From Facebook:
"Okay day today. We worked with each other's boys a bit and it went well. Ryan was having a hard time focusing, though. I think he was tired. No major excitement, just slow and steady today."
At the start of theory each Friday, Dr. G. shakes our hands and says, "Congratulations on completing ___ weeks of Unity! How does it feel?" Today, she said, "Congratulations on making it to the half-way point!" Wow. I'm amazed that we've already finished half the program. The time is going by so quickly. I don't want it to end! Yes, it's mentally and emotionally exhausting, but Ryan has changed more in the past 6 weeks than he has in the past year. I'm glad that we have another six weeks to learn together, but I wish the program was longer.
Okay, now on to a description of how this morning unfolded.
Ryan wasn't on his A-game today. It was a kind of meh, so-so day. It was better than two days ago, not as good as yesterday, and somewhere in the middle, I guess. (Did that make sense?)
Anyway, Ryan was happy because the wagon had reappeared in the Rainbow Room by the time we arrived, and he got his morning cruise. He did some good signing for "more," and as usual, was not too happy when it was time to get out of the wagon and go to work. Oh, well. He got more wagon later when the students took over while the moms went for theory and research. They couldn't get him out of the wagon, either; when I came back to take him home, three students/volunteers were all working to coax him out of the wagon with toys and reinforcements. He wasn't crying, but he wouldn't budge. When Ryan wants something, he can be stubborn!
Back to the beginning of the day (sorry, it's 10:05 PM here, and I'm tired). We did "Itsy Bitsy Spider" as an opening song in the Yellow Room. Ryan wasn't enthusiastic, but he had no major objections. When we started talking about moving over to the Blue Room, he jumped right up and headed over to the door. Of course, when we let him out, he tried to wander into the Rainbow Room, and then down the hallway, but we managed to herd/guide him into the Blue Room.
Ryan was protesting a bit when we started our activities. We did "push a train" on the train table with 4 pieces of track, but he was crying and didn't want to focus on the activity. I think he got 3 out of 5 trials correct, versus doing it perfectly yesterday. I also had to ask T. how to record when Ryan pushes it with force, or awkwardly, and it goes off the track. T. decided it's a judgement call: If the train goes off the track due to loss of manipulative control, that's still a + and he gets reinforcement. If the train goes off the track because he shoves it when upset or angry, that gets a - and no reinforcement. As his mom, I'm the best judge of whether he's losing muscle control or emotional control. Today, I definitely caught him shoving the train off the track because he was mad, at least one time.
Next I pulled out the ball ramp program, figuring he'd cheer up and participate better because he likes the toy. Well, he didn't, at first. With his success and interest in that toy shown over previous days, I faded him back from HOH to a wrist prompt. The first two trials were -'s because he did not even try to cooperate. However, the toy eventually won him over, and we moved on to the rest being +'s and even a fading back to a forearm prompt. When he started enjoying the toy, I let him keep playing with it for a bit (it became its own reinforcement) and he even put a few balls in the top independently! Of course, we still have to help him push them in, but he often puts his hand on the ball and waits for help. T. suggested positioning his hand so more of the palm was on the ball, to give it more pressure, but that didn't seem to make much difference. He's still doesn't have the strength in his hands to push the ball in independently. That will come with time and eventually, when he's back to working with an occupational therapist, they'll work on that.
Then I decided to set up the matching program. Ryan was enjoying the ball ramp toy so much that we brought it over to the table to use as reinforcement for his matching. For some reason, Ryan was very interested in his surroundings today. It was good that he was so attentive to the sounds and voices in the room, but it was interfering with him concentrating on his programs. He kept turning his head to listen to T. talking to L.A., or watch J. and L.A. play a game. B. was helping me try to keep Ryan focused. We turned his chair, turned his body, and he was still craning his neck around to see what everyone else was doing! This really threw off his matching attempts because he wasn't paying attention. I would hand him something to "match," and he'd grab it, but look the other way and randomly fling it at a bowl. He only matched 50% correctly today, at both Step 1 and Step 2. Even when he was watching me, he would get hyper and fumble the items, miss the bowls, or even try to mouth them. It's clear that when it comes to matching, he needs to focus on the task at hand to be successful. In her notes, T. said that I did well redirecting his attention, but I had a lot of help from B., too.
Then we had an opportunity to work with each other's child again. Today, J. was much happier. He was even being a bit silly with me. We worked on patterning strips again. This time, J. had to correctly place the last 2 pieces on the pattern, with a third distractor piece thrown in. When I was reading through the pattern with him, he kept putting his head down on his arms and peeking up at me with the cutest sparkle in his eye. I was trying so hard not to laugh, and kept saying, "J., look at the pattern with me!" He did listen well, though; he always did as I asked when I told him to look at the pattern, come back and sit down, or put his dinosaurs (reinforcers) on the table. With him putting two pieces of the pattern on the end, T. reminded me that I had to wait until J. attached both pieces firmly to the velcro before I praised/reinforced/corrected, because he might change his mind and move something, or I might accidentally influence his choice of answer. I also learned that I need to "work until correct" which means I have to keep repeating that "target" (pattern) until J. gets it all by himself, and then he gets a + and we move on to the next pattern.
We finished our pattern activity before L.A. was done with Ryan (they did shape sorter and chunky puzzle), so B. and I were talking to J. about his dinosaurs. Coincidentally, the STEPS kids had an activity out with dinosaur pictures and their matching skeletons stuck to a board. J. started taking out toy dinosaurs and matching them to the pictures, and saying their names! B. and I were amazed. He knew more dinosaur names than we did. I think I need to brush up on my dinosaur knowledge. LOL
L.A. said Ryan did well with his shape sorter and puzzle. He was working at a wrist-prompt level, but managed to get one in independently! L.A. noted how he needed help with the manipulation part of these activities. Ryan now understands what he needs to do with the shape sorter and puzzle pieces, but he just can't get his little hands to cooperate with his brain. As I said earlier, this should improve with time and good therapy.
Next we moved back to the Yellow Room, where I set up Ryan for some colouring. He wasn't as focused today, and his intention was not as strong. He still got a + on 4/5 trials, but I had to keep redirecting him to the task at hand. At least he was still making happy sounds. [On a side note, I was at the store tonight and spotted the latest style of toddler markers that Crayola created. I think they are designed better than the old Tadoodles. I bought two sets: one for home, and one to take to S.C. I'll update you on how well they worked after we try them out tomorrow.]
Then we tried "coins in the piggy bank." We're still doing it HOH because this one really requires that fine motor finesse that Ryan struggles with. Think about it: You have hold the coin, and turn it in just the right position, to slip it into a thin slot. However, Ryan shows good intention; he knows where it's supposed to go, and tries to put it on the slot, or at the slot. He just needs help getting it in the slot. Today, I would help him get it partially into the slot, and then he was pushing it down the rest of the way independently.
