Mutterings Of A Mindless Mommy

Today was our family meeting with the play therapist - the four of us get together and talk about the last few weeks and then make a plan to go forward.  Alexander pretty much hid in the tent in the corner and played by himself.  The therapist reiterated the fact that she feels very strongly that it is Asperger’s Syndrome we are dealing with and not anxiety.  She said yes she has anxiety but she doesn’t see the generalized anxiety or specific phobias that she sees in children who don’t have AS but have anxiety.  She said so much of what she sees with Alexander is classic among children with AS and is happy that we pursued it past the original diagnosis. 

She discussed how she has been implementing play therapy with him and has said that from here on out she is not going to be addressing his anxiety because the type of anxieties he has aren’t benefited through play therapy - they are part of the bigger picture of AS.  She said she will be working with him on his rigidity as well as social communication.  She said she can only do so much social modeling one on one so agreed that the social skills group will be very beneficial for him.  She described some of their play sessions and that they take turns and she can just see Alexander completely tense up when she tries to move one of the figurines (they play with figurines in sand and tell stories).  She says he often-times has difficulty with the story-telling part and spends more time putting the figures in the precise way.  When it is her turn and she moves one it aggravates him.  He also let her know that he is afraid of shadows and black spaces as well as noises.  I knew about the noises but I didn’t know about the shadows - knowing will help me work through these fears.

One good thing is that he is receptive to sitting down one-on-one with her unlike our group sessions.  She figured that there is just too much stimulation when we are all in the room so that is why he sits in the tent.  She recommended we get a tent for the house (we had one but it didn’t last that long) and to let Ava know that when he is in the tent it is his alone time (instead of him having to go into his room).  So we will continue with play therapy but she is really going to challenge his rigidity.  We have been trying and he is absolutely against it.  While pretending today I didn’t follow the script in his head and I tried to keep adding my own input and he was not having it - he quit playing with me.  Hopefully in time he will be more receptive to cooperative and reciprocal play.  I’ve figured out why he plays so well with Ava - she does whatever he says or does.  He has a perfect play partner in her.