It's two weeks into the school year and I was reflecting today on how much more DS is able to tell us about his day this year. I still use the info sheet from his teacher as a starting point to ask questions about what he did at school, but his communicative abilities have really improved and now he can explain more about what happened and how he felt about it. I love knowing anything about what he does during the day, but I especially like hearing HIS take on it!
One of DD's areas of rigidity was drop off related, DH/I couldn't go in the room.
Well her ABA program has been working on it and we tried it Sunday for Sunday School drop off and it went great, I was able to walk her in help her hang up her backpack say 'bye' and leave and she was fine, told me 'bye' and went to play with the other kids.
This has been a huge issue over the last couple years so it is so great to make progress with it!
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The ASD teacher's aide sent the handwriting sheet home because she could not get DS to do it. He kicked and tried to bite her. (I know, she could have tried "first, then" with DS but it did not say on the daily report).
I got DS to do the worksheet for a cheese stick. I thought it was going to take longer but he did it in 5 minutes.
We spent last week visiting family. DS did great on the plane, he always has. He also did pretty well with all the winging it for visits we had to do. Lots of new experiences and overall he did great.
My real brag though is that I got some comments about how much more vocal he was and how much his eye contact had improved since our last visit (last December). None of them knew eye contact is an ABA goal .
At a birthday party on Saturday, X actually initiated interactions with the birthday boy and Dh said that at one point he was in the middle of the group of kids addressing multiple kids!
Then today at a play date with his best buddy from preschool last year (who just got an ASD Dx), instead of just letting him play with my other son the whole time as X is wont to do at play dates, he actually went up to them at one point and said, "Hey guys, want to play with me? Hey, D, want to play with me?"
And within about 10 minutes of the best buddy and his mom being at our house, the mom commented that X seemed more engaged and was making more consistent eye contact than at our last play date a few months ago. His EI commented on it, too, on Tuesday; it had been 3 weeks since she'd seen him.
It really seems like X is having a "social skills explosion," if there is such a thing. I think finally getting targeted therapy for that (with an SLP to work on pragmatics) is really helping. He's only had about 5 sessions so far and we and EI have worked with him on social skills for years; maybe there are other factors at play, too, but we didn't expect so much improvement so soon!
DS got a piece of chocolate for writing his name on an assignment because he was in the half of the class that did it. He also has 48 AR (accelerated reading) points. The are required to get 8 per semester and the reward tops out at 100 points.
We picked up glasses for DD yesterday and the staff complimented me on how well behaved both of my kids were. I laughed and said you should see them at home, and the girl was like "No really. They are both so good."
Yesterday at school, ds had a more challenging afternoon, so his math homework was sent home. Not only did he do it willingly, but we were able to incorporate adding and subtracting during bath time. He loved it!
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Trevor's year started great! Finally feeling like we have a good plan and TEAM in place. His reading has improved. He is on a soccer team. He has friends!!! Hoping this is the best year yet!
I signed DD1 up for an after school art class that meets Friday afternoons (yesterday was the first class). It meets at her school, so they go straight from their classrooms to the art room. Last week she started saying she didn't want to do it, so since we're already doing ballet and thinking about Girl Scouts I decided to cancel it. I contacted the organizer, but somehow the school still had DD on the roster, so she ended up going yesterday. She LOVED it.
As it turned out there were four other kids there who were in her class last year. When I picked her up she came bounding out of the building and proclaimed that it was "the greatest day of [her] life!" She's too funny.
DS has walked alone into school twice this week, and not only met his goals and received 7-10 stickers, but he also got a 100% on his reading exam, and 100% on all classwork.
It is a few days after Wednesday but something significant for us yesterday and today. The whole family has been sick and DS usually never indicates if in much discomfort but both today and yesterday he told me "ow" and pointed 2x to where he was hurting! Twice to head today ( he is congested) and once to mouth yesterday ( he fell down and hurt his mouth). I'm excited he can tell me more now!
. Yay! I seriously can't wait until this happens for DS.
Nate's SLP at school is doing assessments to see where he is now on receptive and expressive spoken English skills. (I think it is the REEL?)
Anyway, she said he was scoring at the 6 year old level on some receptive skills and has one of the the highest over all scores for his age in Spoken English that they have seen in a while. The scoring range is 85 to 115 and he scored 94. Example: She had four pictures and asked him to point to an "eruption". He pointed to the volcano. (Thanks ipad! Specifically Endless ABC's)
She said that she was able to give him credit for a lot of words he didn't pronounce quite right (he has dysarthria) and she could figure out a lot more of what he was trying to say by using context and he sometimes signs when he talks. He goes to a deaf school and has mild-moderate hearing loss.
She gave me a "pat on the back" and said that she wished all parents talked to their kids like I do. I talk to him as if he is an adult and explain new concepts/words as I go. Today I caught myself explaining what "blown through the afternoon" means. She's right! Good work Mommy!
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Re: Wednesday Brags!! 9/18
I got DS to do the worksheet for a cheese stick. I thought it was going to take longer but he did it in 5 minutes.
I sent the worksheet back to school today.
My real brag though is that I got some comments about how much more vocal he was and how much his eye contact had improved since our last visit (last December). None of them knew eye contact is an ABA goal
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
My Recipe Blog
~All AL'ers welcome~
DS got a piece of chocolate for writing his name on an assignment because he was in the half of the class that did it. He also has 48 AR (accelerated reading) points. The are required to get 8 per semester and the reward tops out at 100 points.
We picked up glasses for DD yesterday and the staff complimented me on how well behaved both of my kids were. I laughed and said you should see them at home, and the girl was like "No really. They are both so good."
ETA: words because it's early
Woot!
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
My Recipe Blog
~All AL'ers welcome~
Anyway, she said he was scoring at the 6 year old level on some receptive skills and has one of the the highest over all scores for his age in Spoken English that they have seen in a while. The scoring range is 85 to 115 and he scored 94. Example: She had four pictures and asked him to point to an "eruption". He pointed to the volcano. (Thanks ipad! Specifically Endless ABC's)
She said that she was able to give him credit for a lot of words he didn't pronounce quite right (he has dysarthria) and she could figure out a lot more of what he was trying to say by using context and he sometimes signs when he talks. He goes to a deaf school and has mild-moderate hearing loss.
She gave me a "pat on the back" and said that she wished all parents talked to their kids like I do. I talk to him as if he is an adult and explain new concepts/words as I go. Today I caught myself explaining what "blown through the afternoon" means. She's right! Good work Mommy!