After that, we worked on clapping. I'm not sure what got into Ryan today, but he was really stuck on that one-handed clap. He one-handed clapped every time, and then moved into the proper clap when I eventually gave him the elbow prompt. He wasn't looking for the prompt today; he actually needed it. Again, it could be due to his lack of focus this morning. (?)
Finally, it was time for circle. Ryan was getting tired by this point. His circle time wasn't as spectacular as yesterday. Dr. G. came in to share circle with us, and I'll admit, I felt a bit let-down by Ryan's performance. He was yawning, so Dr. G. cheerfully noted that he was tired, and that explained his lack of motivation. Ryan didn't do the actions to most of the songs; I was a prompting puppeteer today. He did pull the pictures off the circle time board when asked, but he also tried to mouth most of the items we handed to him. He was, however, excited by "Busy Farm" today; he kept grabbing the animals off the floor and reaching for the book when it wasn't his turn! I liked his enthusiasm, but we are also teaching the boys to "wait" and "take turns," so I had to give him a few gentle reminders to put the animals down. At the end of circle, Ryan did a good job waving good-bye with a forearm prompt from me.
Snack comes after circle, and we moms left during snack to do our research and theory.
Theory today focused on the process called "extinction," which basically means that if you stop reinforcing a behaviour that you've been positively reinforcing, then that behaviour will decrease. We discussed how extinction can be used, some factors influencing its effectiveness, and some of the pitfalls of this method.
Well, onward and upward. For now, good night. I'm off to sleep (I hope).
Friday, March 8, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
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. :)
"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. :)
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Unity Day 27: The Key to Ryan = "More" Wagon
From Facebook:
"Having a hard time putting today in perspective. It was typical. Lots of tantrums but still got work done. Working with each other's children went okay. The boys cried a bit but we worked through it."
Seven hours later, and I still can't seem to get a clear focus of what went on today. We did make it to 11:20 with programming, by some miracle. I'll try to put things down to the best of my ability, but I've been struggling with a major headache all day, and Ryan's been crying most of the day. Thankfully, Daddy got home and was willing to take over for a bit, so I can sit here and blah blah about how blah my day has been. Ah, cathartic blogging.
Anyway, the morning started with Kevin refusing to go to school today. This has been going on for about a week now. He screams and cries, and refuses to get dressed. He bemoans the days until March Break. Then Andrea gets going about how much she hates school, too. Kevin is worse, though, because he will start "not feeling good" (physical symptoms of anxiety) and then cry and whine about staying home. This morning, Daddy literally had to drag him down the hallway to get him dressed. After 30 minutes of reasoning, sometimes, you just have to get moving.
And you know when one gets worked up, it sets off the others. Kevin and Andrea started fighting, and then Ryan started crying, but Daddy marched the older two out the door. Ryan, however, continued to cry, and I was halfway to the S.C. before he stopped.
Then we got to S.C., and we got out of the car. It's cold, but sunny out, and Ryan enjoyed the walk to up the driveway to the front door. I buzzed the doorbell; no one answered. I waited a minute, and buzzed again; no one answered. Now Ryan was getting restless and trying to walk away. We waited another minute. No one answered. I buzzed again. No one answered. Ryan was starting to fuss now, and trying to sit down on the steps. I knocked on the door. We'd been waiting outside for 5 minutes (yes, I checked my watch, because I thought maybe my timing was off?). Finally, after another 30 seconds or so, the secretary cheerily answered the door. Usually, someone answers the door within 10-15 seconds of the doorbell. Was everybody busy? Geez.
So, I was irritated because by the time we got up the stairs (Ryan was lagging because he was grouchy again), we had lost 7 minutes of time. I always get there early now, so Ryan can have a wagon ride in the morning. He goes straight to the wagon as soon as we hang up our coats and "asks" for a ride; it's part of our routine now. Well, we had lost our time for that this morning, and he was not happy.
Ryan did, however, eagerly follow me out of the Yellow Room after our morning song. He wanted to "stand up" and go before anyone else was ready! Usually, it takes a lot of coaxing/prompting to get him to "stand up" and "follow Mama."
Today was an important day because it was the first time we were going to work with each other's child. This is something we will continue to do, a few days a week, over the next few weeks. It helps the boys generalize their skills, and it exposes us to working with other children and different levels of ABA programs (so I guess we're generalizing our skills, too!). D. worked with me and J., while H. came in and worked with Ryan and L.A. We quickly discussed our programs we would work on with the boys, and then split up. We were all still in the Blue Room, but working in different areas.
For our first program, right at the start of the morning, L.A. did the shape sorter with Ryan, and I did "function of objects" with J. So, I was asking J. a series of questions like, "What do we use to drive?" and J. was to answer, "a car." J. likes dinosaurs, so he got to play with his dinosaurs when he got a correct answer. When it was incorrect, I asked him again and modeled the correct answer, and then repeated the question. Then he would give me a correct answer. He did well on the questions, considering how upset he was! I don't think he understood why I was working with him, and not his mom. He cried and kept looking over at his mom behind us, and saying "My mommy!" and "Ryan my mommy!" (It was like, "Why does Ryan have my mommy?") I felt so bad. I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong, and he was feeling anxious, but I just wanted to give him his mommy and make him feel better!
We tried again later in the morning, after snack. This time, L.A. did the chunky puzzle with Ryan, while I did patterning with J. This time, J. seemed more relaxed about working with me, but he got mad because I kept taking his toys (reinforcers) away, so he would refocus and fill in the pattern for me. The patterns consisted of strips of pictures like car, chair, car, chair, etc. and the last one was left with a Velcro spot to put on the right picture to continue the pattern. After reading through the pattern with him, I would stop and offer two pictures (the right one and a distractor) for him to pick one to finish the pattern. I think we did 5 strips, and he got all 5 patterns correct! He's a bright little guy, but I was having trouble with the transition from giving him the reinforcer back to okay, it's time to do the next pattern. J. has a strong grasp, and I was uncomfortable trying to pull the reinforcers away from him. I gladly let D. step in for that part. I'm fine with taking reinforcers away from Ryan because he usually doesn't resist. I don't want to make another person's child cry by taking his toys away, even if it is part of the program. That's just me. It's hard enough seeing Ryan upset, but it's even tougher to see J. upset on account of something I did (even if I was doing the right thing).
As for Ryan, it seemed like his time with L.A. went fairly smoothly. Both times, I think the toughest part for them was getting Ryan to sit down and focus on the work. I know for the after-snack session, he was trying to get out the door! But once they got him to sit down and focus on the task, I didn't notice any fuss.
