So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Our family is healthy, my husband has a great job, and we have a great home in a town we love.  Hands down though, the thing that we are most thankful for this year is seeing our little boy come alive outside of our home this year.  It has been a tremendous year of growth for him and through tireless cognitive behavior therapy and OT, he has overcome so many of the obstacles that held him back last year.  I am so thankful that I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with him and help him every step of the way.  It has been a year of hard work on his part and mine, as his advocate, tirelessly doing his therapy for both SM and SPD and keeping up constant communication with his school team.  Everything we have worked so hard for is finally starting to happen.  Hearing him speak with his friends inside and outside of school is the most amazing thing.  I am so proud and thankful for our brave little boy who continues to teach us so much every day.

Never give up on your child.  They are so much braver than you realize.  What seems like an easy task for us, can take extreme courage for someone with SM or SPD.  There are so many times you feel defeated, but never give up on them.  Be their biggest advocate!  You may feel like progress is so slow, but with your love and support, all those baby steps will eventually lead to amazing results and much happier times for your child and family.  I promise you that!

Thanksgiving went great at my relatives' home.  He warmed up very quickly and played with some adults he doesn't see very often.  He talked freely the entire night!  

Thanksgiving preschool show

Thomas has been doing excellent the past week and a half.  He just keeps surprising me.   At his parent teacher conference 2 weeks ago, the child study team and I came up with a few goals and decided that having him do the Thanksgiving show and gym was not a priority.  Since they make him uncomfortable we would not do them right now.  Well last week he ended up having a great week.  He stood up for a song during circle time and also during the Thanksgiving show practice, which before he wouldn’t.  He then decided he wanted to try and do the Thanksgiving show.  He wore a little bell necklace to school that he liked to hold during the practice, so maybe this helped.  (A prop to take the focus off him?) I went and saw him for his Thanksgiving show.  It was very casual, in the classroom, for parents only.  He looked very scared, but he stood the whole time.  He did not sing any of the songs or do the movements, but the fact that he wanted to stand up there was so brave of him.  The rest of the day he was very moody though.  I am thinking it may have had something to do with him trying to hold it together all morning.

A very big step!

Today Thomas took a very big step.  He went to a classmates' house for a playdate with not one, two or three, but FOUR other classmates.  It was his first playdate with this many classmates and the first classmate playdate without me attending.  I was very nervous about how he would do, but he did great!  He has been doing so well on the playground with all of these children and he was excited to go, so I let him.  I picked him up after 45 minutes for this first trial run, but maybe next time he’ll stay longer.  I know and trust the mom and we kept in contact.  He was very happy there.  This is such a BIG step for him.

He also was playing tag on the playground with his group of friends today running and talking to ALL of them. 

We are on our 5^th week of therapeutic listening.

Practicing for the Thanksgiving performance

This week has proven more difficult for Thomas.  The class is practicing for a Thanksgiving show for the parents next week, which is throwing him off a bit.  He has mentioned a few times this week that he doesn't want to go to school, which is new. He didn’t want to participate in gym this week either.  The preschool is having a small Thanksgiving show in the classroom for the parents on Wednesday, but Thomas has not been willing to stand during the songs.  They are not expecting him to do them, but he can’t seem to stand.  We tried making him a helper and giving him a prop to hold, but neither have worked  We gave him a week to give this a shot and then after talking with him, I asked what he would like to do.   He decided that he wanted me to pick him up early that day.  He will only miss the last fifteen minutes of school.  I have mixed feelings about him avoiding these types of things, but right now these four turkey songs are not worth ruining all the progress he has made this year.   We will be picking him up early that day.

I want to be seen & heard... when I am confident in what I am talking about!

This week was Thomas's turn to take home the number jar.  This involves finding a certain amount of things from home, (his number was 8) and bringing them back to school in the number jar.  The person then stands in front of the room and counts out his number of things as he takes them out and talks about them.  He was so excited to do this.  The teacher said that while he didn’t want to count the 8 things outloud, he was “chatting away” about the 8 things he brought!  When he is prepared for what he is going to say he will talk a lot.   We practice show-n-tell the night before and in the morning to build his confidence.  The teacher also gives me the questions she will ask ahead of time so he can practice his answers.  

He is also still raising his hand well and according to the teacher is often standing up while raising his hand to get picked J 

We are on week three of therapeutic listening. 

Weatherman Thomas

Thomas had a really great week this week.  Every week in his preschool, someone new has the classroom job of “Weatherman” for the whole week.  During circle time they sing a weather song and then the weather man goes over to the window, looks outside and reports the weather to the class.  Up until now, Thomas has not wanted to do this, but he has been practicing in the speech therapist’s office and in the classroom with smaller groups.  This past week it was his turn again and on Monday he got up, looked out the window and then whispered it to the assistant.  On Tuesday he whispered it to the assistant  and teacher.  The third day, he said it outloud to the class and boy was he so proud of himself when he got home.  We made a big deal of it and he was so happy!!!  The next two days he said it aloud as well!  He is such a rock star!

Also this week, he participated in gym for about 15 minutes with the aid of his teacher.  Usually he only lasts about 5 minutes before getting upset.  Great week!!

Therapeutic Listening program

Thomas started his therapeutic listening program on Sunday as part of his occupational therapy, so we will see how he progresses with this.  We have been talking about this with his OT for some time and finally were able to secure a used headphone and microchip set.   It does seem rather "new age", but I have read a lot about it and I think it could help greatly with his vestibular processing issues.  It is a 12 week program that involves listening to certain music/sounds selected by your OT for 30 minutes/2x per day.  He can still talk with us, play, and go about his daily life at home while doing this.  Here is the link to learn more about it:  http://www.vitallinks.net/

I figure can't hurt, might help.  All we have to lose is money and we are willing to take that risk to help Thomas.