Bye Bye Cat

You woke at 6.15am, and weren't quite as bright as yesterday - that was clear. And you quickly jumped to your channel counting obsession and had quite a big tantrum when you didn't get channel 70. So bad that I just gave in. Mummy said I shouldn't but I think that the damage by giving in to tantrums is less bad than the damage caused by taking it on head-on when you are in this frame of mind. You are a very good kid, you don't abuse the love and care you have. I'm sure if you had a tantrum about watching the Baby Channel I might take a different line, but you wanted to see 70, France 24 News.

You said 'beten' (belly) a few times this morning, and had a bit of gas. I think it is definitely yeast and candida related. You've had enough fruit in the last 24 hours, and you are a little bit more foggy today.

You did however make a great breakthrough. I sat on the sofa while Mummy did Floortime with Lego with you. My chin hit the floor when I heard you say "want to give me". You get it. You asked for something. Along with "want to help me" and "want to help you" we have had this week, I am so happy. I mean, the sentence structure is more complex, you made it up rather than repeat it. Really great.

I've decided to add a little bit onto the blog to list the little steps you make every day. I know that every kid who is growing up does new things all the time, but it will be great to track them, and especially when they are the result of all our hard work like the "give me" game we've been playing.

Mummy had had enough of the cat some time ago. Today, it was breaking point for her. The cat, who may or may not have been called Khatouli and Tailcat, was not a nice cat. She was rarely affectionate and very rarely let you stroke her. I could do it sometimes but more often than I cared to count, she scratched or bit. You have two marks on your hands where she clawed you. I've several, and Mummy basically couldn't stand the cat from the start. It's not nice seeing her getting wound up by the cat. Plus it triggers her asthma, and she wheezes badly in the house. She is probably allergic to cat hair. The cat basically gets locked in the office, which makes a place I made for myself to relax in a no-go area. Things have been smashed, door frames scratched. The cat is an alley cat, and offering her a nice home was not the success I had hoped. We took the cat to the front of the building and then put some food down for her. She was very wary and clearly scared of being outside but after half an hour we went our separate ways. You were quite upset, I think Mummy might have been surprised about how much you liked the cat. You said "cat not" a few times. I told you over the course of the goodbye that the cat was going to play outside in the sun with her friends and that we would go and see her. I thought it was important that you were there and that we didn't just dump the cat in a moshav. No-one would of course take such an unfriendly cat either. I went down later to give her water but I couldn't find her, just an empty bowl. I will try and take food down every day though till it starts being left out. I went down again later and couldn't find her, but I found her with two other cats at 9pm almost where we left her. She wasn't too friendly with them, but they were ok, and they will be ok. I took her some food down at 9.45pm and the other alley cats had left, but she was happy to see me. I think she'll be ok.

You had a big nap between 1 and 4.20pm today which sort of throws lunch out of kilter. It did let me have some peace and quite to watch Liverpool beat United 4-1 at Old Trafford though. You cheered Dossena's last goal with me though. A proud moment.

You've spent maybe 4 days constantly demanding cuddles, almost every 10 minutes you will ask for one. They are not to climb up any more. From what I can see they are either because you just want to hug and be hugged or there is something sensory about it. I have read that there is something called a weighted blanket that applies pressure on the body to help kids who demand lots of heavy pressure to help with sensory integration. Now, obviously I would adore the thought that you were just overflowing with love, but I suspect it is the latter, particularly because you tend to bear-hug us back. I'd love to spend more time looking into it but I am just overwhelmed with what I have to just to understand your diet, Floortime, autism etc etc. It is very interesting what they say on Wikipedia. In light of the strong hug, I would have thought you like heavy touch, but this makes me think you might be hypersensitive: Parents can find it very distressing if their child rejects hugs, cuddles and other demonstrations of affection. This can be interpreted as a personal rejection when it is a discomfort with unpleasant touch. These guidelines may help in more appropriate touch with autistic children who have hypersensitivity:

• The child finds it easier to initiate hugging than receive it

• Touch is more tolerable when the child anticipates it

• Firm, unmoving touch is better than light or moving touch

• Light touch may be tolerable after firm unmoving touch

• Initial stimulation may be unpleasant but tolerated later.

I'm not sure, but I think all that applies. You're asking for the cuddles, you are rejecting cuddles unless you know they are coming. There is so much to learn. Hypersensitivity is called "sensory defensiveness" and you have lots of the characteristics they list: intolerance of high-pitched noises, intolerance of overhead lights (especially fluorescent lighting); experiencing a feeling of being attacked upon being touched (especially from light touch or sudden touch); intolerance of certain types of fabrics in contact with the skin; becoming nauseated upon smelling something that does not smell bad to normal individuals; difficulty maintaining eye-contact; severe intolerance of foods due to taste, texture, or temperature; and generally becoming overwhelmed when exposed to a lot of sensory stimuli at once. I think only the fluorescent light and smell things don't apply.

You were very happy to see me in the car when I pulled up at Safta's. You didn't expect me to pull up next to the back door, and you quickly changed direction and ran to me. Then you ran past me and headed to the drivers seat, and you said "want to beep", a game you have played a few times. Then you wouldn't say goodbye to Safta, but when we left the car park you waved 'bye Safta'. You do this in the morning with your mum, you sort of say 'bye', then we count all the numbers to the end of the street, then at the traffic lights you say "oh no, mummy gone" or something. I suspect this is a motor planning issue. It was in Engaging Autism by Greenspan, I think it is called Dyspraxia in posh terms. I'll have to look into it better. Maybe Dania can just help out by telling me what to do.

You had a great bath, though I hope we can wake you up in time for Dania tomorrow. 11.15pm is too late to be going to sleep.

Little Steps: "want to give me" rather than snatching or taking; Mummy told you "if you take your shoes off, then you can have a dummy"

Today's Food
Breakfast: One and half bananas, Cornflakes and Rice Milk, Banana & Date Smoothie with calcium (barely touched)
Late Lunch:French toast (made of two slices of GF bread, one egg and sugar and salt), orange juice
Snack: Apple
Dinner: White Rice, One potato (chipped)