Like I've said previously, the rest of the day is kind of a blur. There was plenty of Ryan crying, fussing, and tantrums. D. got out the iPad, but at a certain point, even that lost its appeal for Ryan.
But here is the one thing that worked, and thus the title of my entry today: The Wagon. At one point, D. suggested we go do something that might calm him down in the Rainbow Room. When Ryan headed for the wagon, D. said it was okay, as long as we were doing something constructive. So, I practiced manding, by stopping now and then and waiting for him to sign for "more." On our first round, we got about three independent "more"s! Plus, he was way more relaxed in the wagon; there was only a bit of fussing the time or two he didn't quite sign properly, and I wouldn't pull the wagon until I got a proper "more" out of him (with elbow prompt). He loves the wagon rides.
Twice, later in the morning, we went into the Rainbow Room and Ryan went right over and no, he didn't just "ask" for a wagon ride. He climbed in by himself and sat down. The first time I looked over at D. and said, "He has never done that on his own before. We've been helping him by putting one leg over and getting him to do some effort getting in, but he's never been able to get in by himself!" D. said, "Well, he's motivated, so take him for a ride!" So up and down the hallway we went. This time, he did the more sign independently almost every time I paused the wagon!
At the end of the day, when it was time to leave, was the second time Ryan went over and got into the wagon by himself. How could I refuse? Away we went, up and down the hall, and again, he made several independent signs for "more" (a few times he still needed the prompt). By this time, it was 11:20, and we'd had a full day. D. said, "Extra points for extending the day!" We all thoroughly believed Ryan and I were going to have a short day, with the way things went, but the wagon rides helped get him calmed and energized for a few extra programs. In fact, at 11:20, when I parked the wagon and said, "All done; time to go home!" Ryan insistently signed for "more!" Okay, so he got one more cruise up and down the hallway. By that point, I wanted to leave. Ryan, however, probably would've been content to ride in that wagon for another hour! I had to lift him out.
When we left, he gave D. a good wave "bye-bye," with me doing a forearm prompt. (It's moved back from the wrist prompt--progress!).
Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way home. He slept through a stop at the gas station and a drive through the car wash; he slept through me carrying him in and peeling off his coat and shoes. He slept until right before we had to pick up Andrea and Kevin from school!
He had one happy-hyper burst of energy around 5 PM, which I capitalized on and we did his homework at that time. He did great with the homework., except for "stand up" and "follow Mama"; he was too hyper to pay attention to boring old Mom.
A half hour later, he was bawling again. Daddy got a taste of the Ryan tantrum when he got home; it was a rough one, where Ryan had lost control of himself, and was running around screaming and flailing. I finally managed to soothe Ryan enough to get him to sit in the rocking chair with Daddy, and now here we are. I still hear Ryan fussing occasionally, but I'm in here, typing up the snippets I can remember from my foggy, stressed-out, exhausted brain.
What I learned today: If Ryan needs to calm down, take him for a wagon ride!
"Having a hard time putting today in perspective. It was typical. Lots of tantrums but still got work done. Working with each other's children went okay. The boys cried a bit but we worked through it."
Seven hours later, and I still can't seem to get a clear focus of what went on today. We did make it to 11:20 with programming, by some miracle. I'll try to put things down to the best of my ability, but I've been struggling with a major headache all day, and Ryan's been crying most of the day. Thankfully, Daddy got home and was willing to take over for a bit, so I can sit here and blah blah about how blah my day has been. Ah, cathartic blogging.
Anyway, the morning started with Kevin refusing to go to school today. This has been going on for about a week now. He screams and cries, and refuses to get dressed. He bemoans the days until March Break. Then Andrea gets going about how much she hates school, too. Kevin is worse, though, because he will start "not feeling good" (physical symptoms of anxiety) and then cry and whine about staying home. This morning, Daddy literally had to drag him down the hallway to get him dressed. After 30 minutes of reasoning, sometimes, you just have to get moving.
And you know when one gets worked up, it sets off the others. Kevin and Andrea started fighting, and then Ryan started crying, but Daddy marched the older two out the door. Ryan, however, continued to cry, and I was halfway to the S.C. before he stopped.
Then we got to S.C., and we got out of the car. It's cold, but sunny out, and Ryan enjoyed the walk to up the driveway to the front door. I buzzed the doorbell; no one answered. I waited a minute, and buzzed again; no one answered. Now Ryan was getting restless and trying to walk away. We waited another minute. No one answered. I buzzed again. No one answered. Ryan was starting to fuss now, and trying to sit down on the steps. I knocked on the door. We'd been waiting outside for 5 minutes (yes, I checked my watch, because I thought maybe my timing was off?). Finally, after another 30 seconds or so, the secretary cheerily answered the door. Usually, someone answers the door within 10-15 seconds of the doorbell. Was everybody busy? Geez.
So, I was irritated because by the time we got up the stairs (Ryan was lagging because he was grouchy again), we had lost 7 minutes of time. I always get there early now, so Ryan can have a wagon ride in the morning. He goes straight to the wagon as soon as we hang up our coats and "asks" for a ride; it's part of our routine now. Well, we had lost our time for that this morning, and he was not happy.
Ryan did, however, eagerly follow me out of the Yellow Room after our morning song. He wanted to "stand up" and go before anyone else was ready! Usually, it takes a lot of coaxing/prompting to get him to "stand up" and "follow Mama."
Today was an important day because it was the first time we were going to work with each other's child. This is something we will continue to do, a few days a week, over the next few weeks. It helps the boys generalize their skills, and it exposes us to working with other children and different levels of ABA programs (so I guess we're generalizing our skills, too!). D. worked with me and J., while H. came in and worked with Ryan and L.A. We quickly discussed our programs we would work on with the boys, and then split up. We were all still in the Blue Room, but working in different areas.
For our first program, right at the start of the morning, L.A. did the shape sorter with Ryan, and I did "function of objects" with J. So, I was asking J. a series of questions like, "What do we use to drive?" and J. was to answer, "a car." J. likes dinosaurs, so he got to play with his dinosaurs when he got a correct answer. When it was incorrect, I asked him again and modeled the correct answer, and then repeated the question. Then he would give me a correct answer. He did well on the questions, considering how upset he was! I don't think he understood why I was working with him, and not his mom. He cried and kept looking over at his mom behind us, and saying "My mommy!" and "Ryan my mommy!" (It was like, "Why does Ryan have my mommy?") I felt so bad. I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong, and he was feeling anxious, but I just wanted to give him his mommy and make him feel better!
