Sydney's dance class

No pictures with this post because we aren't allowed in the dance studio...it's too tiny for the parents! Hopefully I'll get some shots/video of her in a couple weeks when we get to go to a different studio that WILL be big enough for parents to watch. :)

Anyway, Sydney and Natalie started a beginners tap/ballet class about a month ago through the local parks & rec. I was a little nervous about Sydney since she's never been in a class like this before, and she didn't have an aide going with her.

At the first class, Sydney was SOOO excited. She followed along with the steps pretty well for a 3-year-old...but the teacher had to go running after her at LEAST 15 times, and she was really loud during the class (singing on top of her lungs while the teacher was speaking, for instance). After the class I explained her situation to the teacher (high functioning autism...speech delay...might need a little help) and she seemed very happy to have us send one of Sydney's home program aides along.

So I spoke to her ABA consultant and she was truly thrilled with the opportunity. And...the really sweet part is that although it can be tough to get an aide on the weekends, this was one time when every single one of them on her team said they would LOVE to go to the class with her. They are all so excited to see our girl in her element! LOL! It was decided that we will rotate aides so they'll all get the chance. :)

Anyway, I was SO, so proud of her in class today. She has made such progress in just a few weeks. The aide today said she only had to intervene two times during the whole 55 minute class. And when I peeked in, Sydney was doing great, had a big grin on her face, and fit right in. When it was time for them to hold hands in a circle, she ran right over and reached for her teacher's hand (at the first class she didn't seem to understand what the purpose of the holding-hands-in-a-circle was and kept dropping hands, running into the middle, sitting down, etc) and held her other out for another dancer to take. The teacher commented that she was like a different kid already!

So it looks like our little dancer is loving her class and doing well. Pictures to come. :)