Unity Day 26: Not the Greatest, That's for Sure

From Facebook:

"Today was NOT good. Ryan just couldn't pull himself together, and we didn't get much programming done. We went home at 11:00. :("

I thought today started out okay. As soon as we arrived, Ryan went straight to the wagon and requested a ride (tap-tap-tap on the wagon).  I think he perceives it as part of his morning routine now.  We did a cruise or two up and down the hallway, with me stopping and elbow prompting him for the "more" sign.  When it really was time to stop, and I told him it was "all done," he signed "more!" right back at me. An independent "more" trumps following the schedule, so he got his extra ride.

Ryan was fine during the opening song, too. He was smiling during "Mr. Sun," and even tapped himself on the head when I put his arms up (although I'm not sure why, but it was cute). 

In the Blue Room, we started with "push train." I had him do it a few times on the floor, and then we added in a short length of track.  He did awesome!  He independently pushed it on the track every time I asked. So, tomorrow we might try it up on the train table, but only with a small amount of track.

By the way, I did add a silverware teaspoon to his reinforcer basket, and it was the item of choice today.  L. said it's not a problem because we always feed him with plastic spoons, so it's okay if we use a silverware spoon for him to chew on for fun. 

Next we tried "marks on paper" (a.k.a. colouring).  Ryan sat at the table with me and we used the Tadoodles marker. He didn't seem in the mood to push it, so I had to do all HOH.  We got a few good marks on the paper out of him, but mostly he was not interested and starting to become restless.  Just for the sake of looking back at some point, I've decided to include a picture of Ryan's marker work from today. I'm still looking forward to posting his first independent colouring, but I think that's a ways off. Anyhow, these are the marks he initiated, while I helped him hold the marker.

After that, things went downhill. Ryan got mad.  As I went to set up the chunky puzzle, he tried to run out the door to the kitchen.  I chased him down and brought him back into the Blue Room.  I got him to sit down on the floor with me and started to do the puzzle. He was protesting, but he took out the pieces well on his own.  When it was time to put them back in, he was mad and crying. He did a few, but he was really throwing them at the puzzle (even with me holding at his wrist), and finally he flopped down and refused to go on.  I did one more HOH to make him end on my terms, but he was really crying and wriggling away from me.  L. said to give him a minute to try and settle himself.  Ryan got up and went to one door and tried to open it; then he went to another, and then another.  L. said she was impressed with his attempt to problem solve (trying each door to find a way out) despite his angry behaviour.  She decided I should take Ryan for a walk down the hallway to try and let him get his frustration out of his system before we moved over to the Yellow Room.

Well, Ryan cried off and on down the hallway.  He was even stomping his feet and shaking his head as we were walking, which I haven't seen him do before.  When we got back from our walk and headed to the Yellow Room, he lost it.  He lay down on the floor and stretched right out, kicking and screaming. We tried to get him settled with some cuddles, and tried to do some skills he knew well, so it wasn't demanding. He was having none of it.  L. picked him up and gave him some loving cuddles and tickles, and a gentle brow massage. She said Ryan was actually shaking. Even though we were not putting any demands on him, he was struggling to bring himself back to calm.  L. said he had escalated from being mad to actually being unable to control his body. He was so upset, his body took over, and he couldn't calm himself. She had to help "bring him back." It's this part that's the most heart-wrenching for me, when I know it's gone beyond anger or even a tantrum, and poor Ryan can't even control his own responses.  That's when it's okay to stop programming and work on "bringing him back." 

I had to go to my weekly meeting with H., and Ryan was just starting to settle. It was tough leaving him, but I knew L. was great with him (even better than me, in these situations!).

Homework

1. Manding: Continue watching for natural manding opportunities at home.  Take note of any questions or concerns regarding manding at home.
2. Play Goals: For cause and effect, continue with shape and sounds barn;  fade prompts OR request more steps (i.e., put in 2 blocks) before giving reinforcement.  For close-ended, we have a new toy; HOH magnetic stacking blocks (remember to use targets so they stick, and encourage building straight upwards).
3. Incidental Goals: Continue with wave "Hi" and "Bye-Bye," trying to fade back from the forearm/elbow prompt.  New Goal: "Stand up" and "Follow Mama," using iPhone Thomas videos as incentive/reinforcement.
4. Discrete Trial Training (NEW): Try to do one program, from the ones we do at S.C., each night. Record the data next to the S.C. data with a note that it's the home data, so we can compare outcomes.