We tried again later in the morning, after snack. This time, L.A. did the chunky puzzle with Ryan, while I did patterning with J. This time, J. seemed more relaxed about working with me, but he got mad because I kept taking his toys (reinforcers) away, so he would refocus and fill in the pattern for me. The patterns consisted of strips of pictures like car, chair, car, chair, etc. and the last one was left with a Velcro spot to put on the right picture to continue the pattern. After reading through the pattern with him, I would stop and offer two pictures (the right one and a distractor) for him to pick one to finish the pattern. I think we did 5 strips, and he got all 5 patterns correct! He's a bright little guy, but I was having trouble with the transition from giving him the reinforcer back to okay, it's time to do the next pattern. J. has a strong grasp, and I was uncomfortable trying to pull the reinforcers away from him. I gladly let D. step in for that part. I'm fine with taking reinforcers away from Ryan because he usually doesn't resist. I don't want to make another person's child cry by taking his toys away, even if it is part of the program. That's just me. It's hard enough seeing Ryan upset, but it's even tougher to see J. upset on account of something I did (even if I was doing the right thing).
As for Ryan, it seemed like his time with L.A. went fairly smoothly. Both times, I think the toughest part for them was getting Ryan to sit down and focus on the work. I know for the after-snack session, he was trying to get out the door! But once they got him to sit down and focus on the task, I didn't notice any fuss.
Like I've said previously, the rest of the day is kind of a blur. There was plenty of Ryan crying, fussing, and tantrums. D. got out the iPad, but at a certain point, even that lost its appeal for Ryan.
But here is the one thing that worked, and thus the title of my entry today: The Wagon. At one point, D. suggested we go do something that might calm him down in the Rainbow Room. When Ryan headed for the wagon, D. said it was okay, as long as we were doing something constructive. So, I practiced manding, by stopping now and then and waiting for him to sign for "more." On our first round, we got about three independent "more"s! Plus, he was way more relaxed in the wagon; there was only a bit of fussing the time or two he didn't quite sign properly, and I wouldn't pull the wagon until I got a proper "more" out of him (with elbow prompt). He loves the wagon rides.
Twice, later in the morning, we went into the Rainbow Room and Ryan went right over and no, he didn't just "ask" for a wagon ride. He climbed in by himself and sat down. The first time I looked over at D. and said, "He has never done that on his own before. We've been helping him by putting one leg over and getting him to do some effort getting in, but he's never been able to get in by himself!" D. said, "Well, he's motivated, so take him for a ride!" So up and down the hallway we went. This time, he did the more sign independently almost every time I paused the wagon!
At the end of the day, when it was time to leave, was the second time Ryan went over and got into the wagon by himself. How could I refuse? Away we went, up and down the hall, and again, he made several independent signs for "more" (a few times he still needed the prompt). By this time, it was 11:20, and we'd had a full day. D. said, "Extra points for extending the day!" We all thoroughly believed Ryan and I were going to have a short day, with the way things went, but the wagon rides helped get him calmed and energized for a few extra programs. In fact, at 11:20, when I parked the wagon and said, "All done; time to go home!" Ryan insistently signed for "more!" Okay, so he got one more cruise up and down the hallway. By that point, I wanted to leave. Ryan, however, probably would've been content to ride in that wagon for another hour! I had to lift him out.
When we left, he gave D. a good wave "bye-bye," with me doing a forearm prompt. (It's moved back from the wrist prompt--progress!).
Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way home. He slept through a stop at the gas station and a drive through the car wash; he slept through me carrying him in and peeling off his coat and shoes. He slept until right before we had to pick up Andrea and Kevin from school!
He had one happy-hyper burst of energy around 5 PM, which I capitalized on and we did his homework at that time. He did great with the homework., except for "stand up" and "follow Mama"; he was too hyper to pay attention to boring old Mom.
A half hour later, he was bawling again. Daddy got a taste of the Ryan tantrum when he got home; it was a rough one, where Ryan had lost control of himself, and was running around screaming and flailing. I finally managed to soothe Ryan enough to get him to sit in the rocking chair with Daddy, and now here we are. I still hear Ryan fussing occasionally, but I'm in here, typing up the snippets I can remember from my foggy, stressed-out, exhausted brain.
What I learned today: If Ryan needs to calm down, take him for a wagon ride!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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!).
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! :)
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!
"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
- Manding: Continue watching for natural manding opportunities at home. Take note of any questions or concerns regarding manding at home.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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
Monday, March 4, 2013
Unity Day 25: Typical Monday Blahs
From Facebook:
"We managed to get through all our programs today and stayed till 11:20, our latest yet. Not bad considering Ryan was being temperamental today. :p"
Our day started with a slight change in routine. Instead of singing "Mr. Sun" for our opening song, we sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider." If you remember back to Week 1, Ryan seemed to hate that song, so they removed it from the circle-time line-up. We did it this morning, and he was fine. So maybe it wasn't the song; maybe it was the time it was presented, or some other variable. Who knows?
Anyway, today we got back on track with one therapist overseeing the two families. I guess Ryan and I were spoiled last week, having everyone to ourselves. I definitely noticed the difference today. Ryan was being temperamental (crying, whining, being stubborn, laying on the floor, refusing to participate, and occasionally smirking or laughing or being goofy!). I was trying to deal with his behaviour and running his programs mostly on my own at the same time. Ugh. It was very stressful.
Somehow, though, we managed to have time to complete all his programs at least once, do some incidentals and manding, and even go back and review some old programs. Just for the heck of it, I'll list Ryan's current programs.
Ryan continued to do "push a train" well. It was mostly independent. We will probably add in a short length of track tomorrow.
He also did well with kick the ball. He did the first bunch sitting and kicked the ball when it was put by his foot and we verbally prompted him. We tried it standing, just to see, but he was a bit less focused.
Ryan sits when asked, or with gentle pressure at the hips. "Stand up" continues to be tough. D. thought Ryan was responding much better today, but I didn't see it. He still needed a lot of prompting, and by circle time, we had to break out the iPad with movies to get him motivated to move. I'm hoping to switch this to an incidental and homework goal this week. I'll discuss it with H. tomorrow.
For marks on paper, he wanted to hold the Tadoodle markers today, so I put my HOH to give him some more control. I could feel him initiating some movement of the marker a few times.
For clapping, Ryan was successful today. He clapped when I held his upturned palm, with little to no prompt for the other hand.
"Stomp feet" was so-so. B. modeled, and I prompted from behind his knee. We tried to see if he would copy her if she gave the command and modeled before I touched his knee; he wasn't as successful. I think he's becoming prompt-dependent for that one, and we need to fade it back. D. says to keep giving Ryan the physical prompt after someone models it and makes the verbal request.
Chunky puzzle, shape sorter, and coins in the piggy bank went well. The puzzle and the shape sorter are at a wrist prompt level, where I help him guide the piece into place. The piggy bank was new yesterday, so I'm still doing HOH, but Ryan was trying to put the coins into the bank (showing intention, although he missed without help), so that's a good start.
