Schedule Adjustments

The new year was the start of a new schedule for us.  For the first time in over 5 years, we no longer have ABA sessions on Friday afternoons.  This has been a huge change in routine for Tad, but it was necessary.

Tad’s therapist, whom he loves, had her first baby this fall.  She let us know that when she came back from leave, she would no longer be working on Fridays anymore.  Of course we wanted to stay with her once she returned (though Tad did surprisingly well with the therapist who took over for three months), so I started looking at what was open in our schedule.

It was about this same time that Mrs. McW, Tad’s teacher, pointed out that he was missing a lot of school on Friday – and with him in 4th grade now, it wasn’t all fun and games.  He was missing out on math instruction time – which he really does need.  So it made sense to move his therapy session and give him as much time at school as possible.

Tuesday afternoon/evening has now become THE day of the week for me.

Because of the kids’ off-setting schedules (Rerun’s school gets out earlier than Tad and Ane’s schools), this required some juggled planning.  I now pick up Rerun as soon as school gets out for him, then drive (via a nifty shortcut) to Tad’s school, where I pick him up about 20 minutes before the school day ends.  Then we drive straight to therapy, which can easily take 45 minutes.  I’m on a busy main arterial, and traffic is bad.

Tad’s session is an hour long, and then I pack the boys back into the car (each with an iDevice) for the long drive home.  It is easily taking me an hour, to an hour and a half, to get home from Seattle.  If traffic is bad when I’m going in the late afternoon, it’s positively hideous when I’m trying to get home at the same time everyone else is, at the end of the work day.

The crock pot is my new best friend on Tuesday.

So far, Tad is doing well with the schedule change.  The first week, he got it in his head that it was Tuesday, but we were going to therapy.  “And then we will come home and I can play Xbox?” he asked.  He was disappointed when I said no, he was still going to have to wait until Friday for that.

Auntie also had to get used to her coffee being delivered on Tuesdays instead of Fridays.  Tad’s former teacher, Mrs. S, also went on maternity leave in mid-December, and Auntie was hired as her long-term substitute!  This has been really interesting for both her and Tad – they see each other every day, and their classrooms are right next door to each other (and are actually connected via a special door).  Tad knows that she is working, and has a “different name” when she is at school, but he just can’t manage it.  Auntie discovered the side benefit was that when I come to pick up Tad, I bring her coffee.  I usually stop by the little drive-thru espresso stand about a half mile from my house before picking up Rerun, and then driving to get Tad.  (Auntie has probably been wondering why her coffee isn’t as hot as it used to be on Fridays, but has been too polite about free coffee to ask.  But that’s why.)

But Tad has been a champ, and this will probably be his routine for the next year and a half – until we can adjust the time to accommodate middle school.

I just can’t wrap my brain around that yet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2016 at 12:40 am and is filed under Autism Adventures, Children, Family, School Days.
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