Going outside is Janey's favorite thing, with the possible exception of music. She loves to be in the back yard. This afternoon, I took a bunch of pictures of her, for fun and to show what DOES make her happy, as so much of this blog is about what DOESN'T make her happy! Our back yard isn't a showplace, but it's fairly good sized for a city yard. It's on a slope, which doesn't bother Janey---she likes running up and down the little hill. The times when Janey is outside, making up her own games and just enjoying nature, are the times she most reminds me of myself as a girl. That's what I did, every available moment. I love seeing Janey play in a way I completely can relate to!
Janey looking at the grape vines....
Making up a game with a ball and a bucket
Examining a bunch of leaves
Jumping for joy
My sweetheart in the sun
And here's a few bonus pictures. The first shows a habit that Janey does all the time---pulling on the side of her eye. I'd be curious if any other girls (or boys) with autism do this.
And here's a picture of Janey's toes. Ignore the dirty feet---this is after running around barefoot! What I wanted to point out there is the left foot (which is to the right in the picture!), how the 2nd and 3rd toes are mildly joined, like they have a common root. They sometimes also overlap. I've looked this up, and saw it was connected to a few genetic things, and I was wondering if any of your kids have toes like hers?
3 comments:
I love your Blog. Our Sarah also has toes like that. No one else has these toes. Interesting!!!!
Sophie's toes and fingers are long, longer than our other kids. They look slim and graceful but i do suspect its a genetic clue to something. Her thumbs are also jointed in an odd way, the lowest thumb joint is very loose, giving her the ability to bend her entire thumb way back like the other fingers (freaky i tell ya). As for the eye i think they just play with their visual perception. Sophie likes to tilt her head sideways or bend over with her head on the ground, looking at the world upside down. It is nice to observe their love of nature, Sophie is happiest outside too.
My daughter is 3 years old and is on the mid or low part of the autism spectrum but we still have yet to get a concrete diagnosis. It doesn't matter much because Georgia, along with 18 other states, don't force insurance companies to pay for autism therapies. It's considered a mental illness not a neurological disorder here. My daughter will be in a preschool intervention class but there are no other girls in the two schools' intervention classes my wife and I observed. Twelve boys and 1 new girl. . . Rarer in girls indeed.
My daughter does the eyelid pulling thing and she was born with a bent toe. I'll send you photo when I can. I believe the cause for autism is largely genetic as she has an older female cousin in Germany who is even more severely autistic than my daughter.
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