Friday, January 25, 2008

Sortin and classifyin....

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I was watching the wonder that is bubs tonight playing happily in the tub and I felt the strong desire to document it. This is what bubs loves most in the world, to sit in a nice relaxing tub and sort his creatures. He told me he needed lots of bowls to make his aquariums, perhaps that was for my benefit, to try and persuade me of the functionality of it all. To be honest, I am not sure it ever occurred to me that this might not be the most functional way to play, but who am I to judge? Bubs' school has had me on the defense lately, we are struggling with rigidity and control and I am very hesitant about the way they are handling it. They actually use the term 'sabotage' in reference to purposely taking away the control from a controlling child. Yes, I get it in theory, but this is a person we are speaking about, my little sweet little controlling little guy they are messing with. It's been a rough week or so with regards to that. Still not sure how it is going to pan out. I have a team meeting on tuesday, I think I'll have a better idea then.

PhotobucketBack to the bliss- Bubs is very particular about what creatures come into the tub each night and he spends a great deal of time beforehand picking the winners and skimming over the undesirables (and don't kid yourself, one nights faves are another nights duds). He does make them talk to each other and tonight's big feat was making sure they all had a home. Sometimes he even runs discrete trials with them, I love it when he gives them positive reinforcement. Then he lined up all the aquariums into a little train, complete with a little caboose, and I noticed the head car was in a different direction. So clever. Once he completed his masterpiece he called me in ever so lovingly 'Moooooooommmmmm, come and sit on the potty'. I told him I was so proud of him I had to take a picture, so I did.

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7 comments:

Casdok said...

Certainly is a masterpiece! Thank you for letting us in on Bubs bath!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the trip down memory lane. I have no idea what 'stage' of development that constitutes but I remember it all too clearly with similar 'lump in throat' effect.
Cheers

Drama Mama said...

I would find a warm bath and sorting animals soothing, too.

I do NOT understand that whole "sabotage" thing though. I assume that they think it's wrong to forcibly make Bubs comply, right?
Right?

Essential Amy said...

Actually Drama, I don't think 'they' know it's wrong, which is the scary part for me. From what I know of aba, it's more like shaping or replacing a negative behavior with a positive one. I also know that bubs school wouldn't know a neurotypical kid if it walked up and bit them all on the ass. I understand that they don't want my child to turn into rainman and that he has to learn how to function in a classroom (aka 'the world) but I also know that they are not going to torture my kid on a daily basis. It's going to be a fun couple of months for us, as we prepare to graduate.

M said...

beautiful.

school? notsomuch

Marla said...

Looks like a lot of fun and full of learning for Bubs. Great pictures! I too wonder what the school means by 'sabotage'. ?!

Essential Amy said...

By 'sabotage' they mean 'providing opportunities for bubs to have a change in his routine'. It's a harsh term, sometimes it's harsh in it's execution. They mix everything up so that bubs isn't controlling the show all the time. They were hammering that home big time last week but they seemed to have eased up on it. It's mind games to an extent.