"Go play" and "holding items" were not working today. Ryan took "go play" to mean lay down or wander away, and he was too lazy/irritated to hold onto anything unless he wanted to mouth it.
We had better success with "more." We got lots of "more" in the wagon, by barely touching his elbows when we stopped. He brought his hands together and did the sign with that gentle reminder. He also did at least 2 independent "more" signs during our other activities.
Matching was not working so well today. When we set up as usual on the floor, Ryan kept kicking the bowls away or grabbing at the items and throwing them. D. suggested we try it at a table. Well, then Ryan was throwing stuff off the table, and those bowls clang loudly on the tile floor! D. then decided that matching should be done at the table, with a 2nd person. He also suggested a Step 1, Step 2 approach for new matching items. Again, when Ryan settled down, he put the elephant with the elephant, even with a distractor in the other bowl. But two new items got him confused. So, for new items, Step 1 is one of the new items in a bowl, and an empty distractor bowl, and have Ryan match the new item a few times. Then, Step 2 is to put one of the new items in a bowl, and a completely different item in the other bowl, and get him to match.
Ryan is still making a lot of mistakes on Step 2. It doesn't help that he is throwing the items at the bowls, and trying to grab/mouth/push away the bowls/items in the bowl. But D. got firm with him. If Ryan messed up the trial, we immediately HOH'ed the correct response, and then made him instantly try again. Of course, when he settled down and got it right, he got huge praise! The other times, we ignored his behaviour, and just kept the trials going until he got it right.
Circle time was blah. Poor B. was running circle for one of her first times, and neither boy was in prime form during circle. D. had the iPad out with Thomas on for heavier reinforcement, to keep the boys engaged and give them something to work for.
Ryan's major accomplishment of the day was during snack time: He ate almost a whole cup of yogurt independently! All I was doing was putting the spoon in the cup after each bite. (For some reason, he kept setting it on the table.) He was doing a very good job of spooning it into his mouth, too; there was relatively little mess, compared to previous yogurt sessions. Sometimes he chewed on the wrong end of the spoon for a few seconds, but then he flipped it. I think he just wanted to chew on the spoon, and he was doing it on purpose. [On a side note, at home, when I had finished my yogurt, Ryan made off with the silverware spoon and enjoyed chomping on it for about an hour. I may have to add a teaspoon to his reinforcement basket. LOL]
Miraculously, we made it to 11:20 today: a new record! Ryan fell asleep in the car about 2 minutes before we got home. I think he was overtired today, but I had thought he got a decent sleep. (?) He did not nap this afternoon; however, he is currently sound asleep in the middle of the living room floor. Poor little guy (and poor me--now he'll be up all night!).
We have had some homework success over the weekend, that carried over into today. As I posted on Facebook yesterday:
"Ryan did some cool stuff during homework this morning. He independently put his safari animals in the truck when I told him to [and handed them to him] (put the lion in the truck, put the tiger in the truck, etc.), and when he dropped the giraffe, he independently signed "more" for me to give it to him! :)"
Today, he also independently picked up and pushed a peek-a-boo block into the music and sounds barn, and then pulled it out of the flap at the bottom; I didn't even ask him to do it. The trials were over, and he was just playing! He also independently signed "more" for shape sorter pieces when we had finished with that toy. Of course, he wanted "more" so he could chew on them, not place them in the sorter . . . oh, well. I'll take what I can get on a day when we're both feeling blah.
"We managed to get through all our programs today and stayed till 11:20, our latest yet. Not bad considering Ryan was being temperamental today. :p"
Our day started with a slight change in routine. Instead of singing "Mr. Sun" for our opening song, we sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider." If you remember back to Week 1, Ryan seemed to hate that song, so they removed it from the circle-time line-up. We did it this morning, and he was fine. So maybe it wasn't the song; maybe it was the time it was presented, or some other variable. Who knows?
Anyway, today we got back on track with one therapist overseeing the two families. I guess Ryan and I were spoiled last week, having everyone to ourselves. I definitely noticed the difference today. Ryan was being temperamental (crying, whining, being stubborn, laying on the floor, refusing to participate, and occasionally smirking or laughing or being goofy!). I was trying to deal with his behaviour and running his programs mostly on my own at the same time. Ugh. It was very stressful.
Somehow, though, we managed to have time to complete all his programs at least once, do some incidentals and manding, and even go back and review some old programs. Just for the heck of it, I'll list Ryan's current programs.
- Discrete Trial Training: push a train; kick a ball; sit/stand; marks on paper (colouring); clapping; stomp feet; matching
- Play Goals: chunky puzzle; shape sorter; coins in piggy bank
- Incidental Goals: sign for "more"; go play; holding items
Ryan continued to do "push a train" well. It was mostly independent. We will probably add in a short length of track tomorrow.
He also did well with kick the ball. He did the first bunch sitting and kicked the ball when it was put by his foot and we verbally prompted him. We tried it standing, just to see, but he was a bit less focused.
Ryan sits when asked, or with gentle pressure at the hips. "Stand up" continues to be tough. D. thought Ryan was responding much better today, but I didn't see it. He still needed a lot of prompting, and by circle time, we had to break out the iPad with movies to get him motivated to move. I'm hoping to switch this to an incidental and homework goal this week. I'll discuss it with H. tomorrow.
For marks on paper, he wanted to hold the Tadoodle markers today, so I put my HOH to give him some more control. I could feel him initiating some movement of the marker a few times.
For clapping, Ryan was successful today. He clapped when I held his upturned palm, with little to no prompt for the other hand.
"Stomp feet" was so-so. B. modeled, and I prompted from behind his knee. We tried to see if he would copy her if she gave the command and modeled before I touched his knee; he wasn't as successful. I think he's becoming prompt-dependent for that one, and we need to fade it back. D. says to keep giving Ryan the physical prompt after someone models it and makes the verbal request.
Chunky puzzle, shape sorter, and coins in the piggy bank went well. The puzzle and the shape sorter are at a wrist prompt level, where I help him guide the piece into place. The piggy bank was new yesterday, so I'm still doing HOH, but Ryan was trying to put the coins into the bank (showing intention, although he missed without help), so that's a good start.
"Go play" and "holding items" were not working today. Ryan took "go play" to mean lay down or wander away, and he was too lazy/irritated to hold onto anything unless he wanted to mouth it.
We had better success with "more." We got lots of "more" in the wagon, by barely touching his elbows when we stopped. He brought his hands together and did the sign with that gentle reminder. He also did at least 2 independent "more" signs during our other activities.
