Supervisor Andil Is Upstairs Right Now,

working with Leelo and Therapist Y.

Andil is the supreme Goddess of all things behavioral (on this coast at least) and checks in with Leelo's program every once in a while so we have a professional outside perspective.

She is always, always so cheering to talk to, or at least reassuring.

We talked about Leelo's plateauing. She said (basically) that the arc of his potential is far from over. In her experience and based on her research, some kids break out early, some break out in spurts, and some take as long as four years.

She does agree that it's odd that he's stalled given his initial rate of progress, but cautioned me to remember that all of his sensory issues--currently manifesting in hitting, body slamming, chewing objects and now licking items too (people, cars, sigh)--did not exist when the program first started. Those emerged later. If we can get them under control (and the remainder of this sentence is inference), perhaps Leelo can resume making cognitive breakthroughs.

We talked about potty issues. She says that in her opinion there is no real reason kids can't train in pull ups until accidents become rare, Leelo included. Our goal is to get him to hold his pee and poop until he reaches the toilet. Whether he wets a pull up or underwear is irrelevant. As long as we are consistent with taking him to the potty at scheduled intervals, and are reinforcing good potty behavior, I can clothe his bottom in the absorbent material of my choice. This is excellent news, as big mental hurdle for me is the thought of having to deal with shitty or peeful clothing on top of everything else.

She also mentioned that his frequently being dry at night is huge. Seventy-five percent of all boys are dry at night by age seven, so being dry at night at five is a real bonus.

She also said that she would train all the potty-training successes in the world for Leelo's natural social tendencies.

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She observed at Leelo's preschool this morning, and thought it was a great program even though our boy had a rough time and was a big bundle sensory-seeking behaviors (he tagged Sage during their speech therapy session this morning, too).

I look forward to reading her write up and recommendations regarding both the preschool and this afternoon's home session.