Little Man Pate went to his first Speech Session yesterday. He did very well. His therapist is Sam. She is Really sweet! She said they played more than worked so he could get comfortable with her. They worked on his "F"s and how to shape his mouth and make air come out on his hand. SHe said he wasn't able to make the shape with his mouth but that it would come in time. Our job at home is to correctly pronounce a word that he says incorrectly to him and Stress that word so he sees our mouth and how it sounds and looks. He says shishes instead of Fish, so when he says that we have to say "OH FISHES! so that he hears that F sound or any other word he pronounces incorrectly. He has some short term goals and long term goals.
His Short Term Goals: This is what HE WILL be doing in 6 months
1. Produce /f/ in words with 70% accuracy and minimal cues
2. Will increase overall intelligibility to 70% with known context
3. Will tolerate transitions, new routines, and new environments with no cues for 30 min. sessions
4. Monitor language processing for multi spatial, temporal, and relational deficits through qualitive measures over time.
5. He will tolerate oral motor interventions in treatment and at home.
His Long Term Goals: THis is what he will achieve in 12 months
1. Age appropriate speech and language
He will start his OT THerapy for SI Dysfunction on April 30th. I realize we will be traveling some but I will do whatever I can to help him and I have such a loving family that everyone is learning and trying all these things right along with him to Help him out. I know it helps when you have a very good support system no matter what the case. Thank you Family and I mean ALL of you!!!!
I have been reading this book Called Raising a Sensory Smart Child
I have learned so much from reading this. It has really opened my eyes to reasons why Peyton does some of the things he does. I never really understood why he didn't like his teeth brushed. We have seriously been through 5 tubes of toothpaste to figure out what he liked. Dian told me that he brushes his teeth just fine when he is at her house and she uses the baby toothpaste. If you notice this toothpaste does not foam up. All the other toothpastes do! So after reading this book, all the foam was too much stimuation for him. He would just scream out!!! Now he will get his tooth brush and brush his teeth himself, no problem! But it has to be that toothpaste. I just wonder if it's doing any good on his teeth? Ha!
So that is one step forward right? We have to bring his toothbrush and different toothpastes to OT when he starts.
We have had several Melt downs this week and we have had LOTS of good days this week too! I dressed him Monday morning like always but he was still half asleep when I dressed him. We were on our way to day care and school when he realized he had on a collared shirt. He screamed and pulled on that shirt the whole way to school to drop Ali off and back to the house to get another shirt on. He doesn't like collars! But he wore a collared shirt to church a few weeks ago and it didn't bother him??? AS they say, his nerves must have been "organized" that day.
On Wed. he has cubbies at the Baptist Church which he enjoys going to. When I picked him up one the younger helpers told me he didn't want to leave the class room. So I went to get him and he was under the table screaming and crying. The Cubbies teacher told me that he got up in class and just got under the table and has been sitting there almost the entire time. I had to coax him out from under the table. If you don't know what is going on then someone walking by must think that I have the biggest BRat! I use to think that! I am learning that Everyone has sensory issues but there are some that just have them so intensified. You start to learn what is Typical behavior and what is not and then decide on how to handle the situation because there will be times that his behavior has nothing to do with his Sensory Disorder.
This will take time but I know that it's going to be ok.
Here is a picture taken on Sunday. He was so worn out! He was watching his Grasshopper.
Oh! I met with the Speech Teacher at the School on Monday and we are getting everything set up for him to start here in the Fall if not before then!
That's about all i have! Sorry to have posted so much! I have had so much going on lately. Have a great weekend!!!