Matching was not working so well today. When we set up as usual on the floor, Ryan kept kicking the bowls away or grabbing at the items and throwing them. D. suggested we try it at a table. Well, then Ryan was throwing stuff off the table, and those bowls clang loudly on the tile floor! D. then decided that matching should be done at the table, with a 2nd person. He also suggested a Step 1, Step 2 approach for new matching items. Again, when Ryan settled down, he put the elephant with the elephant, even with a distractor in the other bowl. But two new items got him confused. So, for new items, Step 1 is one of the new items in a bowl, and an empty distractor bowl, and have Ryan match the new item a few times. Then, Step 2 is to put one of the new items in a bowl, and a completely different item in the other bowl, and get him to match.
Ryan is still making a lot of mistakes on Step 2. It doesn't help that he is throwing the items at the bowls, and trying to grab/mouth/push away the bowls/items in the bowl. But D. got firm with him. If Ryan messed up the trial, we immediately HOH'ed the correct response, and then made him instantly try again. Of course, when he settled down and got it right, he got huge praise! The other times, we ignored his behaviour, and just kept the trials going until he got it right.
Circle time was blah. Poor B. was running circle for one of her first times, and neither boy was in prime form during circle. D. had the iPad out with Thomas on for heavier reinforcement, to keep the boys engaged and give them something to work for.
Ryan's major accomplishment of the day was during snack time: He ate almost a whole cup of yogurt independently! All I was doing was putting the spoon in the cup after each bite. (For some reason, he kept setting it on the table.) He was doing a very good job of spooning it into his mouth, too; there was relatively little mess, compared to previous yogurt sessions. Sometimes he chewed on the wrong end of the spoon for a few seconds, but then he flipped it. I think he just wanted to chew on the spoon, and he was doing it on purpose. [On a side note, at home, when I had finished my yogurt, Ryan made off with the silverware spoon and enjoyed chomping on it for about an hour. I may have to add a teaspoon to his reinforcement basket. LOL]
Miraculously, we made it to 11:20 today: a new record! Ryan fell asleep in the car about 2 minutes before we got home. I think he was overtired today, but I had thought he got a decent sleep. (?) He did not nap this afternoon; however, he is currently sound asleep in the middle of the living room floor. Poor little guy (and poor me--now he'll be up all night!).
We have had some homework success over the weekend, that carried over into today. As I posted on Facebook yesterday:
"Ryan did some cool stuff during homework this morning. He independently put his safari animals in the truck when I told him to [and handed them to him] (put the lion in the truck, put the tiger in the truck, etc.), and when he dropped the giraffe, he independently signed "more" for me to give it to him! :)"
Today, he also independently picked up and pushed a peek-a-boo block into the music and sounds barn, and then pulled it out of the flap at the bottom; I didn't even ask him to do it. The trials were over, and he was just playing! He also independently signed "more" for shape sorter pieces when we had finished with that toy. Of course, he wanted "more" so he could chew on them, not place them in the sorter . . . oh, well. I'll take what I can get on a day when we're both feeling blah.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Unity Day 24: Hyper!
From Facebook:
"Ryan was so hyper today! It was hard to get him to focus. At least he was mostly happy. He also independently signed "more" at least 4 times and said "Mamaaa" spontaneously ... twice. :)"
Well, we are at the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum with Ryan today. He was happy and hyper!
The morning started out fairly routinely, with Ryan requesting a ride up and down the hallway in the wagon. He was tapping the wagon to ask for more when I stopped, but I was forearm prompting him to sign "more." When I stopped the wagon after one round, he refused to get out. He tried the tapping more again, but I prompted him to do the sign "more" to get more wagon ride. Now that we know he understands and can do the sign, nothing comes free anymore! He has to ask for it.
Today we were working with L., and B. was observing and assisting. We started off with trying some colouring. Since we started it yesterday with D., L. really wanted to see it. Although he was attentive and making an effort, Ryan was having a hard time grasping even the chunky markers today. So, L. suggested a slight adjustment: we hold the marker, but Ryan has to push our hand to make the mark on the paper. This way, it's building on skills he already has, like push a train or push a car. This actually worked well. Ryan pushed L.'s hand 3 or 4 times and made some nice marks on the paper when we verbally prompted him to "colour." This may be where we have to start, and we can try for more independence as he gets better fine motor control.
Next we did some work with the chunky puzzle. He was awesome taking the pieces out by himself (he loves that part), but he's even improving on putting them in. With the adjusted forearm prompt D. implemented yesterday, Ryan was trying really hard to put the pieces in the puzzle all by himself! I was just guiding his arm a bit to help him wiggle the pieces into place. Again, that's a fine motor control issue. Right now, L. explained, we are just pleased he's paying attention to the puzzle and understands that the pieces get taken out and put back in.
We also tried some "stomp feet." It took Ryan a few tries, with L. modeling and me holding Ryan's leg up at the knee, but we eventually got some good little pats of the foot out of him. I wouldn't call it "stomps" yet; it's more like he taps the floor with his foot.
Then we worked on matching. This is where Ryan suddenly got really hyper. He did match the elephant with the elephant, but he was kind of flinging the elephant at the bowl. We could tell he was going in the right direction, but his hands were getting really flappy (flapping hands is a very common form of stimming in autism). Ryan flaps his hands a lot when he's excited. We're not sure what it was about those bowls and matching items that got Ryan all excited, but he flapped like I've never seen him flap at Summit Centre before! Anyway, we tried some different forms of matching today, like a ring in one bowl and a stuffed animal in the other. It usually took two or three tries before Ryan could match the new items. So, he hasn't generalized the skill yet, but the more we practice, the more he's understanding it. By the end of that program, he was flapping and flinging the items so wildly it was hard to tell what was intentional and whether he was making the correct choices. L. decided to end the activity on the last one he got right.
I mentioned to L. about how we'd had such a rough day yesterday, and how nice it was to see Ryan so excited today, although it was kind of interfering with our work. L. made a good point then: Ryan's excited flapping is at the total opposite end of the emotional spectrum from yesterday's tantrums, but they are both extremes. When Ryan's extremely mad or extremely happy, it's hard for him to control his body, and it interferes with learning. So really, even though he's excited, it's just as difficult to get him focused as when he tantrums. I saw that a few times today, when Ryan was flapping so much he couldn't hold onto an item we needed him to hold, or he was throwing objects where they needed to go instead of placing them nicely, so it made his motor control decrease even more than usual.
Here's where it got interesting. We told Ryan to "Go play," and instead, he independently signed "more" for the matching items! We were baffled and excited at the same time. The independent signing of "more" was fabulous, but we have no idea what it was about the matching bowls that excited Ryan so much today. However, we got at least two more spontaneous signs for "more" when he was playing with the matching items. I thought it was sweet when I looked over and L. was wiping some happy tears away! I love how the S.C. staff is as thrilled as we are with our children's accomplishments.
