How The Move Has Impacted Jackie

How The Move Has Impacted Jackie | Outfit Details

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How The Move Has Impacted Jackie | My Expectations

I will be honest, moving an ASD toddler was terrifying. Change can be hard on any child, but they are so often very resilient. But children with ASD can struggle with change, especially when they aren't fully prepared for it. We did what we could to help prepare Jackie for the transition. I created a moving social story, explaining the move and showing her pictures of the new house. We talked about the new house, moving and how much room we would have. But I was worried. Worried that Jackie would struggle in a new place. Worried that the 4 weeks between our move and my parent's move would convince Jackie that we had left all of her people behind. So I had low expectations.

How The Move Has Impacted Jackie | Jackie's Reaction

Of course, like with most things, Jackie blew my expectations out of the water. She has done so well! She walked around the house the first few days exclaiming, "new house!". We tried to recreate Jackie's spaces from the apartment so that she did have some semblance of normalcy and that really helped.

We do have three floors in this house, which has been a transition for all of us. Jackie isn't used to us leaving her on the top floor to run down to the kitchen to get a snack. She often gets frustrated when she has left something on another floor and doesn't want to get it herself. But we are making her do that. She is learning that she can wander around the house and we will be here too.

The thing that has been the best for Jackie is our neighborhood. There are so many wonderful families on our street, many with young kids and dogs. Jackie spent the first few days wondering around the neighborhood (with one of us trailing her) meeting anyone who had a dog and playing with the kids. Everyone has been so sweet to our special girl. I decided that we would tell everyone that Jackie is ASD right off the bat. This would help them understand her and hopefully encourage our new neighbors to be watchful of her if she wandered outside on her own (that hasn't happened yet). All of the neighborhood kids have been so sweet and inclusive of Jackie. They ask to play in our sprinkler and encourage Jackie to play with them. Most of our neighbors that have dogs know Jackie well. Jackie loves all of the dogs and will go on walks to find a dog to pet.

How The Move Has Impacted Jackie | Jackie's Progress

Now let's talk about the progress we have seen from Jackie! If we didn't already think this move was the right decision, the progress we have seen in the last 3 weeks has shown us that it was the right thing to do.

Jackie has started speaking in sentences! She asks to "go pet a dog" or "go see the fishies". She walks up to a dog and says "it's so beautiful" or "the dog is perfect!". She is saying words we had no idea that she knew! My favorite right now is when she says "it's so incrediful!", usually with her arms stretched out.