Shoes... in the laundry?

David is five years old and attends a specialist autism education unit.  Being five and having ASD means school activities are still based around play and developing the senses.  The other day, I was met by David being carried by his key worker at the gate of the school.

David had a bit too much fun with the water play and was dressed in his spare shorts and socks. His shoes were completely drenched and that's why he was shoeless and being carried.  As I had to take his older brother to a music therapy session I thought that we'd have no choice but to go home and get another pair of shoes for David. 

As we all headed back to our house in a bit of a rush I wondered where I'd find David's shoes? I hadn't seen them for a few days and they are usually on the shelves in his room. Maybe they've got kicked under the bed?  Maybe they've ended up under the bench by the front door?  After a short search back at the house, neither of these locations produced his shoes.  Then, I smiled and jogged around to the utility room.

I opened up the laundry chute, clothes started falling everywhere, and then I spotted them.

There they were, nestled on top of each other between a shirt and a pair of pyjamas.

Oh dear... you might think, but not to me.

You see, it's only just recently that David has been able to undress himself.  And it's even more recent that he has, all by himself, added on an extra step and put his clothes into the laundry chute when he's getting ready for bed.  For David and for us this is a huge achievement.  David is not only following instructions, which he used to find impossible, but he has then... all by himself...taken the initiative to add on a step to his routine and put his clothes down the laundry chute.  The small complication in this is that David hasn't managed as yet to separate his shoes before they go down.  But that didn't matter to us one bit the first time it happened. We spent ages on Monday looking for the shoes that went down the chute on Sunday night. Then grinned when we found them.

We had this thrill of achievement in David, him taking the initiative surpassed all the frustration we had trying to locate his shoes the first time they inadvertently disappeared into the laundry.

Obviously, now we are now trying to help him put his shoes where they go when he takes them off.  But I still smile at the first achievement when I have to go and locate them amongst the dirty clothes. 

I popped David's wet shoes onto the dryer and headed out the door, spare shoes in my hand and a smile on my face.

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Our blog - Following instructions: Using a Token Economy
Our blog - Following instructions: Why sharing gingerbread is truly amazing
Our blog - Such small achievements that no one else notices

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