Just now I saw Jonah take my iPhone and put it up to his ear. It's the second time he has initiated any pretend play, the first being the sunglasses he likes to put on his face. The great thing about this is that we hadn't yet introduced the telephone into our play routine so he's picked that up all by himself.
To say I am thrilled is an understatement. He'd had such odd day today. We played a lot but he walked off and left me more than he usually does. He was zoning out a lot more and didn't smile as much as usual so to see this spontaneous attempt at pretend play was amazing. And not only did he do it once, he did it twice. A few seconds later he did it again so I know it was deliberate. Gosh I wish I had a jumping up and down cheering emoticon on here!
Jonah also met his new therapist today. Her name is Lea and she is a friend of mine. She has known Jonah since he was born but only as a friend of Mummy's. She is coming over tomorrow so he can get used to her and then she is coming over on Tuesday to watch us in action with the aim of doing some one on one play therapy with Jonah.
School for the other boys goes back tomorrow and I must say I am glad. Not because I don't want them around but because Jonah's therapy is very time consuming and I feel so bad that they are left out. I make sure I include them where ever possible but sometimes they can hinder the therapy. It's hard to balance them all but I think we are doing ok. Once they are back at school there will be less disruptions for Jonah too. Things like television and other people talking are distracting for him so without his brothers around he will hopefully concentrate even more.
He's going forward in leaps and bounds but we still have so far to go. We have to teach him everything that other children learn just by observing others. Jonah needs to be taught every step that others learn so easily. Sometimes it feel so daunting but I know just to take each day one at a time and eventually we will get there.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
And in todays news...
Today Jonah and I were sitting together on the bed, facing each other. I've been doing a set of nursery rhymes with him a few times a day and we usually do them on the bed...this allows me to toss him all about on the big fluffy pillows which he loves.
One of the rhymes we do is 'Row, row, row your boat' where I sit oposite him, hold his hands and push him back and forth while we 'row' then I shake his arms up and down quite vigorously during the 'merrily merrily' parts. He loves this so much.
Today we were playing on the bed and I sat him oposite me but before I could indicate what we were going to do he grabbed both of my hands, looked at me and smiled, then after a slight pause he started rocking back and forth, smiling. He was playing Row your boat and he initiated it!
It's such an awesome achievement and it means he has learned that we are interactive, that we can do things for him and that he can expect things from us. I was so excited I think I got a bit carried away. We sung it about ten times lol
Jonah also has a Fisher Price aquarium. It's a little plastic fish tank that lights up and plays bubble sounds and music when you rock it or drop on of the three plastic fish who call it home into it. I bought it to teach him to post things as up until now all he was doing was removing things out of places but not putting anything in.
He loves the aquarium because it lights up and flashes and today I actually saw him putting the fish in to the tank. I sat with him and said 'Fish in', 'Put fish in,' and he smiled at me and did exactly that. After a while he decided to test his slam dunk skills and launch the fish at the aquarium from a distance and I must say, his aim was pretty good LOL.
He is learning. I know we have a hell of a long way to go but this is the blessing of getting this so early, these months of waiting are not waisted. Usually at this age with autism you're in a holding pattern, specialists are telling you to 'wait and see' well meaning friends and family are telling you that such and such's boy didn't speak until he was 5 and he is perfectly fine and you're not accessing services because you don't have a diagnosis, only rapidly fading hope.
This is why, amongst all of this heartache we still have hope. Jonah is so young, these months spent working with him and teaching him are laying a strong foundation that so many miss out on.
Yes, we have a long hard road ahead of us but we're slowly but surely smoothing the way to get there.
One of the rhymes we do is 'Row, row, row your boat' where I sit oposite him, hold his hands and push him back and forth while we 'row' then I shake his arms up and down quite vigorously during the 'merrily merrily' parts. He loves this so much.
Today we were playing on the bed and I sat him oposite me but before I could indicate what we were going to do he grabbed both of my hands, looked at me and smiled, then after a slight pause he started rocking back and forth, smiling. He was playing Row your boat and he initiated it!
It's such an awesome achievement and it means he has learned that we are interactive, that we can do things for him and that he can expect things from us. I was so excited I think I got a bit carried away. We sung it about ten times lol
Jonah also has a Fisher Price aquarium. It's a little plastic fish tank that lights up and plays bubble sounds and music when you rock it or drop on of the three plastic fish who call it home into it. I bought it to teach him to post things as up until now all he was doing was removing things out of places but not putting anything in.
