Today was the first day of the new earlier arrival time, 9:30. Of course Tony was already up and running around. We watched “Jo-Jo” and “The Wiggles” while he ate some food. Tony really loves those wiggles! We went in his room and played a little. He manded for ‘color’ and ‘crayons.’ I grabbed two boxes of crayons and asked which one he wanted. He got antsy and said “no.” He pointed to the windowsill where a tin of crayons was resting. I gave him the tin and he was happy. I also got him a big coloring book to color in.

At around 11:28 I took Tony into the bathroom and disrobed him from the waist down. I sat on the big potty and he sat on the little potty. I had to put him back on it because he got up pretty quick. When he’d sat down on it for a few seconds, I cheered and patted his head. Then I put a new diaper on him and held his shorts out so he could step in.

We got in a few intraverbals while he was coloring. I at least went over them to get him acquainted with the new ones. When he was ready for a break, we went for a car ride with Marlaina. We went to K-Mart and Tony had fun riding in the cart. If I doddled behind, he would ask his Mom (an approximation of) ‘where’s Parker?’ It was so cute!

Apparently Tony was not ready to be back at the house yet, so we ended up going for a walk. It was a lovely walk. We went down the sidewalk to the left and into the courtyard. A new hammock is up and Tony is quite fond of the green plastic covered chains hanging from each side. At first he said ‘no’ when I asked if he wanted to swing, but when I got in the hammock he wanted ‘up.’ He brought cup and turtle with him.

When we got back we went into his room, but he was crying and screaming and didn’t stop long enough to try to communicate what it could possibly be that he wanted. Marlaina brought him some chips and he was happy. He played with legos and we did some tacts and receptives. He wanted to open the door and I tried to redirect. He started crying and screaming and Marlaina took him to bed.

Tony was feeling much better today and as a result, Parker and I were able to get more things done. I came in for a late breakfast and Tony had already eaten some chicken. We watched a show and took a quick walk before speech arrived with some new toys. He seemed to have a really good session with Jill. When they were done, Tony decided he was still hungry and manded for “hot dog” and “chicken.” I prepared his hot dog and chicken and he watched another show quite happily.

After lunch, we went outside and worked on the new cards that Parker made for our program (yeh Parker!). I did the first round of delayed sample finding and although I’m not sure I did enough of a delay, Tony was able to pick out all the cards I had arranged in groups of three. I used “show me the ____” as my SD. He got nearly all of them right on the first try. I will try doing this again tomorrow, but I think we might be able to take this out and put more time into the receptives “feature, function and class” category.

Motor imitation went fairly well today. I may still need to adjust the different imitations chosen because again, Tony got several on his first try today.

Intraverbals were slightly more challenging. Parker and I have been using visual stimuli during the beginning stages of teaching (as we discussed with Jay). Tony can get most of the intraverbals already with a visual or gestural prompt now. We’ll continue with prompt fading until he gets the “yeses.”

On our walks today we did several motor imitations outside and Tony was able to burn off lots of energy running around the basketball court. He went to the hopscotch court and decided to tact all the numbers by touching them in sequence. He would then turn around and count backwards, 9 to 1. When he finished he looked up at Parker and I with a big smile and began to clap for himself. It’s so great to see him proud to show us what he knows.

The walk had tired Tony out for the most part. When we came back inside to work more on receptives he was, well…not too receptive. I did get a lot of requests for tickles though. Since we have been pushing the mands, I thought it was a good idea to elaborate on the ones he has established in his repertoire. I would say, “Tickle what?” and I prompted him to reply with a body part and say “tickle (body part).” He did really well with this. He echoed “neck” “feet” and “tummy.” Parker and I have also been emphasizing Jill’s 2-word-combos and incorporating colors such as “white duck” or “green leaf.” Tony really loves colors right now!

So, today was a good day for all of us. I finally feel like Parker and I are making headway into our n

Tony was feeling much better today and as a result, Parker and I were able to get more things done. I came in for a late breakfast and Tony had already eaten some chicken. We watched a show and took a quick walk before speech arrived with some new toys. He seemed to have a really good session with Jill. When they were done, Tony decided he was still hungry and manded for “hot dog” and “chicken.” I prepared his hot dog and chicken and he watched another show quite happily.

After lunch, we went outside and worked on the new cards that Parker made for our program (yeh Parker!). I did the first round of delayed sample finding and although I’m not sure I did enough of a delay, Tony was able to pick out all the cards I had arranged in groups of three. I used “show me the ____” as my SD. He got nearly all of them right on the first try. I will try doing this again tomorrow, but I think we might be able to take this out and put more time into the receptives “feature, function and class” category.

Motor imitation went fairly well today. I may still need to adjust the different imitations chosen because again, Tony got several on his first try today.

