For the first time since he started at "big" school in 2013, Little A did not join the six-week summer school programme this year.
He has made good progress behaviourally and socially, with much better eye contact, sustained focus on tasks, increased awareness of what goes on around him, and greatly improved tolerance. We've been able to increase his activities to include wall climbing, and while his food choices remain limited, he has started to explore other restaurants apart from the couple we have been limited to for the past years.
We have started frequenting a new teppanyaki place at the mall where I do adult ballet classes. Once every two weeks, Little A and I have lunch there, either before or after the main lunch crowd has gone. The chefs always include a cooking demonstration, and Little A dons an apron and hat and plays a part. They cheer him on, and since he is no longer afraid of applause, he enjoys the attention, just like any typical child his age.
This summer will be just that - a "typical" school holiday with twice weekly swim lessons and not much else, just the way summer holidays should be.
Starting with five days in Hong Kong courtesy of accumulated airmiles and accompanied by my parents, we enjoyed Noah's Ark, Ocean Park, Van Gogh Alive, and our first ever trip to Disneyland. Little A behaved perfectly apart from a small tantrum as we left Disney, no doubt a release of the tension and anxiety he had been holding in throughout the new experience. We also managed a couple of ferry journeys, and found a teppanyaki place to supply Little A's lunches and dinners after the first couple of Chinese meals resulted in very little being eaten.
This trip resulted in a "new" item added to the list of Little A's favourites, and with luck we will visit this lovely city again and again.
Two days after our return, HongKong citizens began protesting civil liberties being taken away by Mother China. We hope this is resolved peacefully and properly, and hope that we can still enjoy this beloved city the way it has been for all the years of my memory.