He loves the aquarium because it lights up and flashes and today I actually saw him putting the fish in to the tank. I sat with him and said 'Fish in', 'Put fish in,' and he smiled at me and did exactly that. After a while he decided to test his slam dunk skills and launch the fish at the aquarium from a distance and I must say, his aim was pretty good LOL.
He is learning. I know we have a hell of a long way to go but this is the blessing of getting this so early, these months of waiting are not waisted. Usually at this age with autism you're in a holding pattern, specialists are telling you to 'wait and see' well meaning friends and family are telling you that such and such's boy didn't speak until he was 5 and he is perfectly fine and you're not accessing services because you don't have a diagnosis, only rapidly fading hope.
This is why, amongst all of this heartache we still have hope. Jonah is so young, these months spent working with him and teaching him are laying a strong foundation that so many miss out on.
Yes, we have a long hard road ahead of us but we're slowly but surely smoothing the way to get there.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Speech Therapy 101
Yesterday we had our very first session with Jonah's new speech therapist. Well, she's Jonah's only ever speech therapist too but she's new to us lol.
She was fabulous, she gave us so many ideas and she really captivated Jonah's attention. The best thing though was that she did a very thorough evaluation of Jonah and what we are already doing with him and she said we were spot on with everything. I am so happy, it just reinforces that we haven't wasted a second of precious time.
She has shown us how to ancourage Jonah to request things. He doesn't have to use words to do this but being autistic means he doesn't automatically know that I am a vessel in which he can 'get things'. Children without autism will show you their empty cup if they are thirsty and there is no water available. Jonah won't do this, he doesn't understand that we are a gateway between what he wants and what he gets. I have to stop pre empting what he wants. I have become very good at this and one of the reasons he doesn't tantrum much is because I am always a step ahead of him, getting him what he needs before he has to ask.
So from now on I have to give Jonah a chance to ask for things. I have to hold his water cup where he can see it and wait until he indicates to me that he wants it. This can be by yelling, that's perfectly ok. What we don't want is for him to see the water cup and walk away because even though I am holding it, it is out of reach.
If you remember back to the developmental test, the paediatrician flashed a torch at Jonah and then stopped. Every time she stopped he would just wander off even though he loved the flashing lights. He did not know that he could indicate that he wanted more lights, so he just moved on.
We are going to use bubbles and balloons. Yesterday Karen (Speechie) had some bubbles, she blew them and said "Ohhh Bubbles!" Jonah giggled as he tried to catch them. Each time one would land on his hand Karen would say "Pop!" Then she stopped blowing them. We watched as Jonah went right up to her, looked her in the eyes and made a sound to her. He didn't speak but he let her know he wanted more bubbles which is exactly what he got. Karen said "Want more? Want more bubbles," and then blew more.
The aim of this is to say what we want Jonah to learn. We don't want to say "You want more bubbles Jonah? because a part of autism is that children will often repeat what they hear and when Jonah wants bubbles he is very likely to come to us and say "Want more bubbles Jonah? Which is not the correct way to ask.
So, where possible we try and say what words we want Jonah to learn. This morning when I fed him breakfast I waited between spoonsfull and when he looked at me I said "Want more," and gave him more.
The idea is to wait for a response but not expect it. If we don't wait for the response we don't give them a chance to try and formulate one. If we expect a response we jeopardise their attention by sitting and waiting too long for a response that is not coming. So we wait a few moments between activites and then we continue on.
We are also going to take pictures of everday objects and people that are familiar to Jonah and we will laminate them with the objects word printed underneath. It's already clear that Jonah's splinter skill is reading. He loves words, loves looking at them, listening to books being read and he loves 'pretending' that he is reading. It's the only pretend skill that he developed on his own.
Until he can talk we will use pictures of objects and try to encourage him to bring them to us when he needs something. It used to be thought that this would hinder speech but current research shows quite the oposite. Communication is much more than words. Communication is interaction, body language, facial expression, interest, seeking out others, hand gestures and many more things. If Jonah can't use words yet that's ok. We can still teach him other methods of communication until he can speak if that day ever comes.
The other thing I want to do is to make an inside cubby for Jonah. I often see him put clothing on his head and I think a lot of this is to do with too much sensory input coming in. I think he does it to block out visual stimulation. He loves tents, cubbies and he loves the sunglasses. I think they take away a lot of sensory input which allowes him to concentrate on other things.
OK so that's our starting point. I'm glad I've blogged it. It is much easier to keep track of.
She was fabulous, she gave us so many ideas and she really captivated Jonah's attention. The best thing though was that she did a very thorough evaluation of Jonah and what we are already doing with him and she said we were spot on with everything. I am so happy, it just reinforces that we haven't wasted a second of precious time.
