I absolutely love our new therapists over here! They've decided to approach Brycen's speech and OT together on the days he has school so as not to overwhelm him so much...they call it co-treat for these 1/2 hours.
Do you remember me sharing about a year or so ago that Brycen was having difficulty with understanding the PECS pictures? I was having to take my camera around and take pictures of all the places we typically go, his various toys, and clothing items, etc. He has come so far in this over the last year that all he uses now are PECS pictures and he actually can identify them the first time he sees them!
PECS pictures are what we will be using in our future Go Talk at home so it's necessary for him to understand them. Today at his therapy appt, he did great at using the device appropriately and was very enthusiastic to tell them "more" with the appropriate picture! He also responded well to transitions and they definitely kept him busy!
Here is a summary of what a co-treat session looks like as I'm sure many people that read this blog have never participated in speech or OT sessions:
First of all, they ask him to choose one activity on the Go-Talk. They typically have at least one of the 3 pictures as a non-preferred activity. He chose to "swing" today, so the OT therapist put him in the swing and went side to side, back to front. Every 30-45 seconds, they would stop and ask Brycen what he wanted. He would then push "swing" again...and the Speech therapist would then request him to push "more" first. If he doesn't do it, she then does hand-over-hand with him and offers praise over and over. They do this series multiple times. Then they push the "all done" button to let him know swinging is over. They ask him to go to the table where they show him new pictures and he chose "play-doh" today. The OT then worked with him on fine motor skills by putting little army guys in the play-doh for him to get out. Praise, praise for each one. Then they ask him what he wants to do next...and he pushed "play-doh" again, but the speech therapist encourages to push the "more" also. They do this multiple times. Then they go back to a different sensory activity which of course Brycen chose to swing again. After second time swinging, they went back to table and worked on making a turkey craft with him. This worked not only on his choice of colors, using scissors, or glue but also worked on him recognizing the PECS for these while the OT helped him with these fine motor skills. She focused a lot on his grip today with the colors.
I love these sessions because they keep him busy, follow a great sensory diet for the 1/2 hr of back and forth, not too much of one thing, but encouraging communication with the Go-Talk and also working on transitions. They give me such a great example of words to use with him, how to praise him, and how to keep him transitioning without becoming upset. I'm not sure how else I would learn these things if I didn't have the therapists to teach me how. So thankful that insurance will pay for these sessions!
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller
Monday, November 22, 2010
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Autism and Our Family
"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
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