Tony wasn’t feeling well so he was really quiet and mellow. But he didn’t want to do too much. He swinged, peeled stickers, bounced his ball, and did some matching (forks, wooden spools in two separate boxes). We also tried eating a waffle on a plate with a fork. Tony really just wanted to drink from his cup and eat his waffle for an hour. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his head–just didn’t feel well. He did also play with his shape sorter. When OT came Tony at first wanted to lie his head on a blanket. But he did later respond very well to peek-a-boo game and an electronic turkey toy. Tony was saying a lot of words and babble. The OT got some physical and verbal imitation out of him. He was enjoying OT today but towards the end started zoning out to the tv (this was really bc he wasn’t feeling well). Eventually Tony went to his mom, said “all done” and went to take a nap. We took it really easy on Tony with him feeling bad bc some progress is better than no progress, right.

Marlaina took her two ABA’s (Whitney and myself) on a fieldtrip this morning to meet with Sen. Ray Cleary about getting a bill to the Senate (and of course passed) that would give families of children w/ASD insurance coverage for services not specifically medical and/or educational (ie ABA, speech, OT, diet, etc…). As you all know, the state only provides but so much and the rest is up to the families (out of pocket). For this reason, many children with autism are denied life-changing opportunities. Anyway, the Mt. P Mom’s of Children W/ASD met with the senator to pull on his heart strings (so that he could go on and do the same with the Senate) as a way of trying to get this state (atleast in one way) up-to-date. The senator got to hear the perspective of the mothers and also of the therapists. Hopefully, this will meeting will really go somewhere but only time and persistence will tell…
On to Tony, he was having blast with daddy Anton, jumping, playing with crayons, just having his own little party. So when I showed up to work Tony wanted to jump some more, swing, run outside, and basically continue to play. We did get to roll balls of different sizes with “roll ball” prompt and Tony said “ball”. When we went on to matching (using two boxes with objects) Tony tried closing the lids and saying “all done”. I said “no all done”, he whined, I pulled out the squish balls, then he calmed a little and matched some. This was short-lived because Tony was pretty tired at this point. Outside he ran, played “aah boom”, touched bushes, banged on the fence, rubbed the bark on trees, was just really aware of his surroundings. So when he was ready to nap Tony said “all done”, went to the stairs and waved goodbye. I hope we can get work done Fri.

So my time with Tony today was spent with playdough…as you can see in Elizabeth’s post. It was a big deal for Tony to actually WANT to play with something that has an unusual texture to it. My feeling was that if that was what he wanted to play with…go for it!

So, I don’t have much to say this time! Things are plugging along with Tony and I’m so happy. The meeting went great on Friday with Jay Cole and he’s totally on board (of course!). Other than that, things are going well. If you guys need anything, you know where to find me!
Talk to you all soon!

It was playtime today. Megan (EI) and Tony used the shape sorter but Tony didn’t really want to play with it so she pulled out the play-doh. Mommy intervened just in time with the “magic” gluten-free dough. At first Tony was not interested but later he did enjoy the pretend eating and also wanted to organize/line up the different colored doughs. Tony enjoyed having the play dough so much that we couldn’t move on to another activity. We tried swinging, jumping, other toys, even post-its but Tony continued to cry. So we gave back the play dough and then followed Tony’s lead. He eventually played with new stacking toys, puzzles (did place some of the pieces in the correct places), he bounced on his ball and made a sound for “bounce”. Tony also said ball often (when picking up one or when pointing to one in his puzzle). Tony requested “tickle” a few times and ran around outside (he’d run to a gate, giggle, run away from it, then repeat). He also made the sound for “jump” throughout the day (especially when he was stepping over cracks outside). We did do some 3-D to 3-D matching (“put with same”) using some stacking blocks and squish balls but this was brief. The coolest thing to come out of today was during Tony’s lunch. Barney was on tv having a pic-nic, so I pulled out Tony’s pretend plates and fork and placed his sandwhich on it. Tony was picking out the cheese with his fingers so I gave him the fork and showed him (hand-over-hand) how to get out the cheese that way. After that Tony was using the fork with the sandwhich on his plate! Today was really just playing and trying to do a little here and there. The day started off roughly with the play-doh and the crying/inability to redirect so we just took it easy. While playing I hid one container of dough at a time until they all disappeared. By this time Tony was tired and wanted a nap so he didn’t seem to notice/care. After all of the physical contact/playing Tony was ready for bed. He went upstairs with mom and passed out in no time.

