Thats our boy! Jonah is just amazing. In the two weeks that he's been at the LC he has come ahead in leaps and bounds. On Monday his carers were so excited, not only had Jonah shown interest in another child, he had gotten so in this boys face that he (the other child) reciprocated and apparently it was the FIRST time EVER that this little boy had shown interest in anyone. The carers couldn't wait to tell me but were moreso excited about telling the other little boys Mum lol. Seems Jonah does play nicely with others!
From what they said, Jonah was following this little guy around but was being completely ignored in return. The little guy stopped walking and looked down, Jonah walked around to the front of him, knelt down and looked up into the boys face. This caused them both to burst into laughter, something the staff had never seen from the other little guy.
Great stuff Jman!
And, I am happy to report that Jonah regularly brings us his cup to be filled and if there is any mention whatsoever of the C.A.R (we don't say that word!) he runs around gathering all of our jackets and shoes so we can hurry the hell up to go for a ride in the C.A.R :P
I'm getting a new camera soon and this blog will soon be fillled with pics!
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label therapy. Show all posts
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Centre of Attention
This week Jonah started at his new Learning Centre (LC). It's an autism specific LC which has been purpose built to enhance the learning experience of children with autism. I found out about it with my stealthy Google skills and badgered the poor coordinator until she let me know how to get Jonah enrolled (he didn't jump the queue, there are still spaces left) which we did and he started last Monday.
I will put some pictures up of the centre if I get a chance but I just wanted to say that it is truly a wonderful place. My little Bear loves it there and there is so much for him to do. There are three staff and currently only 5 children attending so the child staff ratio is almost 1:1. The rooms have just finished completion and have been purpose build to ensure that children attending have the best opportunity to learn in areas where their autism makes it almost impossible.
They are SO accomodating. Honestly, what Jonah wants, Jonah gets. What Jonah needs, Jonah gets. If he doesn't want lunch at lunch time they will feed him when he is ready. If he doesn't want to eat from their menu they will get him something else (healthyof course), if he doesn't want to sleep a carer will attend to him while the other children sleep. The centre has a special 'chill out' room where the childern can go if they are over stimulated. It has big bean bags, dim lights and lots of books and cuddle toys. There is an occupational therapist and speech therapist there at all times and it is staffed by qualified teachers and is overseen by paediatricians and our states largest childrens hospital.
Honestly, it's an ASD child (and parents!) dream come true! Jonah started on Monday and he loves it. He's none too happy when we leave which we have only done for no more than an hour, but when we get back he is happy and playing. The tears are just to make Mummy feel awful LOL. This week we will be increasing his hours to three hours a day to see how he goes. He will be going full time as soon as he is integrated, probably in about three weeks.
In other news we had a visit from our state Early Intervention (EI) team this week and they noticed a huge difference in Jonah's eye contact. Because we see him all day every day its hard for us to be objective when it comes to how he is progressing but the EI team hadn't seen Jonah for a month and couldn't believe how much more eye contact he had. He is now looking at people from a distance and smiling at them. He often holds the gaze until he walks to the person and is picked up. He is also bringing people objects that are relevant to the situation, for example if he hears us saying we're going out soon, Jonah will run and get his shoes or his jacket and give it to one of us. This is pretty huge news!
What we really need to work on with him though is his speech and his joint attention. He still doesn't mimick us and has no idea about taking turns. He also doesn't seek other people out to play with. At the LC he will wander around the perimeter of the room and yard, not paying any attention to the other children or staff. However, more and more he is playing appropriately with toys, not just carrying them around and dropping them. He will often use toys as they are meant to be used. For example with shape sorters he will attempt to get the shapes into the right hole and if he can't he will try another hole. He is also sitting on bikes and trying to push them along.
And best of all, he's starting to dance! I remember saying to his paediatrician back in February that Jonah never danced and I knew it was something he should be doing. Well, he has a big Iggle Piggle who dances and he's started to dance too when Iggle Piggle is getting his groove on. The cuteness is astounding lol.
