Logan at age 3 years and 3 months

I've spent so much time talking about the details that i haven't spent much time talking about Logan himself. He.......(very long pause)......is such a joy in our life. He makes us laugh by just giggling at nothing or sqealing with delight at something he just watched on t.v. So many autisitc children are mad or show no emotion. Logan is usually pretty happy. He smiles, though not always at the appropriate time. He laughs, though we don't always know what he thinks is funny. He loves to play tickle games, though you have to play the way he wants to and only when he wants to play. He started giving random little hugs several months ago that melt your heart. Ethan our 5 year old tries to engage Logan in certain games. Even though Logan doesn't always want or know how to play, he has learned to tolerate Ethan's prodding without hitting or kicking. And, I think he secretly enjoys Ethan wanting to involve him.

He does through tantrums of varying degrees. Some of his tantrums are just fussing or screaming when he gets frustrated. At other times I have to hold him in a bearhug to keep him from breaking furniture of hurting someone else in the room. I know that these severe tantrums are not intended to really hurt anyone. He just doesn't know a better outlet for his cooped up frustration.

SELF-injurious behavior is common for autisitc people. This can include but is definately not limited to hitting, biting, scratching, head banging, poking, cutting, and hair pulling. Logan didn't start any of these type of behaviors until about November or December of last year (2009). We're not sure if it was a coincidence that it started about the time he started ABA therapy or if this is just what the typically progression of the disorder would be for him. His main injurious behavior is banging or hitting his head. He will bang his head on just about any hard surface he can find - floors, walls, counters, t.v. screens, chairs, etc. How hard he hits his head or how frequently depends on the day. I haven't really been able to pinpoint a specific trigger other than an increase of his frustration. Sometimes he will just walk up to the t.v. and tap his head on it. He does have a very high need for sensory input. To get this input he has a lot of "stimming" behaviors.

The main school of thought on "stimming" is that it helps the person calm themselves and helps them to make sense of other things that are going on around them. Logan has a lot of stims. This is just some of them and some of these help him to get some of the sensory input that he needs like deep pressure on the joints. Logan stims by: jumping in place, non stop, for extended periods of time, spinning around in and office chair, slapping the sides of his head with his hands, grinding his teath, gritting his teeth and humming so that is vibrates through his teeth and mouth, screeching at the top of his lungs, clapping, stomping his feet, slamming his the back of his heels against the floor, watching a ball bounce, watching someone's pant legs move when they walk, watching things fall or splash into water, watching objects bounce or slide across the t.v. screen, slapping hard objects with his hands, and chewing on pacifiers (I've tried several other objects designed to be chewed on and no others work, only the pacifier). I'm sure there are other things too but I can't think of them right now.

One of the other characteristics of autism that Logan has is taste and texture aversions. His diet is pretty self-limited. He likes several different kinds of crackers (Ritz, Cheez-its, Golfish, graham crackers), fruit snacks (but only certain brands - I think because some are harder to chew than others), taco meat from a local fast-food mexican restaurant, kool-aid, diet soda, spaghetti-o's, bananas, grapes, mandarin oranges, canned peaches, popscicles, cupcake icing, a couple of different kinds of chips, pizza, and sometimes meatloaf or hotdogs. Most of these things he likes in waves. He'll eat a lot of one thing for several days in a row and then unpredictably with refuse to eat it for a while and switch to another one of "his foods". We have a lot of trial and error at our house, especially when it comes to food. For some kids, typical and autistic, you can bargain with them, "If you eat a bite of these green beans, then you can have a 1-2 of these fruit snacks". Unfortunately, Logan doesn't understand this concept and will just leave the table throwing a tantrum because he can't eat what he wants. I have tried to force him to eat a food i think he might like but then he'll start gagging. I don't want mealtime to be a constant battle so I don't force the issue. If he won't eat something I just try to find something that he will eat.

Logan loves to watch t.v. He has a couple of shows that he always watches. One is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the other is Wipeout. Wipeout is a show that only aired for about a year but he loves it. People try to complete this onsticle course, most of which is over water. Logan loves to see them 'Wipeout' and splash into the water. He also likes watching a couple of other cartoons (like Handy Manny, Max & Ruby, The Backyardigans, and the music videos from Imagination Movers and Happy Monster Band).

Logan also loves to bounce and swing. We have a trampoline in the backyard. He loves to sit in the center and let other people bounce around him. He also loves to be pushed in the swings at the park. He will sit in a swing for hours if we let him. We even got him a hammock to lay in so we can swing him in the house.

Wel, I think that's all for now. I need to get some sleep. I'll try to continue again soon.