Anyway, we had tried the peg board and pegs L. lent us over the weekend, and they didn't work out. I chatted with her about the issue. It was a new, foam peg board, and we really had to push down hard to get the pegs in. We all know Ryan has issues with that pushing-down motion, so that peg board was useless. The one we had used in-centre was plastic, and the pegs fit easily into the holes. Oh, well. We tried. Besides, I'm not sure Ryan would've been independent with that activity within a week.
After morning song, I went to have my final weekly meeting with H. I got my evaluation for last week, and we discussed how homework had gone over the past week. The evaluation was mostly positive; I just needed few reminders:
- Try to find some new opportunities to work on manding. At SC, I tend to do most of our manding work during snack or while Ryan's in the wagon. Those are the most natural opportunities; I have to learn to create some new ones.
- Try to prompt from behind Ryan; it's easier to fade out that way.
- Step back and give more opportunities for my support people to take over.
My homework was done, so I just explained what we'd been working on (push-down giraffe, bowling, and "milk" sign). I had some good news about the "milk" sign. Yesterday afternoon, Ryan was fussing and I asked him, "What's wrong?" Then, I noticed he was squeezing his hand in the sign for "milk"! I asked, "Do you want some milk?" and he made a little noise that I took as an affirmative. When I brought him the bottle, he held out his hand and squeezed it closed once. That was great! I gave him lots of praise, and kept repeating the sign and saying, "Yes, you wanted milk!" He hasn't really done it again today, but he does hold his hand out and curl it a bit, like he's waiting for me to give him the HOH assistance to do the sign. I'm hopeful this will continue progressing.
We talked a bit about follow-up. I said I'd prefer the monthly Unity consultation group (for parent-graduates of Unity), and maybe a few home or daycare visits. Then she told me I still had about 270 Parent Points left! I couldn't think of an immediate use for them; the only material I don't have at home that I could use right now is a marker grip for Ryan's colouring. So, she made a note about the grip and said I could keep my remaining points for anything I might think of at the monthly consultation groups.
Back to Ryan and Papa . . .
When I returned from the meeting, we went into the Blue Room and started off with "matching." Maybe that wasn't the best one to start with. Ryan had no interest in it whatsoever. He was fumbling the pictures, mouthing them, dropping them randomly, and not even looking at them. L. thought maybe there might be a problem with using pictures, or the program needed to be tweaked. However, I pointed out we haven't done it for a week, and we've only used the picture matching 3 times before. Furthermore, my data for those 3 trials showed Ryan had about 70% accuracy. So, we're going to try it again tomorrow, to see if Ryan was just having a case of the Mondays.
Then I had Papa do the pop-up toy with Ryan. Ryan did really well with this one; he pushed down 3/4 independently and one with a wrist prompt. Popping them up, he needed two HOH, one at a wrist prompt, and one he did independently. The exciting thing is that the one he did independently is the hardest one, and he finally figured it out! You have to twist the flower to get the head to pop up. Ryan kept going back to this one and doing it independently! I think he enjoyed all our excitement and praise each time he showed us this new accomplishment. :)
Next, I had Papa do the animal puzzle with Ryan today. Ryan was much better at taking the pieces out today (only verbal reminders needed). He also did pretty well putting them back in. He was trying really hard to manoeuvre hem in, but he needed HOH help on three of them, and wrist prompting on two pieces. However, he finished off by putting the parrot piece in independently!
When I went to set up some activities at the table, Papa was playing with Ryan on the floor. I heard L. getting excited and went to see what was going on. Well, Papa found a new manding opportunity, albeit a silly one! Ryan's shirt was riding up a bit; Papa tickled his tummy, then put his shirt back down. Ryan liked it, so he was hiking his shirt back up, so Papa would give him more tickles! They went back and forth like this several times. L. was so pleased with the natural manding opportunity Papa discovered (and how Papa was responding properly) that she gave him 5 points for us!
Up at the table, we started with "colouring." I reminded Papa how to hold the marker, and what grasp-effort we were looking for from Ryan (what gets reinforced). Ryan did really well! He got 3/5 trials correct. The 2 incorrect trials were just a little weaker, with less of an intentional grasp, and more of a push. However, out of the three Ryan got correct, two were fantastic! Those times, he gripped the marker and drew it up and down, round and round, for at least 5 seconds.
Next we did Play Doh. Ryan still needed the HOH for that downward pressure, but we saw a few promising actions. For his very first smoosh, he grabbed the Play Doh ball and squished his fingers into it a bit. Other times, he put his hand over the ball as soon as Papa had squished his (modeled for him). One time, he even put his hand over Papa's as Papa modeled, like Ryan was helping Papa push the Play Doh down! Still, we tried to get more of Ryan pushing down the Play Doh. We had Papa hold Ryan's hand at the wrist, above the Play Doh, to trigger his "pat table" response. L. thought that might encourage the proper motion. He did pat the Play Doh, but not with much force. We did have a laugh, though, when Papa kept urging Ryan to try, and suddenly Ryan turned to ME and tried to crawl into my lap. LOL! Talk about a role reversal! Usually I'm the "mean one," and Ryan is trying to escape to someone else!
