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So Scarlet has seen two more signs added to her repertoire this past week. First she signed "break" to her therapist to indicate that she was ready to have a break from her work. She had a very long day of therapy and was tired of working. After a long tantrum, she told her therapist that she was ready for a "break" by signing "break" when her therapist asked her if she needed to go upstairs. Also, Scarlet has been signing "brush" with her therapists, but never with me. The other night at the dinner table, she signed brush and was so delighted when I went to get the brush and brushed her hair. This is something new I have learned about Scarlet since she has been able to communicate more to us. She loves having her hair brushed. Another really great thing happened last week. Scarlet pressed a button for washroom on her Gotalk device and proceeded to go to the washroom. It was a great moment because Scarlet has come so close so many times with actually being toilet trained, but in the end the inability to communicate her need to go has caused training to halt. Hopefully, we will see more of this initiation!!!!

This week we are on a trip to Nana's house. She ran around the house like a crazed firefly the day of leaving she was so excited. It is very endearing to have her love her family so much. She loves being on trips or occasions where the whole family is together. I also find that her mind comes alive when we are on trips, maybe there are so many new pathways being formed. At any rate it is good for her and fun for us, so its a win/win.

I had another realization today of just how autism robs its victims of their childhood. I see it so clearly as it is juxtaposed to Scarlet's little sister Skye's romp through childhood. Brynn, Scarlet, Skye and I were at the mall. In this particular mall there was a fenced in, padded play area. Brynn and Skye were at once drawn to it. Scarlet was almost immediately stressed. After a few minutes of helping her navigate the play area, she was frustrated and started tantruming and crying inconsolably. I never know at these times, what it is that is making her upset. Is it that mommy is following her everywhere making sure that she doesn't accidentally swing her arms inappropriately and knock down some unsuspecting play mate? Is it because she can't navigate the slide on her own? Is it because, more children came adding more noise and more visual stimulation? Is it because I wanted her to crawl through a tunnel and it is just plain scary in there? Is it all of the above? I wish for Scarlet that she could just do childhood things, but they scare her. It must be a lonely world she lives in.