Today Tony didn’t get all of his nap time in so he was pretty cranky. Marlaina and I took him out to swing for a bit until he could calm down. The swinging definitely helped but he still seemed a little out of it (kept rubbing his eyes). So we took him back in and I let him take the lead with play time. We played with his Boobah dolls and then Tony went to his chair and whined. He ate while he watched TV and after we went for a walk (and without Marlaina this time). Tony was still sleepy so I started out with “jump” which he really likes. I did jump so much that he started saying “jump, jump, jump.” I stopped and asked, “What do you want?” and he replied with “jump, jump, jump!” Whether or not he really understood my language with the question he was still making a verbal request to me which is great. After jumping we did running. With this activity I would grab his wrist and say “Let’s run!” and then I would pull him with me while I jogged. He did run for about 20 seconds and then tried to sit down (yup, he was tired). So while he was sitting I picked up a few leaves and got him to hold them while I said “leaf.” We went back to the house after that but Tony seemed like he wanted to stay outside. He whined again, so we did swinging again since he seemed reluctant to do any of his other activities. This time after swinging Tony seemed better so we went inside again and Tony pulled his crayons out of the drawer. I worked with him with coloring and then we also did stacking with his new cups. He also played with his shape sorter some. I tried to work on matching with him doing “put with same” with some small foam fish. He seemed very unfocused (still sleepy) and instead of matching he wanted to pour them out of the box…I guess this could be pouring. He also did this with the bucket of bowling pins when I tried to get him to place things back “in the bucket.” Basically, he was very tired, cranky and seemed frustrated. Instead of ending the session, we took Tony outside (Marlaina, Anton and I). He ran around quite a bit and would run to Anton and then fall down saying “ahh boom.” After this we tried to take him back inside. As soon as we got inside he started to tantrum and kept reaching for the door again. We took him to the swing (yes, again) and he calmed down. He signed and said “all done” after a few minutes and then we took him inside. He ran straight towards the kitchen so Marlaina decided he needed to go to bed. So today was difficult in that Tony was very tired but at least we got a lot of physical activity in since he wanted to be outside.

I came in the door and Tony was eating. He was looking around and in a very happy mood. When he wanted down Tony said/signed “all done” four times. I played with Tony for a while and let him watch a little tv before going into ABA. We started off by swinging and Tony put his legs up and down on his own and I cheered. He did it again and was really looking around. When his mom went inside he said/signed “all done”. Tony went to his mom many times today but I redirected him to an activity. He whimpered briefly but I could easily redirect him with spinning (showing him to use sit ‘n spin) or tickling or the tv, etc… I wasn’t here Mon. bc I was sick so I just wanted to ease into things. Tony requested “tickle” a few times today. When we started working we rolled the ball and bounced the ball. Tony used his regular sized ball and did really well. He was rolling and then bouncing/hitting the ball out of my hand as I said “bounce”. Later Tony sat on the ball and bounced on it while saying a sound like “bounce” and hitting his hands on his legs. Tony then matched objects–squishy balls, lizards, and wooden people-shaped blocks (Tony had two boxes with objects and he matched the correct object). He did this activity really well and we repeated this activity at three different times throughout the session. Tony zoned out quite a few times in the beginning (eyes fixed on the tv) and I just redirected him by putting something in his line of sight or moving him to face the activity, or making a sound, etc…This worked well. Tony matched shapes in the shape sorter without mistake (just had to be redirected away from the tv periodically). He also stacked cups of slightly different sizes (one inside of the other). During coloring I had to place my hand over Tony’s for him to hold the crayon in the correct way. If I let go of his hand then he would try to color with the crayon on its side.
We did a lot of physical activity today as a break inbetween objectives such as pouring and putting blocks in the bucket (both of which went well with first hand-over-hand and then just verbal prompt). Tony jumped on his trampoline but for a very short while. He rolled over his exercise ball, bounced on his other ball, and also played outside in the grass. Once outside Tony held my hand until we reached the yard, then he ran off and around the yard, going around the trees, under the hammock, back and forth–he loved it! Tony played a game with me in which he would stop, say “ah”, then I would say “ah”, then he would say “boom” and fall on his butt on the ground. Then I would do it and we’d clap. He did this over and over while running around outside, laughing and giggling. This is by far the best he has done with me outside. When Tony was tired he stopped, said/signed “all done”, then we walked back to the house. Also, when I was stomping on the grass as we walked Tony copied me and stomped his feet too. Tony tried to walk to the pond so I picked him up and bounced him as we went into the door to the house. Tony immediately went to his mom for his cup and then took my hand to his high chair. I showed him his cup picture when he was drinking and his chips one when he was eating. He ate his lunch and made sounds in response to the tv (he even waved as the kids were waving). Kids were beating drums with their hands so I took Tony’s and hit his on his highchair table. He then did it on his own. Tony was a lot more focused after being outside and with the rolling, bouncing, pouring, coloring, matching, etc…Tony did well and was just very receptive. He was in such a great mood and made eye contact frequently, along with many communicative sounds. Oh, we also counted objects and Tony pointed his finger to the objects on his own and made counting sounds. Eventually Tony was ready for his nap and waved goodbye to me. Tony really zoned out a lot in the beginning (here and there) while trying to work but after doing different physical activities he was focused and willing to do anything. I loved working with him today!!