Next it was circle time, and Ryan was more engaged today. I let Papa take charge of assisting Ryan. I was pleased to see Ryan do some song actions today (clap hands, pat head, sticky-bubblegum hands) with minimal prompts. I think he even did a few of the sticky-bubblegum (bringing hands together) moves independently! He was also interested in matching pictures to the book. I had to remind him to wait for his turn a couple of times. :) He also liked picking toy food items for "going on a picnic."
After snack, L. had a special craft for us to complete: making the boys' graduation hats! What? I didn't even know Unity had a little graduation celebration, but I guess they do for us, on Friday. The craft was gluing a black paper bowl to a black paper plate. When done properly, the bowl is the hat and the plate is the top! They even had a little tassel for us to glue on, and strings to attach so we can tie them on. Then, the boys got to personalize their caps with stickers, letters, sparkles, etc. L. said they will even have little green gowns (SC colours) to wear. Of course, she also added, many of the kids refuse to wear the cap or gown for more than a few seconds, but we'll give it a try. I think it's the cutest idea ever. I hope they let us bring our cameras (I know they will be taking photos, but I want some!).
After that, we moved into the Rainbow Room. Ryan showed L. his improved "soccer" skills. The last time she saw it, he was still kicking from a chair! Now, he's kicking the ball from standing, multiple times in a row, and tracking the ball. L. was so pleased by this progress! She suggested that our focus (and reinforcement) should be based on tracking, now that Ryan's so comfortable kicking the ball around. Remember, "tracking" is watching and following an object as it moves around. So, the idea is Ryan kicks the ball, watches where it goes, then goes after it himself to kick it again. He does this sometimes, but it's not yet consistent.
Next, L. wanted to try Ryan on some stairs, just to check his gait (the way a person walks or moves). They have an interesting rocking toy that flips over and forms a little set of stairs. Well, Ryan did not like it at all. Even with me or Papa holding his hands, he did not want to walk up the steps. He was obviously very anxious. I mentioned this anxiety is probably from feeling a lack of security because any stairs Ryan uses have a rail or at least a wall on one side, and this set of steps is open (no side supports). L. agreed with me. Then I mentioned how T. had suggested the safety program for going down stairs (stop-sit-scootch on bum) and L. approved. The only thing L. added (and T. had said this too) is we might need some kind of visual for Ryan as he approaches the stairs, to get him to stop. We tossed around a few ideas like a bright strip of safety tape, or something with a different texture and colour, like a little area rug from the dollar store. (?)
We still had some time, so I suggested Ryan try the Thomas ride-on toy again. We haven't used it in over a week. Well, did he surprise us! Papa helped him get on, and he rode forward all the way across the room. I said, "I think it's just the wall that's stopping him," and L. said, "Well, then send him down the hallway! Let him go free!" We did, and Ryan LOVED it. The train went more quickly on the smooth floor (Rainbow Room is carpeted), and he chugged all the way to the end of the hallway. Then, Papa turned him, and he chugged three-quarters of the way back! By then he was tired, but that was amazing! L. was saying she wishes she had him for a few more weeks because he's so close to moving on to a ride-on with pedals.
Finally, we relaxed on the Rainbow Room carpet to watch a nice game of roll-the-ball between Ryan and Papa. Coincidentally, Ryan was sitting on the bottom step of the little stairs, and he was sitting cross-legged. L. pointed out this worked as an opportunity to have Ryan get/catch the ball with more intention. Instead of rolling right up to him between his legs, it now hit his legs and kind of bounced off or rolled to the side. Ryan quickly figured out that he had to put a hand on the ball to stop it/control it. He also caught on that if it rolled slightly away or to the side, we weren't going to get it for him. We waited to see if he would get off his bum and get it! Mostly, he just had to reach out for it, and he did. We were also pleased to see him tracking where the ball went.
On this peaceful and positive note, we ended our day. :)
[Here, I smugly add, that we received an extroardinary amount of praise from L. today on two of the items that had scored a little lower on last week's evaluation. 1.) Papa found an unexpected, fun, new manding opportunity. 2.) L. commented several times today about how well Papa was doing working with Ryan (he even earned a few more points besides the 5 for the manding!), and how well I was doing guiding and explaining the activities and reinforcement. She was very pleased with the excellent communication between us. See? I knew we could do it. We just needed a little more time to show it!)
Ryan's Jellyfish Craft from Friday
(He did the colouring, helped pick and put on the stickers, and I HOH'ed the glitter with him.)
Awesome. Great update. I'm so glad to see the hard work you're all putting in resulting in such peaceful, positive progress. :)
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