Intraverbals were slightly more challenging. Parker and I have been using visual stimuli during the beginning stages of teaching (as we discussed with Jay). Tony can get most of the intraverbals already with a visual or gestural prompt now. We’ll continue with prompt fading until he gets the “yeses.”

On our walks today we did several motor imitations outside and Tony was able to burn off lots of energy running around the basketball court. He went to the hopscotch court and decided to tact all the numbers by touching them in sequence. He would then turn around and count backwards, 9 to 1. When he finished he looked up at Parker and I with a big smile and began to clap for himself. It’s so great to see him proud to show us what he knows.

The walk had tired Tony out for the most part. When we came back inside to work more on receptives he was, well…not too receptive. I did get a lot of requests for tickles though. Since we have been pushing the mands, I thought it was a good idea to elaborate on the ones he has established in his repertoire. I would say, “Tickle what?” and I prompted him to reply with a body part and say “tickle (body part).” He did really well with this. He echoed “neck” “feet” and “tummy.” Parker and I have also been emphasizing Jill’s 2-word-combos and incorporating colors such as “white duck” or “green leaf.” Tony really loves colors right now!

So, today was a good day for all of us. I finally feel like Parker and I are making headway into our new Phases for Tony’s program! Yeh!

MANDS = 12

Today was a very short day with Tony because he was not feeling very well (he also got up at 5:30 am). He has several rashes on his back and his nose has been runny and irritated. When I arrived this morning he was munching on some popcorn, watching the Wiggles. I waited to get started on anything because Jill was due to arrive at 11 for her session. Tony had a good time playing with the new ball-magnet game she brought.

After his speech, Tony requested “walk.” We went outside and I tried a few new motor imitations that have been recently added to the program. He got one on the first time but he seemed irritated when I pressed him to shake head yes and no. We walked around for a few minutes and then his older next door neighbor friend Andre came out to play. Since the hammok in the back area has been recently fixed, Andre and I took Tony for a swing. He manded for “stop,” “swing” and “all done” when he was ready to get down. I prompted “all done swing” and Tony gave me a approximated echoic. Part of the new mands that were added last week to the program were “all done (activity)” and “want (item or activity).” I’m really excited about teaching these because Tony likes to jump from thing to thing. It will be good to incorporate a mand for wanting to move on to something else when he is ready.

We came back after the walk and headed into the playroom to really get started. I worked on some of the new tacts. Tony did a great job of giving me an echoic for different words such as bunny and zebra. He had a hard time with making the “zzzz” sound. I will have to ask our resident speech expert Jill about teaching this.

At one point, Tony made a clear request for “play dough” and I brought it down off the shelf. We opened the “box” and brought out his special toys for the play dough. Typically, Tony will want to play with the play dough for as long as you’ll let him. Today, however, he announced “clean up” after only a few minutes of play and said “all done.” We cleaned everything up and he headed to the door. He seemed reluctant to give me the mand “open door.” I prompted him to request it and I opened the door. He immediately headed to the front door. Marlaina asked “Where are you going, Tony?” He replied with, “to the car.” He then followed up with “car ride.” Marlaina decided we could make a run to the store to get some more rice milk.

Once we arrived at Whole Foods, Tony was irritable and began crying. It was obvious he needed a nap. We rushed through the store and made a quick stop at Doolittles for some pet supplies. Tony usually loves going into new stores but on this occasion he was very upset. We ran to checkout because we knew Tony was feeling pretty rotten. When we got home Tony went to bed in a bad mood. Marlaina thinks his cold might be gotting worse. Hopefully a good rest will help.

This morning Tony was happy. He was really into “Sesame Street” and “Elmo’s World.” I leapt at the chance to go into his room when he said “open door.” Whitney was updating the program, so we worked on a list of actions we’re trying to determine whether he is able to perform. He did pretty well with the things I asked him to do. I let him play for the most part, I didn’t want to risk his good mood.

We went on quite a few walks and on the first one we played in the bus. He made good approximations for ‘checkbook’ and ‘envelope’ echoically. (Impressive) On the second walk we noticed that the hammock had finally been taken down. Apparently Marlaina’s e-mail complaint worked.

After we worked and played in his room for awhile and we went back out into the living room I didn’t know what he could possibly want. He answered my unasked question with a resounding mand for “hot dog!” The household was unfortunately completely hot dog free, so we hopped in the car and headed to the grocery.

This afternoon when he woke up he was screaming and crying. Poor Tony, we don’t know why he was so upset, but we suspect gastro-intestinal problems. We took him on a car ride and he is in good spirits again! Yeah Tony!!!!

Mands: 11

Either Tony is tired or not feeling well. He seemed a little off today, and Marlaina noticed it too. I was sick yesterday and today Anton threw up and Marlaina can’t seem to eat her brunch. There’s something yucky in the air.