Ryan's surprises for us weren't over yet, though. As he was playing with the matching bowls, he suddenly said, "Mamaaaa . . ." clear as a bell! Ryan sometimes babbles "mum-mum-mum" when he's really upset, but I haven't heard a clear "Mama" since he was about a year old. I think I was kind of in shock. He got a big hug and some tickles, but it didn't register with me emotionally until we got home.
After the matching he was pretty wound up, so L. suggested I take Ryan for a walk down the hall. He needed to get that extra energy and excitement out of his system! As we wandered down the hall, he suddenly babbled, "Mama, mama, maaaaaa . . ." again. I was kind of dazed. I think I just patted his head and said, "Yes, nice saying mama." LOL
Back in the Yellow Room, we tried some more puzzle and shape sorting. He did really well with both of those; I was guiding him from the forearm, and he was trying to place the pieces. He pushed a few of the shapes in independently, after I guided them with him! However, Ryan's reinforcement for the shape sorter today was that he wanted pull off the lid and fling the other pieces around. Well, whatever works. I would loosen the lid slightly and let him pull it off, and then he would fling out a bunch of the shapes.
He started getting a little too silly again, so we tried some of the old skills like playing piano, giving high 5s, and patting the floor. He did all these with us modeling and verbal prompts. Then, Ryan got distracted by the bead maze. He knows how to play with that, as we have one at home. L. wanted to see if Ryan could "disengage" (in other words, switch focus) on his own from the bead maze to another activity. This went so-so. He was really into the bead maze this morning. L. also wanted to try an alternative to the ring stacker because Ryan has been having trouble holding and placing these (his fingers block the hole in the ring, so it's harder to get over the post). Instead, L. brought out a piggy bank toy where you insert large, toy coins (it's about attention and coordination, so the same skills as the ring stacker). She tried to get Ryan to stop playing with the bead maze to put a coin in the bank. He was having trouble taking his focus off the bead maze, and even tried to put the coins in the maze! So, we changed strategies and took a portable bead maze and used that as the reinforcer for after Ryan put a coin in the bank. (By the way, the original "coins" had been replaced by Play Doh container lids; that's resourcefulness! They are the perfect size and easy to hold.) We HOH'ed or wrist prompted Ryan to put a coin in the piggy bank, and then he got to play with the mini bead maze. This worked well.
Next, it was time for circle. Ryan, however, decided to assert his will and plop his butt down just outside the door of the Yellow Room. He wasn't moving. We tried to entice him with the mini bead maze, but he wouldn't stand up for it. At least he wasn't crying, but he was being stubborn! L. remembered how we used the Thomas videos from yesterday to motivate Ryan, so she went and got her iPhone. Ryan stood up on his own just as she returned, but Thomas videos helped guide Ryan to the Red Room for circle, and to get him to sit down for circle when we got to the room. Circle was different today because we had no other participants! J. is still away, and the STEPS children were on a different schedule than us. I don't think Ryan liked it because he had to do all the work (no other friend to take turns/share the workload). However, he did some nice story matching, and good attempts (with prompts) at block stacking, hand clapping, and feet stomping (actions in our songs). Meanwhile, his reinforcement for his extra effort was snippets of Thomas videos. I think that kept him going, so we made it through circle with no major issues.
Then it was time for Friday research and theory. It was nice when Dr. G. gave me some praise for all the great things she's been hearing about the way I've been working with Ryan, but I was a bit embarrassed. I'm not sure I deserved all that praise, but she made me take ownership of it. :) Anyway, theory focused on factors affecting the effectiveness of reinforcers and also conditioned reinforcement (things we learn to like, and how they must be backed up; i.e. a token board is only useful if we get something we want when we fill it up).
I think I'm really understanding this positive reinforcement stuff (no, "stuff" is not a tecnhical term). Today, Ryan wasn't interested in his usual go-to reinforcers, so I dumped out his basket and said, "Pick something! What do you want today?" He tried a few things and discarded them. As I mentioned earlier, his reinforcers today were things I didn't expect, like the matching materials, going for a walk, and the bead maze. This shows how true it is that reinforcers change, lose power, regain power, and might be the last thing you'd expect. Paying attention to Ryan and following his lead (where appropriate) often leads us to the items/situations that work best for him.
"Ryan was so hyper today! It was hard to get him to focus. At least he was mostly happy. He also independently signed "more" at least 4 times and said "Mamaaa" spontaneously ... twice. :)"
Well, we are at the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum with Ryan today. He was happy and hyper!
The morning started out fairly routinely, with Ryan requesting a ride up and down the hallway in the wagon. He was tapping the wagon to ask for more when I stopped, but I was forearm prompting him to sign "more." When I stopped the wagon after one round, he refused to get out. He tried the tapping more again, but I prompted him to do the sign "more" to get more wagon ride. Now that we know he understands and can do the sign, nothing comes free anymore! He has to ask for it.
Today we were working with L., and B. was observing and assisting. We started off with trying some colouring. Since we started it yesterday with D., L. really wanted to see it. Although he was attentive and making an effort, Ryan was having a hard time grasping even the chunky markers today. So, L. suggested a slight adjustment: we hold the marker, but Ryan has to push our hand to make the mark on the paper. This way, it's building on skills he already has, like push a train or push a car. This actually worked well. Ryan pushed L.'s hand 3 or 4 times and made some nice marks on the paper when we verbally prompted him to "colour." This may be where we have to start, and we can try for more independence as he gets better fine motor control.
Next we did some work with the chunky puzzle. He was awesome taking the pieces out by himself (he loves that part), but he's even improving on putting them in. With the adjusted forearm prompt D. implemented yesterday, Ryan was trying really hard to put the pieces in the puzzle all by himself! I was just guiding his arm a bit to help him wiggle the pieces into place. Again, that's a fine motor control issue. Right now, L. explained, we are just pleased he's paying attention to the puzzle and understands that the pieces get taken out and put back in.
We also tried some "stomp feet." It took Ryan a few tries, with L. modeling and me holding Ryan's leg up at the knee, but we eventually got some good little pats of the foot out of him. I wouldn't call it "stomps" yet; it's more like he taps the floor with his foot.
Then we worked on matching. This is where Ryan suddenly got really hyper. He did match the elephant with the elephant, but he was kind of flinging the elephant at the bowl. We could tell he was going in the right direction, but his hands were getting really flappy (flapping hands is a very common form of stimming in autism). Ryan flaps his hands a lot when he's excited. We're not sure what it was about those bowls and matching items that got Ryan all excited, but he flapped like I've never seen him flap at Summit Centre before! Anyway, we tried some different forms of matching today, like a ring in one bowl and a stuffed animal in the other. It usually took two or three tries before Ryan could match the new items. So, he hasn't generalized the skill yet, but the more we practice, the more he's understanding it. By the end of that program, he was flapping and flinging the items so wildly it was hard to tell what was intentional and whether he was making the correct choices. L. decided to end the activity on the last one he got right.