First things first…I love Tony! I am so impressed with all the hard work that everyone has done to get him to where he is now. I have never met a more talented, hard working, and dedicated bunch of people! Tony is so lucky to have all of you. As I am sure you all know, there are so many children out there that do not get the same opportunities, chances, and interventions as Tony as getting and I am so proud to be a part of his “team!”

So, on that note…Tony did WONDERFUL today! When I got there, mom was giving him a snack and as soon as he saw me, he signed “all done” and mom got him out and he went right to my toy bag and signed “open!” Wow, not only is he using signs spontaneously, he’s using them appropriately! He played really well with me, counting, sorting, and a little matching. He also liked looking through an “I Spy” book that I brought. He actually labeled a few of the pictures…shoe, duck, sheep. They were approximations, but we all knew what he was trying to say! At the end of the hour, he laid down and signed/said “tickle” and I tickled him for a good 10 minutes. The best part was at the end when he said “uh-oh” because he got the hiccups! How cute is he?

From the other, less exciting aspect of my job…not much going on. We are still waiting on TEFRA, but it should be soon. Other than that, things are going pretty well. If any of you think of anything you need, please let me know! Jill, we are also working on increasing ST. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything! See you all soon!

Ok, so I’m a day late writing this…but better late than never! I didn’t do any ABA drills with Tony because today was his Saturday trip to the YMCA in Summerville for swimming. The first time I went, Tony responded really well. However, this was the third time Tony had gone and he definitely had some cues as to what we were going to do. As soon as we got the entrance, Tony planted himself on the ground. His reluctance became more apparent as we got into the pool room. When Marlaina handed him off to the 2 OTs, Tony threw a complete fit and started screaming. After about 5 minutes of this, they decided that maybe a break to see mom was in order. Tony calmed down and after a few minutes one of the OTs in the water excited Tony’s interest with a red ball. Tony and the OT did some great “roll ball” activity (the OT was in the water and Tony was pool-side). He actually started laughing at the splash action of the ball and he started to get in on his own. The OTs did a great job of redirecting him into the water. Although as soon as he got in, he usually wanted out after only a few seconds.They were not forceful with making him get into the water, but they did some other cool things to get him comfortable. For example, one of them had a meat baster that they would fill up with water and pour on his arm and leg to make him get the feeling of water. So, even though he wasn’t getting in the water, he was at least getting some degree of exposure. Hopefully next time we’ll get one step further with this. I’ll definitely remember my suit next time too!

