Jake practising with a spoon

The last few days since I posted have been quite good with Jake. After having gone through a period of where he seems to have been permanently unhappy he has moved on to a more contented stage.

His latest thing is to loiter in the kitchen and harass N. by constantly raiding the kitchen draws. He has a liking for some of the utensils and it's meant having to remove to a higher level some of the more dangerous ones. Things that have sharp corners or points on them. We've experimented in the past with child proof locks on the draws but nothing has really worked. They've either been so effective as to stop everybody from getting in or no good whatsoever.

The other difficulty we've faced in having an autistic child is the effect it's had on the upbringing of Jake's younger sister. She was born in 2006.

A. has a strong personality and in order to keep the house quiet at times (her tantrums can upset Jake and cause him to go into melt-down) we're inclined to give in to her far more than we should and she has started to really take advantage of this to get her way. The whole situation is becoming more stress-filled than I could ever have imagined and it's true that it leaves me wiped out and exhausted at times.

Anyway Jake has had a good day today including his time at daycare. He was able to be waked at a reasonable hour and actually ate breakfast before we left with his spoon skills increasing. It's always a thrill to see that although it depends very much on his motivation at the time as to whether he tries or not. He also ate a sandwich at daycare today which is something he never does at home.