She has shown us how to ancourage Jonah to request things. He doesn't have to use words to do this but being autistic means he doesn't automatically know that I am a vessel in which he can 'get things'. Children without autism will show you their empty cup if they are thirsty and there is no water available. Jonah won't do this, he doesn't understand that we are a gateway between what he wants and what he gets. I have to stop pre empting what he wants. I have become very good at this and one of the reasons he doesn't tantrum much is because I am always a step ahead of him, getting him what he needs before he has to ask.
So from now on I have to give Jonah a chance to ask for things. I have to hold his water cup where he can see it and wait until he indicates to me that he wants it. This can be by yelling, that's perfectly ok. What we don't want is for him to see the water cup and walk away because even though I am holding it, it is out of reach.
If you remember back to the developmental test, the paediatrician flashed a torch at Jonah and then stopped. Every time she stopped he would just wander off even though he loved the flashing lights. He did not know that he could indicate that he wanted more lights, so he just moved on.
We are going to use bubbles and balloons. Yesterday Karen (Speechie) had some bubbles, she blew them and said "Ohhh Bubbles!" Jonah giggled as he tried to catch them. Each time one would land on his hand Karen would say "Pop!" Then she stopped blowing them. We watched as Jonah went right up to her, looked her in the eyes and made a sound to her. He didn't speak but he let her know he wanted more bubbles which is exactly what he got. Karen said "Want more? Want more bubbles," and then blew more.
The aim of this is to say what we want Jonah to learn. We don't want to say "You want more bubbles Jonah? because a part of autism is that children will often repeat what they hear and when Jonah wants bubbles he is very likely to come to us and say "Want more bubbles Jonah? Which is not the correct way to ask.
So, where possible we try and say what words we want Jonah to learn. This morning when I fed him breakfast I waited between spoonsfull and when he looked at me I said "Want more," and gave him more.
The idea is to wait for a response but not expect it. If we don't wait for the response we don't give them a chance to try and formulate one. If we expect a response we jeopardise their attention by sitting and waiting too long for a response that is not coming. So we wait a few moments between activites and then we continue on.
We are also going to take pictures of everday objects and people that are familiar to Jonah and we will laminate them with the objects word printed underneath. It's already clear that Jonah's splinter skill is reading. He loves words, loves looking at them, listening to books being read and he loves 'pretending' that he is reading. It's the only pretend skill that he developed on his own.
Until he can talk we will use pictures of objects and try to encourage him to bring them to us when he needs something. It used to be thought that this would hinder speech but current research shows quite the oposite. Communication is much more than words. Communication is interaction, body language, facial expression, interest, seeking out others, hand gestures and many more things. If Jonah can't use words yet that's ok. We can still teach him other methods of communication until he can speak if that day ever comes.
The other thing I want to do is to make an inside cubby for Jonah. I often see him put clothing on his head and I think a lot of this is to do with too much sensory input coming in. I think he does it to block out visual stimulation. He loves tents, cubbies and he loves the sunglasses. I think they take away a lot of sensory input which allowes him to concentrate on other things.
OK so that's our starting point. I'm glad I've blogged it. It is much easier to keep track of.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Therapy: April 2010
Please feel free to skip this post. It just need to keep track of where we are at regarding Jonah's progress and therapy.
Currently doing only incidental teaching, approximately 3-4 hours per day. Minimal table top and only with cuting wooden vegetables, singing, pointing.
Songs:
The Wheels on the Bus
Row Row Row Your Boat (another favorite)
Incy Wincy
Twinkle Twinkle (he hates this)
Round and Round the Garden
A Frog Went Walking
Heads and Shoulders (his favorite)
Each song sung 5-6 times per day
Games:
Peek a boo
Sunglasses
Throwing on the bed
Upside down baby
Where's Mummy/Daddy
Played 5-6 times per day.
Activities:
Cutting wooden fruit
Where's your nose/eyes/ears
Where's Jonah? (Mirror Game)
Pointing (objects in books)
Reading books (Hairy McLairy current fave)
Trampoline jumping
Peek a boo in play house
Ta Mummy/Daddy (taking turns passing object back and forth)
Hello/Goodbye (greetings)
Want more
Introducing:
Shapes
Puzzles
Give me
Show me
Point to (Daddy/Mummy etc)
Colours
Starting speech therapy 06/04/10
Starting Playgroup 12/04/10
Starting My Time 14/04/10
Currently doing only incidental teaching, approximately 3-4 hours per day. Minimal table top and only with cuting wooden vegetables, singing, pointing.
