Garrett session this afternoon was great. He decided to sit on his trampoline for the entire hour, which was just fine with us. Every once and a while, he would stand up and jump, then sit back down with a toy.
He gave us a lot of eye contact today. We were trying to get him to sign "more" by withholding toys that he needed. He could see them and would try to grab the therapist's hand to show her that was what he wanted, but she stopped him. He eventually would hold out his hands for us to manipulate, but still resisted us trying to make his hands touch. About twenty minutes into his session, he did sign "more" once. He wouldn't do it again.
He is making a lot more vowel sounds now. My favorite is "oo yee". Mostly because it sounds awesome.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
ABA progress and a new speech therapist
The report from ABA this week is that Garrett is no longer head banging. He still gets frustrated and rocks, but isn't getting to the point where he is hurting himself. He was very resistant to signing last week. I've been trying to get him to sign for the past year with no luck. The past two days, he has let the therapists sign hand over hand with him. Today, I tried it with him during out afternoon snack and saw it in action. I showed him some cereal and he put his hand up for me to manipulate. I put his other fingers down and said "cereal". He then looked at me and nodded.
We met Garrett's new speech therapist today. We went over the program and Garrett's goals. We talked about using pictures of people and objects that Garrett knows and getting him to point. We'll see her again next week.
We met Garrett's new speech therapist today. We went over the program and Garrett's goals. We talked about using pictures of people and objects that Garrett knows and getting him to point. We'll see her again next week.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Garrett started ABA today!
His therapists are great!
I stuck around for the first 20 minutes or so. He was fine when we arrived, but once the other kids started coming in, he freaked out. He started banging his head on the floor. They asked what I usually do to stop him, and I told them that I usually just slide my hand under his head. They just wanted to make sure that they're doing it the same way. I took some rice cakes in for his snack. He saw them on the table and instead of getting the attention of the therapist that was sitting at the table, he came across the room and tried to take my hand. I folded my arms, which he didn't like. But he did go and stand next to the table and wait for the therapist to pick up the baggie. Then he gave her eye contact and was rewarded with praise and a rice cake.
When I picked him up after the two hours, they said he did great. He slammed his head into the floor a few more times and now has rug burn on his forehead. He didn't show any warning signs that he was going to bang his head (like throwing a tantrum, or going on all fours), so they didn't have time to slide their hand under before he'd already hit the carpet once. The carpet in the playroom is not soft. Hopefully that will deter him from banging his head after a few days.
One of the therapists did some hand over hand signing with him. He didn't object, so she said that she'll keep trying and see how he does with it. They are going to write up his plan this week. I was told that he showed some interest in an insect puzzle and a shape sorter. Those are the lowest level toys that are, so he's literally starting from the beginning. It really does show his developmental levels. I say it all the time, but he's a 10 month old in a two year old's body.
We'll see how he does tomorrow.
I stuck around for the first 20 minutes or so. He was fine when we arrived, but once the other kids started coming in, he freaked out. He started banging his head on the floor. They asked what I usually do to stop him, and I told them that I usually just slide my hand under his head. They just wanted to make sure that they're doing it the same way. I took some rice cakes in for his snack. He saw them on the table and instead of getting the attention of the therapist that was sitting at the table, he came across the room and tried to take my hand. I folded my arms, which he didn't like. But he did go and stand next to the table and wait for the therapist to pick up the baggie. Then he gave her eye contact and was rewarded with praise and a rice cake.
When I picked him up after the two hours, they said he did great. He slammed his head into the floor a few more times and now has rug burn on his forehead. He didn't show any warning signs that he was going to bang his head (like throwing a tantrum, or going on all fours), so they didn't have time to slide their hand under before he'd already hit the carpet once. The carpet in the playroom is not soft. Hopefully that will deter him from banging his head after a few days.
One of the therapists did some hand over hand signing with him. He didn't object, so she said that she'll keep trying and see how he does with it. They are going to write up his plan this week. I was told that he showed some interest in an insect puzzle and a shape sorter. Those are the lowest level toys that are, so he's literally starting from the beginning. It really does show his developmental levels. I say it all the time, but he's a 10 month old in a two year old's body.
We'll see how he does tomorrow.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Jumping through hoops
I feel like I have neglected this poor blog because there hasn't been much to report. Garrett has been without therapy for over two months. He is going back to a lot of his behaviors (head banging, spitting, not eating). It's been very depressing to see all of the progress we were making disappear.
But this week, we finally have some news!
We got our notification that Garrett's records had been transferred for ECHO and we were given two options for ABA therapy. I called and spoke to the one out of Suffolk, and they have a center that's local. They have openings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings for two hours each. I told her to go ahead and sign Garrett up. We both contacted our ECHO coordinator and if we've jumped through all of the right hoops, Garrett should be starting ABA on Tuesday.
We also got a visit from the early intervention coordinator this week. I signed all of the paperwork and they'll be writing up a new IFSP for him. Our coordinator will be coming back this Wednesday with some other forms for me to sign, and Garrett will begin Speech and OT before the end of the month.
But this week, we finally have some news!
We got our notification that Garrett's records had been transferred for ECHO and we were given two options for ABA therapy. I called and spoke to the one out of Suffolk, and they have a center that's local. They have openings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings for two hours each. I told her to go ahead and sign Garrett up. We both contacted our ECHO coordinator and if we've jumped through all of the right hoops, Garrett should be starting ABA on Tuesday.
We also got a visit from the early intervention coordinator this week. I signed all of the paperwork and they'll be writing up a new IFSP for him. Our coordinator will be coming back this Wednesday with some other forms for me to sign, and Garrett will begin Speech and OT before the end of the month.
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