When I got here Tony was ready to eat. He manded for ‘chip,’ ‘chicken,’ and ‘waffle.’ He also said “eat chip” very clearly and got extra reinforcement: delivery of the chip, cheering, and hug. We decided to watch a show. Marlaina and I asked if he wanted “Blue’s Clues” or “Telletubbies.” He picked “Tellitubbies,” so we put on the episode entitled “Skipping.” Tony seemed to be thrilled with the selection. He was a tacting machine . . . pointing at the screen saying “sky,” “fwawa” (flower,) “sun,” then he tacted the tubbies’ colors. When the tubbies showed the video of children playing, tony was completely enthralled – they were skipping, or at least some of them were. Others were trotting, galloping, just plain running. Anton defended their haphazard attempts at skipping.

While the show was still on, Tony manded for “shoes.” We put on his shoes and went for a walk. After the walk is when he started feeling not so good. He wanted to go ‘over’ the gate and play in the bathroom. He loves to turn the light on and off and pretend play with the toothbrush. He is getting somewhat obsessed with the toothbrushing thing. Everytime we were in the living room he wanted to go back to the bathroom.

We tried playing in his room and starting with some ABA drills, but we had to abort mission repeatedly. It didn’t seem like he was happy until we were either going for a car ride or brushing our teeth. We went on two car rides, one of them to the park. Finally, after the second car ride while we were in his room he verbally confirmed the fact that it was time for “night night.”

Today was a great day with Tony (despite the absence of our beloved Parker who is sick today). The weather was also really nice so we took many walks today. On our walks today we did a lot of animal watching. We saw birds flying and I demonstrated how to fly like a bird (flapping our arms). We also saw several squirrels playing and Tony echoed “squirrel” several times later on when he was looking for them. Tony’s receptive language has really developed. I asked him where the squirrels were and he said “in da tree.” Yeh for Tony!

For his breakfast, Tony only manded for “chicken” today. He later tacted “cookies” and “chips” however. He learned all of his foods much faster than we all expected!

Tony had a good round of speech with Jill today. I had to keep him busy for about 30 minutes until she arrived because he was so excited to see her. While Tony had speech, Marlaina and I decided to tackle cleaning out the Subaru (a large task). When Tony was finished, we took Tony on the car ride he had been manding for. We also went to the car wash which he did NOT like. I think the soap on the car and the noise from the water jet must bother him.

When we returned it was time for a quick snack and a Blues Clues. He manded for another walk which we made short because Tony was getting tired (he got up again at 6am this morning). Time for night night!

Today was a rough day during some parts with Tony. He woke up bright and early at 6:30am as reported by Marlaina. Tony had already started eating when I arrived to do my daily feeding routine with him. I was glad to hear that he had tacted all of his food before eating though! We didn’t start much of anything because of the early arrival of Jill with speech. Tony was delighted to see her of course. Parker and I think that we’ll be able to teach Tony “who” very quickly because Jill is so highly reinforcing he will always try to say “who” in order to see her!

After speech Tony manded for “car ride” and Marlaina suggested we take him for a run in the park. A short drive later Parker, Tony and I arrived in Ion. We were pleasantly surprised to see another young boy (also named Anthony) playing with his sitter near the slide. Tony was very excited to have a playmate and so was the other Anthony. They took to each other well and engaged in play with a side bar on the playscape and some mulch off the ground. One would throw it on the bar while the other would subsequently knock it off and laugh. They played so well together, smiling and giggling the whole time. Tony had a few rounds of sliding and climbing on the playground after that. Although today he seemed frightened of going down the slide by himself. He liked going down in my lap though. We worked on “down”, “up” “over” and “under” while we were here.

About 25 minutes later, a large class of big kids came in. Tony was so excited we had to leave because they were playing a big-kids game of baseball (he likes chasing balls). We went to Chick-fil-A for some fries after the park and then we headed home. As soon as we got home Tony became cranky. It was clear that his early rise for the day was making him quite tired. Anton took him to bed for a nap. Meanwhile, Parker, Marlaina and I killed time painting the bus (it’s really coming along!). Only 30 minutes or so later Tony woke up screaming. Marlaina went upstairs to get him and he came down very upset. He was shaking and his body was stiff. Marlaina calmed him down as she held him. He cried for almost 10 minutes straight until she decided we might need a car ride to soothe him. He calmed right down after a few minutes in the car. There’s a clear reinforcer for you!

When we returned, Parker and I took him into his playroom. We let Tony take the lead on all the activities because he still seemed upset. We think now after noticing his behavior and smelling a very strange diaper that the problem might be related to a slight overdose in vitamins. This might have been causing him some gastro instestinal upset. Poor Tony!

To sum things up we had an easy day for Tony. I’m thinking tomorrow will be better if we don’t have any more tummy trouble!