I mentioned to L. about how we'd had such a rough day yesterday, and how nice it was to see Ryan so excited today, although it was kind of interfering with our work. L. made a good point then: Ryan's excited flapping is at the total opposite end of the emotional spectrum from yesterday's tantrums, but they are both extremes. When Ryan's extremely mad or extremely happy, it's hard for him to control his body, and it interferes with learning. So really, even though he's excited, it's just as difficult to get him focused as when he tantrums. I saw that a few times today, when Ryan was flapping so much he couldn't hold onto an item we needed him to hold, or he was throwing objects where they needed to go instead of placing them nicely, so it made his motor control decrease even more than usual.
Here's where it got interesting. We told Ryan to "Go play," and instead, he independently signed "more" for the matching items! We were baffled and excited at the same time. The independent signing of "more" was fabulous, but we have no idea what it was about the matching bowls that excited Ryan so much today. However, we got at least two more spontaneous signs for "more" when he was playing with the matching items. I thought it was sweet when I looked over and L. was wiping some happy tears away! I love how the S.C. staff is as thrilled as we are with our children's accomplishments.
Ryan's surprises for us weren't over yet, though. As he was playing with the matching bowls, he suddenly said, "Mamaaaa . . ." clear as a bell! Ryan sometimes babbles "mum-mum-mum" when he's really upset, but I haven't heard a clear "Mama" since he was about a year old. I think I was kind of in shock. He got a big hug and some tickles, but it didn't register with me emotionally until we got home.
After the matching he was pretty wound up, so L. suggested I take Ryan for a walk down the hall. He needed to get that extra energy and excitement out of his system! As we wandered down the hall, he suddenly babbled, "Mama, mama, maaaaaa . . ." again. I was kind of dazed. I think I just patted his head and said, "Yes, nice saying mama." LOL
Back in the Yellow Room, we tried some more puzzle and shape sorting. He did really well with both of those; I was guiding him from the forearm, and he was trying to place the pieces. He pushed a few of the shapes in independently, after I guided them with him! However, Ryan's reinforcement for the shape sorter today was that he wanted pull off the lid and fling the other pieces around. Well, whatever works. I would loosen the lid slightly and let him pull it off, and then he would fling out a bunch of the shapes.
He started getting a little too silly again, so we tried some of the old skills like playing piano, giving high 5s, and patting the floor. He did all these with us modeling and verbal prompts. Then, Ryan got distracted by the bead maze. He knows how to play with that, as we have one at home. L. wanted to see if Ryan could "disengage" (in other words, switch focus) on his own from the bead maze to another activity. This went so-so. He was really into the bead maze this morning. L. also wanted to try an alternative to the ring stacker because Ryan has been having trouble holding and placing these (his fingers block the hole in the ring, so it's harder to get over the post). Instead, L. brought out a piggy bank toy where you insert large, toy coins (it's about attention and coordination, so the same skills as the ring stacker). She tried to get Ryan to stop playing with the bead maze to put a coin in the bank. He was having trouble taking his focus off the bead maze, and even tried to put the coins in the maze! So, we changed strategies and took a portable bead maze and used that as the reinforcer for after Ryan put a coin in the bank. (By the way, the original "coins" had been replaced by Play Doh container lids; that's resourcefulness! They are the perfect size and easy to hold.) We HOH'ed or wrist prompted Ryan to put a coin in the piggy bank, and then he got to play with the mini bead maze. This worked well.
Next, it was time for circle. Ryan, however, decided to assert his will and plop his butt down just outside the door of the Yellow Room. He wasn't moving. We tried to entice him with the mini bead maze, but he wouldn't stand up for it. At least he wasn't crying, but he was being stubborn! L. remembered how we used the Thomas videos from yesterday to motivate Ryan, so she went and got her iPhone. Ryan stood up on his own just as she returned, but Thomas videos helped guide Ryan to the Red Room for circle, and to get him to sit down for circle when we got to the room. Circle was different today because we had no other participants! J. is still away, and the STEPS children were on a different schedule than us. I don't think Ryan liked it because he had to do all the work (no other friend to take turns/share the workload). However, he did some nice story matching, and good attempts (with prompts) at block stacking, hand clapping, and feet stomping (actions in our songs). Meanwhile, his reinforcement for his extra effort was snippets of Thomas videos. I think that kept him going, so we made it through circle with no major issues.
Then it was time for Friday research and theory. It was nice when Dr. G. gave me some praise for all the great things she's been hearing about the way I've been working with Ryan, but I was a bit embarrassed. I'm not sure I deserved all that praise, but she made me take ownership of it. :) Anyway, theory focused on factors affecting the effectiveness of reinforcers and also conditioned reinforcement (things we learn to like, and how they must be backed up; i.e. a token board is only useful if we get something we want when we fill it up).
I think I'm really understanding this positive reinforcement stuff (no, "stuff" is not a tecnhical term). Today, Ryan wasn't interested in his usual go-to reinforcers, so I dumped out his basket and said, "Pick something! What do you want today?" He tried a few things and discarded them. As I mentioned earlier, his reinforcers today were things I didn't expect, like the matching materials, going for a walk, and the bead maze. This shows how true it is that reinforcers change, lose power, regain power, and might be the last thing you'd expect. Paying attention to Ryan and following his lead (where appropriate) often leads us to the items/situations that work best for him.
A Favourite Song from a New Perspective
This afternoon I put on my headphones and listened to some of my favourite songs for a little relaxation and inspiration. The song "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz came on, and usually I think of it as a beautiful love song about a couple who truly appreciate what they have together. Today, however, as I was listening, I suddenly connected with the song from a totally different emotional perspective. Certain lines from this song felt a lot like what I've been going through with Ryan since we started Unity! I'm finding it hard to put into words, but it really hit me emotionally, and I can't get it out of my head. I put the lyrics below, and italicized the lines that particularly speak to me about my recent experiences with Ryan.
"I Won't Give Up"
When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up
I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up, still looking up.
Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)
God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)
God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)
I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
To hear the music, visit http://youtu.be/XLOMvPC1EzQ
This song makes me think about how stressful it is sometimes, but I'm willing to do anything I can to help Ryan reach his full potential. When I look in his beautiful eyes, I see such brightness in them. I am learning a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in this journey, and about how many people love us and want to help us. I want to help Ryan find his strengths and gifts. We have already come so far, but we still have so much to learn. Unity only lasts for 12 weeks; I will be Ryan's mom forever. Our journey will last a lifetime. There will be many struggles, but "I won't give up./ God knows [Ryan's] worth it"!
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