Again, I promise some pics to come soon!
I will put some pictures up of the centre if I get a chance but I just wanted to say that it is truly a wonderful place. My little Bear loves it there and there is so much for him to do. There are three staff and currently only 5 children attending so the child staff ratio is almost 1:1. The rooms have just finished completion and have been purpose build to ensure that children attending have the best opportunity to learn in areas where their autism makes it almost impossible.
They are SO accomodating. Honestly, what Jonah wants, Jonah gets. What Jonah needs, Jonah gets. If he doesn't want lunch at lunch time they will feed him when he is ready. If he doesn't want to eat from their menu they will get him something else (healthyof course), if he doesn't want to sleep a carer will attend to him while the other children sleep. The centre has a special 'chill out' room where the childern can go if they are over stimulated. It has big bean bags, dim lights and lots of books and cuddle toys. There is an occupational therapist and speech therapist there at all times and it is staffed by qualified teachers and is overseen by paediatricians and our states largest childrens hospital.
Honestly, it's an ASD child (and parents!) dream come true! Jonah started on Monday and he loves it. He's none too happy when we leave which we have only done for no more than an hour, but when we get back he is happy and playing. The tears are just to make Mummy feel awful LOL. This week we will be increasing his hours to three hours a day to see how he goes. He will be going full time as soon as he is integrated, probably in about three weeks.
In other news we had a visit from our state Early Intervention (EI) team this week and they noticed a huge difference in Jonah's eye contact. Because we see him all day every day its hard for us to be objective when it comes to how he is progressing but the EI team hadn't seen Jonah for a month and couldn't believe how much more eye contact he had. He is now looking at people from a distance and smiling at them. He often holds the gaze until he walks to the person and is picked up. He is also bringing people objects that are relevant to the situation, for example if he hears us saying we're going out soon, Jonah will run and get his shoes or his jacket and give it to one of us. This is pretty huge news!
What we really need to work on with him though is his speech and his joint attention. He still doesn't mimick us and has no idea about taking turns. He also doesn't seek other people out to play with. At the LC he will wander around the perimeter of the room and yard, not paying any attention to the other children or staff. However, more and more he is playing appropriately with toys, not just carrying them around and dropping them. He will often use toys as they are meant to be used. For example with shape sorters he will attempt to get the shapes into the right hole and if he can't he will try another hole. He is also sitting on bikes and trying to push them along.
And best of all, he's starting to dance! I remember saying to his paediatrician back in February that Jonah never danced and I knew it was something he should be doing. Well, he has a big Iggle Piggle who dances and he's started to dance too when Iggle Piggle is getting his groove on. The cuteness is astounding lol.
Again, I promise some pics to come soon!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The Great Pretender
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.
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.
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
Friday, March 26, 2010
Oh please! Oh please please please please PLEASE!!
I can't wish for this enough. I have found the most amazing early intervention service for Jonah and I really want, no NEED him to get this. Around the time that Jonah was born our Government announced some funding to help children with Autism. We call it the HCWA (Helping Children With Autism) funding.
Anyway, as part of this funding seven new child care centres are being built (one in each capital city I think) that are able to take 20 children with autism as well as NT (neuro typical - it sounds better than saying 'normal' lol) children. The ASD children will be with the NT children but they will have a team of specialists with them all day every day.
There will be a qualified early childhood teacher, a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, several Dip Ed aides and it is overseen by developmental paediatricians from the Royal Childrens Hospital and researchers from the Autism Research Centre. The children will be in small groups of ten and each ASD child will be among mainly NT children. The program is intense but it is play based and a heap of fun.
It's exactly what Jonah needs but by gosh the places are as rare as hens teeth. Only 20 places in a city the size of Melbourne. The odds are so against us getting a place but it's not impossible. Please, everyone, whatever God or statue, or rock God or thing you pray to, please pray that we get a placement for Jonah. I can feel it in my bones that this is exactly what he needs.
