Gabriel update
Well it’s been quite a while since I updated on Gabriel. I’ve gotten busy going back to school and have just graduated with a bachelor’s in nursing.
Gabriel is doing well in most areas. He is now 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. In school, he’s very good at reading and spelling and is reading 60+ page chapter books up to the 4th grade level by himself. He is doing somewhat OK on math, unless the test is timed. Addition/subtraction drills shut him down. He’s come home recently with 20s and 40s for grades on math drills. He is very perfectionistic and slow-moving in every area and no matter what you CANNOT get him to hurry. Naturally, this doesn’t lend itself to stellar grades on timed math drills (100 questions in 5 minutes). I want him to learn what he needs to but I honestly don’t know what the point of these timed drills are. Have you ever, in the real world, had to answer 100 math questions in 5 minutes? I didn’t think so. I broached this subject with his teacher and asked if he couldn’t do the test without time constraints, especially given his individual education plan (IEP) in place. The teacher said no, that this test checks for fluency. Hmph.
With reading comprehension, his work is really hit or miss. I see 100s and I see 70s. I know he is trying hard, so that makes me feel good. His teacher tells me that he’s the hardest worker in the class. I still sometimes get the feeling that his public school minimizes his problems so they don’t have to provide him extra services on their dime, but THAT’S another post for another day.
Socially he is doing better, at least as far as I know. His teacher has mentioned that he “helps her” keep track of when the other students are out of line. I rolled my eyes and told Gabriel that no one likes a tattle tale. He retorted that his teacher does. Good grief. He may not be Mr. Popular at school, but he has a good group of church friends that I can more readily see him interacting with, and he seems to get along nicely with them. He has developed a tendency to act like a clown to make people laugh, which I’m trying to quash. Case in point: last week in Sunday school, he sucked on a candy cane until it was nice and wet and sticky, and then painted his take-home coloring page with it. The kids thought it was funny but I’m sure the teacher wasn’t amused. Oh, brother.
Gabriel is still a rigid rule-follower (hello, perfectionism) and tries to make sure the rules are enforced, even if he has to do the enforcing (when an adult is out of the room or not paying attention). His mischievous little sister is his prime target. Afternoons in my house consist of Gabriel telling Mikaela what to do and Mikaela screaming at him. I’ve honestly been preoccupied for the last year with an accelerated nursing program so I’ve been letting them “solve” a lot of their own problems. Not sure how well that’s worked out, really. But I take my board exam Monday so I will soon be able to give them my attention again. I’ll have them whipped back into shape in no time. LOL. 
I digress.
Re: Gabriel’s other issues and where we’re at with them:
- Fine motor: vastly improved but still working on it. He can’t get the hang of tying his shoes or holding a taco correctly. His handwriting is beautiful, though – and he’s very good at building with Legos.
- Gross motor: he still can’t mimic an action when you demonstrate it very well. He’s not very athletic but has gotten very tech-savvy. I would like him to be involved in sports at some point, but I don’t want to subject him to mockery by his peers if he’s not good at it. Sigh.
- Sensory integration disorder: The latest thing is his hair. Well, I guess he’s had that one for a while. But if you touch his hair or brush it – even very gently – back out of his eyes, his eyes will water and he says you’re hurting his eyes by touching his hair. I’m trying to think – I know there are other little things, but when you live with someone for so long you just get used to overlooking the small eccentricities. Food is still an issue, and if you try to press him to eat certain foods, he will gag. It’s a texture thing for him.
- OCD tendencies: Gabriel still tries to straighten items on grocery store shelves when we’re there, or will touch all the tags lining the shelves. He is very thorough in his hand washing to the point of making them bleed, and takes a very long time brushing his teeth. I know there are other things, but like I said above, you eventually get used to things and don’t even think about them as being abnormal. I haven’t seen the spinning in circles on his knees nearly as much lately. Thank God … he was blowing through jeans like there was no tomorrow.
- Auditory processing: this is still an ongoing issue. We’ve learned coping mechanisms, though, and we have it in Gabriel’s IEP at school for the teacher to check with him to make sure he understands verbal instructions. Now that he’s reading well, this is another good way for him to cope with this problem. We’ve learned that if the TV is on, you can forget talking to him. You have to tell him to turn it off or on mute. We limit all media time to one hour a day, so that’s helped. One of the biggest things with him, and this may be more along the line of ADD than auditory processing: we have to call his name and get his attention, making eye contact with him before starting to talk to him.
Gabriel has an interest in art, technology and filmmaking. He’s obsessed with Star Wars and George Lucas. He’s also gotten very tech-savvy and is good at computer and wii games. I am encouraging his interests wholeheartedly. It thrills me to see him so excited about things. He has shown promise as an artist, and already knows how to draw a picture with the proper perspective (ie, some things look near and others far away).
The best thing about Gabriel is his love for God. His spiritual depth and knowledge astounds me. I love to hear him pray. I have my husband to thank for my childrens’ spiritual development – not that I haven’t had a hand in it at all – but my husband has really done a great thing by praying with them nightly and reading them scripture and answering their questions.
Gabriel has a sweet, kind, empathetic heart and thinks of others first (as long as we’re not talking about his sister …. LOL). I’m excited about his future and I know God has big plans for him.
