E didn't like the substitute!

(School lunch note #3 was a little note simply explaining to Eliza that today was Friday, the end of the school week, etc. and thanking her for being a big girl.)

Some Eliza "funnies" shared by her teacher's today:

Apparently Eliza did NOT like the substitute teacher that they had in the a.m. She was described to me as a very tall, very large and very loud woman. Hmmm (that was me, to them while they're telling me about this). Typically in the AU (autism) classes, the teachers are quiet and do a lot of kneeling down at the children's levels, etc. Well, not this sub, she was frightening both Eliza and the other newby. They said that Eliza's eyes were huge and she was climbing up the teacher's aides (both of them) like a monkey. Hmmm again. They said they almost called me to come and I'm glad that they didn't. One of the TA's took Eliza to the library where they picked out a Barney book and had some quiet time, then they took a walk and visited some of the K and 1st Grade classrooms. Awww! They said that they'll recommend not to use that sub for AU again. (Sorry substitute...)

Another thing they shared was how smart Eliza is and how quickly she's catching on. They use the PEC (picture exchange communication) system. That means that her calendar has velcroed PEC card (pictures) of each task that she will work on that day (that inclues a picture of a potty and lunch, etc.) Through out the day, each child is to take the next card off their own calendar and carry it, with them, to the appropriate "center" within the room. They said that Eliza already has figured out where each center is and how the system should work. In the afternoon, she had 2 tasks left on her calendar and at the very bottom is a card w/ a picture of a backpack (obviously meaning, time to go home). So, Eliza went to the calendar and took the next card, scanned her eyes to the bottom and grabbed the card w/ the backpack on it and handed it to the teacher. They laughed really hard and told her not yet. She put it back on, started to walk away, but went back and grabbed it again. So, they laughed and said not yet again. She wiggled her shoulders and upper body (her shy way of laughing) and did as she was told. They thought that was neat. I could picture everything. She does that when I say no to something she wants; she's persistent as if saying to me, "are you sure?". Pretty awesome!!

One of these days, I'm going to get a photo of her at pick up time. She's always dragging and so tired (she refuses to nap at school so far). Here's a picture I took at drop off in the morning though.