bed all by herself. I was so proud of her and gave her 2 wows for her wow chart, as this is a big accomplishment for her.
It may seem such a small thing, but after months of tears and tantrums about doing this weekly chore, it is a huge step forward. It shows that the need for routine, structure, persistence and determination that a parent of a child with ASD must have, has finally paid off. It may only work for this task at the moment, but it is a start and perhaps at the age of 10, our daughter is beginning to realise that by using her energy for taking responsibility for things like this will give her more time for doing fun activities. It also means I do not have to wait for the explosion that I know will follow when she returns from school and discovers I have changed her bed. Fingers crossed this will now become a regular occurrence and our home will be less noisier once a week - although now she has started to learn the pbone (plastic trombone) at school, I don't think we will ever have a quiet home again!!
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