Songs:
The Wheels on the Bus
Row Row Row Your Boat (another favorite)
Incy Wincy
Twinkle Twinkle (he hates this)
Round and Round the Garden
A Frog Went Walking
Heads and Shoulders (his favorite)
Each song sung 5-6 times per day
Games:
Peek a boo
Sunglasses
Throwing on the bed
Upside down baby
Where's Mummy/Daddy
Played 5-6 times per day.
Activities:
Cutting wooden fruit
Where's your nose/eyes/ears
Where's Jonah? (Mirror Game)
Pointing (objects in books)
Reading books (Hairy McLairy current fave)
Trampoline jumping
Peek a boo in play house
Ta Mummy/Daddy (taking turns passing object back and forth)
Hello/Goodbye (greetings)
Want more
Introducing:
Shapes
Puzzles
Give me
Show me
Point to (Daddy/Mummy etc)
Colours
Starting speech therapy 06/04/10
Starting Playgroup 12/04/10
Starting My Time 14/04/10
Chocolate Monster
Today we had a breakthrough. Jonah has never once bought me anything he is interested in, he's never shown me something he likes, never done a silly trick to make me laugh. Apart from our one and only game of 'Peek-A-Gooooo' he has never initiated play with any of us. It's heartbreaking but it is autism and it is what it is.
We play with him relentlessly, sometimes until we're exhausted. It's part of incidental teaching and we do it in hope that he will one day pick it up and will reciprocate. It's a dream I am waiting to turn into reality.
Today we had our dream come true. Not once, but twice. One of the things Jonah enjoys is wearing Sams great big green sunglasses. We put them on his face and all exlaim with joy, "Oh look at Jonah! Look at Jonah and his lovely green glasses!" We ooh and we ahh for the whole two seconds that Jonah will wear the glasses and we repeat until he has had enough. He smiles when we do this so we know he is enjoying it.
This morning as I sat sipping my cup of tea my Darling Husband next to me on his computer (he's working from home), Jonah wandered up, looked at me and smiled a huge baby Jonah smile and handed me one pair of bright green glasses. I was so stunned that for a second I didn't know what to do with them. He has never 'given' me anything, not once, not ever has he come to me and handed me something. But today he did and he handed me something that he wanted me to do with him. He wanted to wear those big green sunglasses and he wanted us to ooh and ahh over him. So we did. I popped the glasses on his beaming little face and we all oohed and ahhed, "Ohh look at Jonah! He looks wonderful in his glasses!" And Jonah smiled a beaming smile and let us play with him for a whole two minutes.
I'm not sure who's smile was bigger, Jonah's or ours.
To top it off, as it today couldn't get any better not long after playing sunglasses with us, Jonah found the wrapping of an empty easter egg on the floor. Easter has just finished and Jonah has had his official initiation into the world of chocolate and he kinda loves it!
Jonah put the wrapper in his mouth, realised there was no chocolatey goodness coming forth so spat out the wrapper into his hand, wandered over to me held it out, looked at me and yelled, loud!
He has no words yet but if he did that yell would have said, "Do you see the problem here, Mother? This lovely looking wrapper is empty and is no good to me. What I need now is one that is not empty, but is full of chocolately goodness and as I am only two feet tall and cannot reach into that great big refridgerator I request that you do it for me! Now off you go and get me some chocolate."
Darling Husband looked up and exclaimed in excitement! "He bought you a wrapper! It's something to show you! This is fantastic, he's learning and interacting. Get the boy some chocolate STAT!"
And so I did. I fed Jonah two small chocolate Easter eggs and I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my baby eat junk food LOL
We play with him relentlessly, sometimes until we're exhausted. It's part of incidental teaching and we do it in hope that he will one day pick it up and will reciprocate. It's a dream I am waiting to turn into reality.
Today we had our dream come true. Not once, but twice. One of the things Jonah enjoys is wearing Sams great big green sunglasses. We put them on his face and all exlaim with joy, "Oh look at Jonah! Look at Jonah and his lovely green glasses!" We ooh and we ahh for the whole two seconds that Jonah will wear the glasses and we repeat until he has had enough. He smiles when we do this so we know he is enjoying it.
This morning as I sat sipping my cup of tea my Darling Husband next to me on his computer (he's working from home), Jonah wandered up, looked at me and smiled a huge baby Jonah smile and handed me one pair of bright green glasses. I was so stunned that for a second I didn't know what to do with them. He has never 'given' me anything, not once, not ever has he come to me and handed me something. But today he did and he handed me something that he wanted me to do with him. He wanted to wear those big green sunglasses and he wanted us to ooh and ahh over him. So we did. I popped the glasses on his beaming little face and we all oohed and ahhed, "Ohh look at Jonah! He looks wonderful in his glasses!" And Jonah smiled a beaming smile and let us play with him for a whole two minutes.
