MANDS = 13

Today was fairly good, considering we were still dealing with the after-effects of the glutens. Tony didn’t mand as much today, but seemed to be less irritable when we were doing each activity. I got the usual “open” and a couple times echoed “help” when we were outside.

As soon as I came in the door, Tony was requesting “walk.” We went to his usual spot by the lake to see the ducks and to throw a few rocks in the water. Outside we worked on motor imitation. Tony got a “yes” for “arms in front” and “open mouth.” Inside we worked on motor imitation with the dolls. I didnt’ get very far with the drills in the book, but Tony did kiss Miss Piggy when I asked him to and also gave her a hug with no prompting. Also outside we played a “stop”/ “go” game where I held Tony’s hand and said “go” and we would run until he would say “stop” and we continued this for several rounds. I think he really understands the concept of “stop” “go” as well as “up” and “down.”

For the receptive activities we worked on the Potato Heads (we now have a Ms. Potato Head for anyone who doesn’t know). Tony worked well with both of them, putting Ms. Potato Head’s hat, arm, nose and mouth in the correct places without gestural prompting.

For tacts I worked a lot on colors with the crayons asking Tony to identify red, blue, green, orange, purple and black. I also used colors on the paper as well as blocks to serve as my exemplars. Tony got a “yes” for green and black. I also had some luck with the adjective activity with short/long. Tony did really well and started echoing “short” and “long” when we were playing with his slinky. For tacting animals, I think Tony is making great progress. He knows “monkey” and “duck” very well at this point. He didn’t do any sounds today (he was making the same sound for all the animals when I asked him what sound does “…. make” ). Alright, I think that’s about all I have to report on for today.