I spoke to the enrolments officer yesterday and she was lovely. She kind of indicated that because Jonah was so young and is now on the waiting list, at very worst he may get a placement there in his final year before school so, in another three years. I want him there now and there is a possibility that he may get a placement now so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!
If we get this it means I get to be Jonah's Mummy and not his therapist. I will do what it takes to get this little guy better but my heart breaks at having to do the therapy with him when he is hating it. I suppose it's kind of like being your childs Doctor as well as parent when your child is ill. I don't want to be his therapist. I just want to be his Mummy.
Anyway, as part of this funding seven new child care centres are being built (one in each capital city I think) that are able to take 20 children with autism as well as NT (neuro typical - it sounds better than saying 'normal' lol) children. The ASD children will be with the NT children but they will have a team of specialists with them all day every day.
There will be a qualified early childhood teacher, a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, several Dip Ed aides and it is overseen by developmental paediatricians from the Royal Childrens Hospital and researchers from the Autism Research Centre. The children will be in small groups of ten and each ASD child will be among mainly NT children. The program is intense but it is play based and a heap of fun.
It's exactly what Jonah needs but by gosh the places are as rare as hens teeth. Only 20 places in a city the size of Melbourne. The odds are so against us getting a place but it's not impossible. Please, everyone, whatever God or statue, or rock God or thing you pray to, please pray that we get a placement for Jonah. I can feel it in my bones that this is exactly what he needs.
I spoke to the enrolments officer yesterday and she was lovely. She kind of indicated that because Jonah was so young and is now on the waiting list, at very worst he may get a placement there in his final year before school so, in another three years. I want him there now and there is a possibility that he may get a placement now so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!
If we get this it means I get to be Jonah's Mummy and not his therapist. I will do what it takes to get this little guy better but my heart breaks at having to do the therapy with him when he is hating it. I suppose it's kind of like being your childs Doctor as well as parent when your child is ill. I don't want to be his therapist. I just want to be his Mummy.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
So here we are...
So sorry for not updating for so long. I blame facebook. I do all ofmy updates there but forget that some of you are not on my FB so aren't getting any updates. Now that the initial whorlwind is over I promise promise PROMISE I will be a much more diligent blogger and will update more regularly.
So, last time I left you we were awaiting the results of Jonah's EEG, MRI and for the developmental assessment to be done to see if he did indeed have autism. Turns out he does. They did the developmental test and he passed with flying colours. Passed as in, yes he does indeed meet the criteria for autism. Every single componant of the test proved that.
She tried to get him to give her a ball, he tapped it on the table and ignored her.
He had his back to her and she bounced three balls right next to him whilst calling his name. He completely ignored her.
She gave him a birthday cake and a dolly, put candles in the cake and pretended to blow them out, cut the cake and gave him a piece then put the candles back in. He banged the cake on the table and walked away.
She gave him a book with pictures of animals and asked, "Where's the cow (horse, sheep etc)? He took the book, turned it upside down then put it down and walked away.
She shone a little torch in his face, flashed it two or three times and turned it off. The aim was to get him to ask for more even if it was by throwing a tantrum. When she turned it off he simply walked away. She turned it on again, flashed it and got his attention. As soon as she turned it off he walked away.
She got his attention then pointed to me and said "Where's Mummy." He put his head down and wandered off. The same with "Where's Daddy"
There were other things but I can't remember. After this she sat us down and for a split second both Darling Husband and I thought she was going to say, "What were we thinking? There's nothing wrong with this child!" But that's not what she said.
"OK, so six weeks ago when I saw Jonah he certainly presented as a child who fitted the criteria for Autism. Today when I see him (we both thought this would be followed with, "He just doesn't fit the criteria", the way she ended the last sentence really sounded like it was going to be a "However, today he...") he certainly confirms that diagnosis."
And that was it, we were told. Our baby has autism and there is no going back from here. There is no more wondering, no more hoping, no more wishing. Jonah is autistic. And from the way he passed that test with flying colours, he's definitely not mild.