I'm not sure who's smile was bigger, Jonah's or ours.
To top it off, as it today couldn't get any better not long after playing sunglasses with us, Jonah found the wrapping of an empty easter egg on the floor. Easter has just finished and Jonah has had his official initiation into the world of chocolate and he kinda loves it!
Jonah put the wrapper in his mouth, realised there was no chocolatey goodness coming forth so spat out the wrapper into his hand, wandered over to me held it out, looked at me and yelled, loud!
He has no words yet but if he did that yell would have said, "Do you see the problem here, Mother? This lovely looking wrapper is empty and is no good to me. What I need now is one that is not empty, but is full of chocolately goodness and as I am only two feet tall and cannot reach into that great big refridgerator I request that you do it for me! Now off you go and get me some chocolate."
Darling Husband looked up and exclaimed in excitement! "He bought you a wrapper! It's something to show you! This is fantastic, he's learning and interacting. Get the boy some chocolate STAT!"
And so I did. I fed Jonah two small chocolate Easter eggs and I don't think I have ever been so happy to see my baby eat junk food LOL
Chasing the Birds.
Yesterday we took the boys to the museum. We go there often and our older two love it. There is so much for children to see and do and we would need a week to see it all so they never get bored of it.
Yesterday I took Jonah out of the pram and let him wander around in the play areas. I filmed him on my iPhone and when I get my new computer (this one is borrowed) I will start putting some of that video footage on here.
If you ever wondered what autism looked like walking around you'd have seen it yesterday. Jonah flitted from toy to toy, thing to thing, didn't really play with anything, didn't notice or care to notice anyone around him and he never looked back to see where I was when he wandered off. Sometimes he'd see objects but never the person attached to them. At one stage he saw a big tower of blocks but he didn't see the boy that built them. He went for the blocks and unlike other toddlers who just want things because they are toddlers and that's what toddlers do, Jonah was just oblivious to the fact that this boy was there at all.
The saddest thing though, twice yesterday there were flocks of birds on the ground. All of my other boys would have chased through that flock, squealing with excitement as though they might even catch one. Jonah didn't care. The birds were there, all around him and he didn't even seem to notice. I wanted him to chase them, to run and them and gasp with delight as they flew off into the sky. I wanted him to tell him no, Jonah leave the birds alone, don't bother them knowing all the while that he could never catch one. But I didn't say it because he didn't chase them.
I filmed the play area, all of the other children running, chasing, squealing, catching, climbing and crying. And then there was Jonah, wandering away, never looking back, picking up small twigs studying them for a moment and dropping them to wander off again. He didn't care for the other children and to him they may have well been statues. I was so sad as I filmed him. He looked so different from the other children. To those who do not know he has autism he would have looked like a delightful quiet little boy, happy to entertain himself.
Oh how I wish.
Yesterday I took Jonah out of the pram and let him wander around in the play areas. I filmed him on my iPhone and when I get my new computer (this one is borrowed) I will start putting some of that video footage on here.
If you ever wondered what autism looked like walking around you'd have seen it yesterday. Jonah flitted from toy to toy, thing to thing, didn't really play with anything, didn't notice or care to notice anyone around him and he never looked back to see where I was when he wandered off. Sometimes he'd see objects but never the person attached to them. At one stage he saw a big tower of blocks but he didn't see the boy that built them. He went for the blocks and unlike other toddlers who just want things because they are toddlers and that's what toddlers do, Jonah was just oblivious to the fact that this boy was there at all.
The saddest thing though, twice yesterday there were flocks of birds on the ground. All of my other boys would have chased through that flock, squealing with excitement as though they might even catch one. Jonah didn't care. The birds were there, all around him and he didn't even seem to notice. I wanted him to chase them, to run and them and gasp with delight as they flew off into the sky. I wanted him to tell him no, Jonah leave the birds alone, don't bother them knowing all the while that he could never catch one. But I didn't say it because he didn't chase them.
I filmed the play area, all of the other children running, chasing, squealing, catching, climbing and crying. And then there was Jonah, wandering away, never looking back, picking up small twigs studying them for a moment and dropping them to wander off again. He didn't care for the other children and to him they may have well been statues. I was so sad as I filmed him. He looked so different from the other children. To those who do not know he has autism he would have looked like a delightful quiet little boy, happy to entertain himself.
Oh how I wish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)