|
May 2008
Marc enjoys his monthly visits with his biological
mother and half sister. This month they are planning a
picnic in the park. We are happy to facilitate these visits
as we know Marc's biological mom really loves Marc but is
unable to care for him due to her own developmental
disabilities.
Marc continues to make good academic progress. his best
subject is math but he also enjoys social studies and
science, Marc does have occasional set-backs due to his
behavioral challenges which do interfere with day-to-day
routines. We continue to work with his school staff and the
Kaiser ASDD and Autism Clinic to try different strategies to
help Marc with self-regulation of his behavior. The good
news is that as Marc's speech and language has developed he
is able to express himself clearer and reduce his physical
acting out when he is frustrated or thwarted. We definitely
expect Marc to be more able to manage his behaviors as he
matures and learns coping strategies.
February 2008
Marc is loving his new school. Although he doesn't communicate his feelings that well, it certainly is clear that the change in school placement after the holidays was a good move for Marc. We look forward to watching Marc make new friends and develop positive and appropriate behavior.
Marc's new interest is YouTube.com. He loves looking at the various videos. His absolute favorite is a clip from the DeFranco Family. About a year ago Marc discovered "Tony Defranco" on YouTube. Marc listens to the DeFranco family songs that are available on YouTube every day. He attempts the dance moves and to learn the lyrics to the Tony DeFranco songs. What is most interesting about this is that Marc has now expressed an interest in singing and dance classes! This was from a boy whose main interest prior to discovering the Defranco Family music was reading the Thomas Guide. Marc is actually having some success socially in musical theater class. For a child with autism this is a very big deal. Marc is learning how to relate to his peers through music and dance. Marc is beginning to write his own songs and he hopes to get on stage and perform these songs someday. Still Marc wants to watch the same Defranco Family Youtube Videos with me every night. This has become our "bonding" activity which so many parents of autistic children never get to experience.
 November 2007
We were excited to complete Marc's adoption at the end of October! Marc is a great kid and we are thrilled with all of the progress he has made since joining our family. Although he has a diagnosis of autism, Marc has really developed his social skills and his language skills over the past couple of years. Marc is also doing well in school. He continues to grow academically. Marc is learning division and fractions but he says his favorite subject is social studies! Marc is also rehearsing for the MYART production of "Sound of Music." Marc is looking forward to the performances of this play in January 2008!
September 2007
We FINALLY received a finalization date for Marc's adoption. In late October Marc will be adopted and officially a Silcock! We are excited that we are so close finalizing Marc's adoption!! After Marc's adoption we will continue to have monthly visits with his biological mom and half sister. Marc looks forward to these visits and we think it is great that Marc has many people who love and care about his well-being.
Marc is participating on a Special Olympics volleyball team. He is enjoying this sport very much. Marc is learning how to be a team player while learning the rules and strategies of volleyball. With all of his extra-curricular experiences and his full-inclusion education we have seen a huge positive change in Marc social and language skills over the past year and a half. We are thrilled at Marc's progress and we look forward to his increasing development.
August 2007
Marc had an a great summer! As you can see from his awards, Marc participated in many camp experiences during the past three months! Although Marc requires one-on-one support in order to be successful, he has really improved his social skills from last year. This year Marc was able in interact with peers and camp staff appropriately and actually made a few friends. He was able to use his language to let us know when he was frustrated or upset rather than getting physically aggressive. Slowly but surely Marc is developing appropriate social skills and losing some of his autistic-like mannerisms. We are excited to see these changes and know that Marc's inclusive experiences throughout the year help his social development.
We have filed Marc's adoption papers and as of this writing we are only waiting for a court date to finalize!
April 2007
Marc has been playing on a Special Olympics basketball team since March. Marc is really enjoying this sport. He is not only learning how to play basketball but how to get along with his peers and how to be a team player. With the combination of Tae Kon Do classes and basketball practice, Marc is becoming more and more athletic and social. Its amazing to see the developmental progress Marc has made in only a couple of years with our family. This summer we plan to fully include Marc in several summer camp programs.
  
 February 2007
Marc has a lot of exciting news this month. Marc is starting to take Tae Kwon Do lessons. He has been asking about joining his brothers in the Tae Kwon Do classes for a long time. We were worried that his generally non-compliance and other behavioral issues would get in the way of his learning. The Tae Kwon Do lessons our children are involved with are not classes for children with special needs. The boys have always taken classes with typical children with very little adaptation for their developmental disabilities. With Marc's autism we worried that he may not be able to focus on the instruction, follow directions, or tolerate other children having some physical contact with him. Finally, with Marc's continual prodding, despite our reservations we decided to let Marc give it a try. So far, after a half dozen classes, Marc is doing very well. He is following the directions to the best of his ability and learning the various Tae Kwon Do moves. Despite being corrected by Master Kim several times, Marc has not screamed or shrieked once in class. He has compliantly followed directions! He has even worked on moves with peers during the instruction time when the children are paired-up.
