Unity Day 28: Productive and Peaceful :)

From Facebook:

"Today went MUCH better. Ryan was in a happy mood 95% of the day and we completed all our program work, plus reviewed some old work, plus just had some time for constructive play. This is the way it should be!"

Last night, I had a little pep talk with Ryan. I also had a little chat with God.  I basically had the same message for them both: "Please, please, let tomorrow be a better day.  Please let Ryan be happy, or at least have some kind of major breakthrough.  I am feeling so discouraged. I'm really worn out by the tantrums and the crying. I need something good to happen tomorrow."

Well, my prayers were answered, and/or I guess Ryan listened to my pep talk. :)

Today was pretty much the best day we could have had.  Ryan was in a great mood for almost the whole time we were there. He was cooperative, he was having fun (giggling and being silly), and he did good work in all his programs.  He was content and participating during circle time.  We made it to 11:20 today. He really only started to cry a little after 11:00 because he was getting tired.

I'll admit, I was a bit concerned at first because, although he got his morning wagon ride, he did not want it to end.  He cried a bit when I tried to get him into the Yellow Room for morning song, and he wasn't enthused during "Mr. Sun." However, he quickly perked up when we transitioned to the Blue Room.

Once we were in the Blue Room, Ryan was interested by us taking down the chairs. They're usually already down, but on Thursday, when the STEPS kids are doing home programming, nobody's been in there yet.  Ryan was having fun pushing the chairs in while I went and got his colouring supplies.

We started out HOH with colouring today, but he was showing a lot more intention.  I was barely holding his hand, and he was making the marks on the paper.  He seems to enjoy colouring.  However, even the Tadoodles are hard for him to grasp. You have to hold them at just the right angle to get the mark on the paper.  T. said she wished they'd designed them with a wider marker portion at the bottom, so it would be easier for our little ones to get a mark on the page. I agree. We did colouring twice today, and Ryan was really trying to do it on his own.  He just can't get a good grasp on the marker. The second time around, he seemed really interested in the marks he was making, and he was taking a good look at the lines he'd drawn. That intention is pretty amazing.

Then, we went to the next level on our "push a train" program.  We cleared the train table of all tracks, buildings, and other items except for one train and two pieces of track.  We noticed, however, that Ryan could just whack it off the end of the track too easily, because it was too short.  T. suggested using 4 pieces of track and the one train.  This way, we could position the train in the middle, and either way Ryan pushed it, it would have to go down a decent amount of track before it fell off.  This worked perfectly. For all the trials, Ryan pushed the train from the middle of the track until it ran out and fell off. All I had to do was set the train up in the middle of the track and say, "Push train," while pointing to it.  Ryan did awesome!  Slowly, we will add in more and more track, until he's pushing it around the whole table on a fully connected track.

Next, we played with the ball ramp.  Ryan really enjoys this play goal (because he enjoys the toy!).  I did the first one HOH with him; then he put one in with only a wrist prompt; then he put two in with only a forearm prompt; and he put the last one in independently!  Talk about fading back the prompts within one session!  I still have to HOH pushing the ball in because it's tough, but Ryan knows and he was putting his hand on the ball, waiting for me to help him push it in.  J. has started to become interested in this toy, too. So, he came over and we invited him to play with us. There were two balls, so Ryan had the yellow one and J. had the red one, and they practiced taking turns.  B. took over while I went to get Ryan's matching materials set up.

Ryan also showed remarkable improvement in his matching program today. I had B. as my second person (to help keep Ryan from grabbing the bowls when he got too excited).  Ryan got all his Step 1 trials correct, matching one item of a pair with the other one (vs. the empty distractor bowl).  For his Step 2 trials, he got the last 4 out of 6 correct!  Whenever I tried a new item for matching, I did Step 1 first a few times, then put a different new item in the distractor bowl. T. hadn't seen his matching program yet, so she was amazed by him getting 4 of the Step 2s right in a row.  She thought he might be ready to move on to a higher step in matching, until I explained this was the first day he really caught on to the Step 2 matches.  He needs to do this consistently for a few more days before we can move it up another level, but I was so happy the Step 2 matching program clicked with him today!

Next we worked on the chunky puzzle. Ryan, as usual, needed almost no prompts (a little verbal command) to take the pieces out of the puzzle. He loves taking things out, but is not as keen on putting them back in. So, he whined a bit while putting the pieces back in. T. noted that, despite the fussing, Ryan showed improvement in his manipulation of the puzzle pieces into their spots.  We're still working at a wrist-prompt level with that.

Ryan was ready to transition back to the Yellow Room. Surprisingly, it didn't take much coaxing to get him to "stand up" and "follow Mama."

One of the things we worked on in the Yellow Room was clapping.  Today, I faded it back to an elbow prompt, holding the one hand palm up, and he did great clapping. However, I caught him waiting for the prompt! He was glancing over his shoulder at me, and holding out his right arm.  When he starts to anticipate the prompt, it's time to fade it back or even fade it out. T. noticed this at the same time I did, so we agreed I'd wait a little longer, and not give him the prompt he was seeking. It worked; after a few seconds, he clapped independently! I really have to watch for that. I've noticed him becoming prompt-dependent, or waiting for a prompt, in some other activities, too. I have to mention one thing that's kind of funny, though; sometimes when I get Ryan ready to clap, he does a one-handed clap with the upturned hand!  "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Ask Ryan. He can show you. LOL 

We also made progress in "stomp feet."  Usually we have one person across from us model, while the other person prompts Ryan at the knee.  Today, being short a person, I sat behind Ryan and modeled stomping my foot, saying "Ryan, do this! Stomp feet!" Then I touched him behind the knee cap. He was hesitant for the first stomp or two, but he did it.  After a few more tries, he was stomping his one foot energetically. So, we've faded back both the visual and the physical prompts a bit. Fading prompts is always a good thing: a sign of developing independence.