Jonah's other test results all came back clear. He does have delayed myelination in some areas of his brain but apparently this is a non specific finding and often found in people with autism.
We discussed what avenue we would take as Darling Husband and I had devised a plan that we thought would suit us and we were thrilled when our paed agreed that it was the best way forward for Jonah.
So now we start. I have spent the last week on the phone organising speech therapy, early intervention, play group, parent support, contacing various agencies for funding, contacting Centerlink to register my child as having a disability....that was hard, so very hard.
But on the other hand I also found some fantstic, amazing children who have had some really positive outcomes.
I'll leave it there for now. My head is still a mess but things are getting clearer. As I said, I promise I will be back to update again, very soon and much more regularly!
So, last time I left you we were awaiting the results of Jonah's EEG, MRI and for the developmental assessment to be done to see if he did indeed have autism. Turns out he does. They did the developmental test and he passed with flying colours. Passed as in, yes he does indeed meet the criteria for autism. Every single componant of the test proved that.
She tried to get him to give her a ball, he tapped it on the table and ignored her.
He had his back to her and she bounced three balls right next to him whilst calling his name. He completely ignored her.
She gave him a birthday cake and a dolly, put candles in the cake and pretended to blow them out, cut the cake and gave him a piece then put the candles back in. He banged the cake on the table and walked away.
She gave him a book with pictures of animals and asked, "Where's the cow (horse, sheep etc)? He took the book, turned it upside down then put it down and walked away.
She shone a little torch in his face, flashed it two or three times and turned it off. The aim was to get him to ask for more even if it was by throwing a tantrum. When she turned it off he simply walked away. She turned it on again, flashed it and got his attention. As soon as she turned it off he walked away.
She got his attention then pointed to me and said "Where's Mummy." He put his head down and wandered off. The same with "Where's Daddy"
There were other things but I can't remember. After this she sat us down and for a split second both Darling Husband and I thought she was going to say, "What were we thinking? There's nothing wrong with this child!" But that's not what she said.
"OK, so six weeks ago when I saw Jonah he certainly presented as a child who fitted the criteria for Autism. Today when I see him (we both thought this would be followed with, "He just doesn't fit the criteria", the way she ended the last sentence really sounded like it was going to be a "However, today he...") he certainly confirms that diagnosis."
And that was it, we were told. Our baby has autism and there is no going back from here. There is no more wondering, no more hoping, no more wishing. Jonah is autistic. And from the way he passed that test with flying colours, he's definitely not mild.
Jonah's other test results all came back clear. He does have delayed myelination in some areas of his brain but apparently this is a non specific finding and often found in people with autism.
We discussed what avenue we would take as Darling Husband and I had devised a plan that we thought would suit us and we were thrilled when our paed agreed that it was the best way forward for Jonah.
So now we start. I have spent the last week on the phone organising speech therapy, early intervention, play group, parent support, contacing various agencies for funding, contacting Centerlink to register my child as having a disability....that was hard, so very hard.
But on the other hand I also found some fantstic, amazing children who have had some really positive outcomes.
I'll leave it there for now. My head is still a mess but things are getting clearer. As I said, I promise I will be back to update again, very soon and much more regularly!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The minefield.
Good God it's a minefield out there. I have just contacted two ABA service providers, one isn't taking an more children and the other has us on a waiting list. And the cost! My goodness, these people are just taking advantage.
If we go down the ABA path, we need to provide and pay for the therapists who charge around $25 per hour. We need a minimum of 20 hours per week so yeah, we need to make $500pw magically appear. And that's not including the cost of speech therapists, psychologists, occupational therapy, paediatricians yadda yadda yadda.
My head is spinning. This is so hard to navigate.
If we go down the ABA path, we need to provide and pay for the therapists who charge around $25 per hour. We need a minimum of 20 hours per week so yeah, we need to make $500pw magically appear. And that's not including the cost of speech therapists, psychologists, occupational therapy, paediatricians yadda yadda yadda.
My head is spinning. This is so hard to navigate.
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