Marc has also enrolled in MYART and has begun rehearsals for the play "Suessical." This is the first time Marc has participated in a theater production. Again we were hesitant because of the number of children participating in the program and the demands the director puts on all of the children. Due to Marc's success in Tae Kwon Do we decided to give MYART a try. We are hopeful that Marc's wonderfully appropriate behavior in Tae Kwon Do will carry over in the MYART rehearsals and performance. With lots of typical children providing Marc with natural support this might just be the perfect non-competitive venue where Marc can begin to connect and develop positive relationships with peers while learning to work in a group and follow group instruction.
Marc's biggest news this month is that we are finally signing adoptive placement papers and should be able to finalize his adoption in March! We are very excited and so is Marc. He has been waiting to be officially a Silcock for a long time.
 December 2006
Marc is making some great progress academically. He is now willing to complete his homework and actually asks for help sometimes. Marc is doing well in spelling, reading and math though he continues to have a difficult time understanding and answering questions about what he reads. It is also amazing how Marc understands how the freeways run and interconnect with each other. We can literally ask Marc directions from Oceanside to Long Beach and if he has been there once he can get back to the same place again. Marc also knows most of the street names and the direction they run in our local area. Marc loves the Cal Trans web site that reports the traffic flow and miscellaneous traffic accidents. With Marc's interest in maps and his ability to give directions, we predict that Marc may just grow-up to be our next local television channel "eyes in the sky" traffic reporter.
 October 2006
Marc continues to make social and academic progress. Marc is in a regular third grade class this year with one-to-one academic and behavioral support. Marc enjoys being in the classroom with typical peers but often has inappropriate behaviors that annoy the other children. We are working with the school staff to develop a behavioral plan to support Marc's development of more age-appropriate behaviors.
Marc continues to take skateboard riding lessons. He has really begun to enjoy this activity. He has made fantastic progress with his coordination and social skills. Marc hopes to get his own skateboard, helmet and pads for his up-coming birthday. Marc is also signed-up to begin ice skating lessons early next month. He is excited about trying a new sport and possibly competing with other kids.
July 2006
Marc is really enjoying Camp James this summer. This is Marc's first experience with a summer day camp program. We are supporting him with one-to-one staffing to make sure his experience is a positive one. Marc continues to learn how to make and maintain friendships which can be quite a challenge for child with autism.
Marc is also learning how to communicate and problem solve with his peers with only minimal intervention from camp staff. We believe giving Marc lots of opportunities to participate in social situations with his typical peers will help Marc develop more appropriate social behavior. It is awesome to see Marc make such improvement with his social skills.
Update:
March 2006
Marc (8) continues to makes good progress on maintaining appropriate behavior at
home, school, and in the community. Recently Marc started receiving one-to-one
instructional aide support at school. We hope with this level of supervision
Marc will begin to learn appropriate social behavior and start self-regulating
his own behaviors. At home, Marc is doing well helping Ann in the kitchen. He is
especially enjoys reading recipes and measuring ingredients to make meals and
desserts.
Marc also loves amusement parks, but
according to Marc "Knott's Berry Farm is the best." Marc is a big fan of fast
roller coasters. Sometimes even his older brothers beg off the rides and Marc
goes by himself. Marc has a certain route he likes to walk when he arrives at
Knott's Berry Farm. He also likes to ride each roller coaster twice before
moving on to the next ride. Marc usually goes to Knott's Berry Farm once a week,
lucky we all have annual passes.
Update: January 2006
Marc is adjusting slowly to our family. Every day his behavior at home improves a little. Even at school the staff have seen some improvement with Marc's ability to follow directions and follow the school rules.
This would be a difficult adjustment for anyone, but with Marc's history of frequent moves he is very slow to trust. We hope over time that some of Marc's adjustment and attachment issues will be resolved.
 Marc is now taking skateboard lessons twice a week. He is actually doing very well riding a skateboard. Marc has also learned to rollerblade. He continues to go to the open skate times at least once a week at the Fountain Valley Skating Rink. Marc is also involved with the Special Olympics ice skating program. Marc is learning to ice skate. Later in the month he has a tournament in Valencia. We are sure that Marc will enjoy the tournament especially if he gets a ribbon or a trophy.
In March Marc will resume his swimming lessons, in the meantime he swims during free swim time at the Huntington Beach City Gym.
Marc visits with his biological mom and half sister monthly. Marc doesn't seem to mind the long drive to and from the McDonalds meeting spot. After Marc's adoption we hope to continue to maintain monthly visits with these bio-family members.
    
Click for
previous news/photos >
|