For the shape sorter, we faded back from HOH to a wrist prompt today, and he did fine.  He got all the pieces into the sorter with a little manipulation help from me, and even put in one all by himself! However, he quickly lost interest in this one, so the last attempt was a bit sloppy/losing intention. It happens. So, I helped him do it correctly again, and then we had a play break with the piano and the bead maze. He likes those two toys, and they are old skills he can review, too. 

We continue to work on the newer goal of "coins in the piggy bank."  Ryan was getting a bit restless, but he cooperated. However, he was trying to throw the coins in the bank, which doesn't work; it requires some skilled manipulation of the objects. So, we were working at a HOH level to keep them going into the piggy bank, instead of across the room.  I used the small bead maze as his reinforcement, and he was enjoying playing with that.   

After that, we had a few extra minutes to work on some review before circle time. I tried "pat the floor" with him. I thought maybe he'd lost that one because he hadn't been successful the few times I've tried it last week and this week.  Today, it magically reappeared!  I think I only wrist prompted him the first or second time, and after that, he was patting the floor independently again after I modeled and asked him to do it.  Maybe it was due to his calmer mind-frame today.

After a quick diaper change, I decided Ryan had earned some wagon time.  When we returned to the Rainbow Room, J. was coming out to head to circle time, and he wanted to go in the wagon, too. So, both boys got to ride in style to the Red Room for circle time.  I paused twice and waited for Ryan to sign for "more," and he did. I was curious to see if he'd be distracted by having J. in the wagon, but it didn't make a difference. Another funny thing came up today with the wagon, though.  A few times, I noticed he tried to do a one-handed "more" sign, kind of patting his chest.  I said, "Ryan, you have to do it with two hands" and he did!  He did this on the way to the circle; again I gave him the verbal reminder, and he corrected himself!  Ryan definitely understands a lot more than he lets on.

Anyway, circle time was excellent, too. T., in her wisdom, made sure to pick song actions that worked in skills that I'd been working on with Ryan that morning.  For "If you're happy and you know it," T. surprised us by throwing in "pat the floor" along with "clap your hands" and "stomp your feet."  Ryan did "pat the floor" and "stomp your feet" (with a little touch behind the knee from me) like a pro!  The closing circle song has waving ("It's time to say goodbye to our friends!"), and Ryan was waving bye-bye at everyone with a forearm prompt.  T. was so excited to see Ryan generalizing these skills during circle time.  She had to go tell L., who gave a cheer for Ryan. LOL  Dr. G. caught the end of circle and saw how happy and engaged the boys were. 

Something T. said at the end of circle really put the Unity journey back into perspective for me: "L. says Ryan has come farther than she expected him to go in 12 weeks, and we are only 6 weeks in!" Think about it: a senior therapist, who has worked with autistic children for years, said Ryan has already surpassed her expectations for his progress in Unity, and we're only halfway through.  Wow. Hearing this from a professional gives me so much hope for Ryan.

During snack, we noticed Ryan doing something odd with his spoon. After he takes his bite of yogurt, he kind of pushes it over to the other side of his mouth and chews on it. It's like he needs that sensory bit as well as the food.  T. encouraged me to block him when he went to shift the spoon to the other side of his mouth, and move it back to the cup of yogurt.  It was a messy process, and Ryan stopped eating early. I think he got fed up with me correcting the spoon position in his mouth.  At least he didn't fight me.  I think he was just mildly irritated and confused.

After snack, and some review of old programs, I asked T. if I could do some "kick the ball" with Ryan.  This is usually done in the Rainbow Room.  T. okayed it.  However, I wanted to stay on schedule with them in the Blue Room, so I set up "kick the ball" in there.  When I asked Ryan to come over and do "kick the ball" with me, he stood up and went over to the door which leads to the Rainbow Room, and started to pull on the handle!  T. was amazed; he understood where we usually go when it's time to kick the ball, and tried to go there by himself!  I hadn't realized his intention, but when T. pointed out what he was doing, I was wowed.

By the way, he did great at kick the ball today. He even did some solid kicks from standing.  We moved into the rainbow Room, and I was worried he'd wander down the hall, so I held his hand as we followed the ball around after each kick.  I was concerned that holding his hand might interfere with the program, so T. suggested that I could hold his hand until I gave the instruction to kick, and then I could let go of his hand while he kicked the ball. That was a good solution. 

We did a little more review work in the Yellow Room and played a bit more in the Rainbow Room, but by 11:10, Ryan was getting worn out. He started to cry more and lay on the floor. I was going to take him for a wagon ride (which we now know is the magical happiness-maker for Ryan), but I couldn't find it! It was so odd. Almost no one was in the centre today.  I went around and looked in all the rooms, down the hallway, and I couldn't find it anywhere. It was so weird! Finally, I just asked T. if I could try to get Ryan calmed enough to do one simple program, and then head home. She agreed.  I think I did High 5s and Pat the Floor a few times, and then let Ryan rest on the floor while I packed up.

It was too funny: he was calm, but laying on the carpet on his side, with his shirt up, gently tickling his own belly and ribcage.  L.A. came over with J. and watched Ryan for a minute while I packed up. J. was on his mom's back getting a ride, and he kept saying, "Come here, Ryan! Come here!" He wanted Ryan to ride with him. It was cute. Ryan, however, was content to let L.A. tickle him a bit.

That was the end of our day. Oh, if only we could have more days like this: productive and peaceful. :)