Weekly Evaluation

Weekly evaluation was better than I expected.  In Week 5, we started to be evaluated by a new set of criteria, so I expected my numbers to be lower.  However, I had plenty of 3s and 4s, which was a pleasant surprise.  I got a 1 on "knows the plan for fading out tangible reinforcement" because that is something we are just starting, and Ryan may not even be ready for that yet in many of his programs. A few other things to consider were to remember to ask, then reinforce or prompt; randomly rotate materials for matching; make sure I don't give any kind of reinforcement after a behaviour I don't want to see; and continue to work on "bringing Ran back" when he's lost it (appropriate for today!).

I used my Parent Points to get 3 more circle time activities, which with the ones they made up for me from last week, will bring me to a total of six.  The stuff they made up is great; I would have no time or talent to do that! :)

The Rest of Ryan's Morning 

My meeting ended and I found them in the middle of circle time. Thankfully, B. and L. had "brought Ryan back" and he was having a good circle.  He wanted to mouth the pieces of the activities so I had to do a lot of blocking and keep giving him his teaspoon.  On the positive side, Ryan randomly reached out twice during "Panda Bear, Panda Bear" and picked up the matching picture before he was asked! Of course, he's supposed to wait his turn, but we were impressed that he was taking initiative and also picking up the right pictures to match.  Then, during "If you're happy and you know it," for the "shout hooray!" part, twice he started to raise his arms on his own!

Snack went pretty well, too. Again, he was feeding himself his yogurt, although he was a bit sloppier today. He dropped the spoon a few times and had more of a yogurt mess, but at least he was trying.  He also did some good mands for his bottle and the yogurt, although at one point, he wanted both at once! We gave them, just to see what would happen, and it was a big mess. Oh, well. We have to let him try once in a while to see if he has any new skills to surprise us.

After snack, it was back to the Blue Room.  We wanted to keep things less demanding for Ryan, to keep him calm, so we did "push a car." He did it perfectly.  I tried to get him to do "pat floor," but he started getting angry, so I HOH'ed it twice and let him wander. L. noticed Ryan's interest in a toy on someone else's work table.  It was a ball ramp. We decided to bring it down and see what he thought of it. I showed him how it worked, and he was interested; he liked watching the ball. Then we tried it two or three times HOH (the ball is hard to press into the hole) and he liked watching the ball go down, but he lost interest soon after. He started to get fussy again. L. said it was close to 11:00, so we should try one more old skill and then go home.  So, we got him to do "roll the ball" a few times, and then we left.

I wanted to mention one more thing, which was kind of sweet.  Just after snack, when I came back from a potty break, B. was on the floor playing with a new shape sorter with Ryan.  J. saw what they were doing, and he wanted to play, too. So, we invited him over and they started taking turns putting the pieces in (Ryan needed HOH, but J. was independent).  At one point, J. had all the pieces, and Ryan wanted his turn.  He kept reaching out and trying to touch J.'s hand.  B. verbally prompted J. to hand a piece to Ryan, to share, and J. gave Ryan two of the three pieces!  It was so cute to see them playing together.  J. was saying, "Here Ryan," and "Your turn!" He did a great job sharing. I was pleased to see Ryan stayed interested in the toy and waited for his turn, and I helped him accept the pieces from J.  It is something special to see we can still have these moments on our roughest days!

When We Got Home

Ryan was in a good mood on the way home, and quite happy when we entered the house. Naturally. I, however, was having a glitch with my iPhone, and mad because I would need it later for home work ("stand up"-Thomas videos).  Anyhow, Mr. Ryan decided to climb up on the couch while I was fighting with my phone (I won after about 20 minutes, thank goodness). As usual, he made the most of Mommy's distraction.

Mmm . . . Kleenex! Nom nom nom!

 

 

Oh, I love my children.  They make me laugh and cry at the same time. Sigh.

 

And tonight is going to be a long night; Daddy's off to a Red Wings' game while I get to stay home with my three munchkins, do homework with them, bath/shower them, keep them from throttling each other (well, the older two), and listen to how much they miss Daddy. 

 

I wonder if they would miss me if I was the one who always worked late and had to go out at night? ;p