Unity Day 2: Improvements

Today's post, once again, is snippets from Facebook:

"Unity, Day 2: Improvements: We got there early. Ryan was in a happier mood. We got him to pick preferred toys between a choice of two. He helped me feed him snack (hand over hand). Circle Time: He did great for 80% of the activities--held pictures nicely, was excited about songs, and even rolled a ball back to others without being prompted. Of course, the last part of circle ended in another sudden meltdown . . . So, we might try circle first tomorrow, to see if timing is the issue. We also learned he likes a wagon ride for calming (to a point), and he will cuddle with anyone who remotely resembles Mommy (brown hair, round face, and/or "squishy," as a lead therapist tongue-in-cheek referred to herself . . . LOL!). So, we lasted about 15 minutes longer today. Slowly . . . we are slowly building it up . . ."

"Oh, forgot to add that he ate 3 Froot Loops at snack time. The crunch threw him off for a bit, but the flavour made him stick with it."

Oh, and there was a little praise for Mommy, too: I was quick with the reinforcers today and caught many opportunities to reinforce (think of it as rewards for when Ryan attempts or does something well). I also got 11 points! Yes, there is a parent point system. We get reinforced, too!  We can use our points for things like extra one-on-on consultation time, reinforcement items for the kids, or circle time supplies and activities already made up for us (eventually, we will be organizing and running a circle time  by ourselves!).

By the way, did I mention Unity is done by two families at a time? For confidentiality reasons, I can't share names or details about the other family, but I may mention them indirectly now and then. It is another mom and another boy whose birthday is only about a month from Ryan's.

In terms of picking up the kids today, I turned to Papa for help. Ryan is exhausted, but he barely naps. I think his little brain is going overdrive right now. He slept about 20 minutes, woke up screaming, then fell asleep again in the rocking chair. I just laid him down again, after calling Papa to ask him to pick up Andrea and Kevin.  Poor Ryan; he's so used to being left to do as he pleases because he's so easy-going.  All of a sudden, people are in his face every second, making demands of him, exposing him to new environments and routines, and he is overwhelmed.  Today was better than yesterday, though, so I'm sure each day he will become more accustomed to our new program.