Tony completed his activities but with a lot of redirection, reinforcement, and breaktimes. He wanted to move a lot from one toy to the next and had to be prompted to stay on task. But, on a positive note, when Tony did sit and work he accomplished well what was asked of him. For instance, the matching activity went really well today. Tony matched his lizards three consecutive times and later in the session when prompted to “put with same” and only verbal prompt was used. Tony also did this with his squishy balls (which were also a great reinforcer and sensory toy for him) and his large plastic dinosaurs. Later I used 2 boxes (one with a squishy ball and the other with a lizard) and hand Tony an object and said “put with same”. He matched incorrectly the first time so I said flatly “no” then did it again. He got it correct so I praised, clapped, and tickled him. Then we did it again (mixing up the boxes) and he matched correctly two more times.
I started off the session by trying to get Tony to “roll ball” using modeling, verbal, gestural, physical but he just did not want to roll his ball (I tried not using the bowling set today). I tried throughout the session, moving onto something else and coming back to it. Eventually I was able to get Tony roll the ball (once with just a verbal prompt). I praised him then put him on his exercise ball and rolled him while saying “roll” and pulling him back and forth over it. He also bounced on his bouncy ball with handles.
Tony peeled stickers but it was more of a redirection activity to get him back on task. Tony peeled with verbal “put here” or “put sticker here” and gestural, pointing to the designated square. Tony did this correctly and hand-over was only used once when Tony was putting the sticker on a different square.
I tried to get Tony to stack his different sized blocks but Tony continuously knocked them down and told me “all done”. By the way, Tony has this sign mastered bc throughout the session when Tony had enough he said/signed “all done” to me. So we moved to another activity and then came back to them. I had Tony watch me clean up by putting the blocks in the box. I also pointed and said “in bucket” or “blocks in bucket” and grabbed Tony’s hand and did it. I kept putting blocks up and Tony started doing it. He put one block in the box at a time until he was done w/modeling and verbal. Tony did the same activity with his dish set (plates, pots, silverware) putting everything back in the box.
Tony swinged outside and jumped on his trampoline, holding onto the handles. He made the “jump” sound. Tony jumped a lot on the ground (I used this for sensory/redirection) when Tony was getting off task or getting upset (he was really trying to hold his mom’s hand/have her attention while we were working but she did a good job of sending him back to me). We also walked without mom on the sidewalk and to the park. Tony sat on the ground and actually picked up leaves! So I picked up ten and counted them with him. Then Tony got up and was ready to walk inside.
While playing with the big plastic dinosaurs I walked them up his arms and made growling sounds. I said, “Tony, dinosaur sounds”. Tony imitated the sounds several times and played with the dinosaurs. Tony also imitated the sound “meow” with the OT when he saw a puppet cat and the OT made the sounds. The OT swinged Tony on the hammock outside (pulling it like a coccoon around him) to calm him bc he was tired/whiney). Tony loved this and started to fall asleep in the hammock so she walked him around some more. The OT also had Tony roll a toy helicopter around on the floor and he imitated the sound the toy made but he only played with it for a short while. Tony, until last night, had not been sleeping well and he was extremely tired so OT was difficult today. Tony cried at first but the redirection with swing put him in a better mood (and later with hammock). The OT got Tony to clap his hands by modeling while watching a STOMP show (people clapping, stomping, banging objects) and Tony was very receptive to this. But afterwards Tony started to cry again so he took a nap. He rubbed his eyes, yawned a lot, and almost fell asleep during the session so he was extremely tired. He fell asleep in his crib hugging his teddy bear. Tony was a little difficult/tired today but we were still able to redirect and get a lot accomplished (all of his activities except for pouring–I forgot it). So despite Tony’s reluctance (he once pushed my leg and tried closing the front door on me), we got quite a bit done.

Aha! My bag of distraction tricks is being put to good use!…that’s great! Tony really seems to enjoy these sort of sensory based activities so I try to incorporate any kind of verbal imitation and the oportunity for Tony to communicate that he wants something to happen. Combining movement with vocalization tends to be helpful for a lot of kids.
Today Tony independently used the sign for open in reference to a box of shape puzzles. He loves these puzzles and does a great job with them. He completed three of them by himself matching a circle, square, rectangle, diamond, triangle, and semi-circle. It’s amazing how focused he gets when he really enjoys something!
Marlaina and Anton, sorry I rushed out of there today. When I looked at my watch it was time for my next appointment. It’s so easy and entertaining to sit and talk with you guys! Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you next Tuesday. I’ll be in touch with Megan. ~jill