It all started around 8:45am when Elizabeth showed up at her new time for BT. Raquel wasn't very cooperative - appeared very tired and easily aggitated. I mentioned how we were at the beach all day Sunday and she thought it was just going to be a somewhat "off" day for her because she had such a big day at the beach. Elizabeth continued to work with her for the next 45 minutes until Tricia showed up to do the physical. PT is not the fun stuff - it's demanding on Raquel and doesn't involve a bunch of cool toys like she's used to dealing with with everyone else. She is definitely out of her comfort zone and needs to constantly be redirected back to the therapy, which is why Elizabeth was overlapping sessions today.
The session started out very quickly and I have to say that I had this sick feeling right after we started that something just wasn't going to be okay. Last time, Trish was working with her on climbing so I wanted to show her how she's able to climb on to the couch unassisted now by using her little mattress as sort of a step (our couch is a little higher). She immediately moved the mattress away from the couch and wanted her to do it from the floor, saying that she's tall enough now. This is when things just started to spiral downhill. After a few more attempts at other physical challenges, I witnessed the most horrific "tantrum" that I've ever seen her go through. Not only was she hitting, scratching, and pulling hair towards me, she went after both therapists. Elizabeth handled it really well and even showed me a couple new ways to restrain her without making her feel like she is being restrained. I learned a lot from her being able to stay 100% calm but I could tell Trish was shocked by what was occuring. The only thing I got out of the entire PT session was to have her start walking on unstable surfaces - like sand at the beach, on air mattresses, etc. Elizabeth was determined to have her calm before Trish had to leave, but nothing would work to redirect her - not music, our dog, NOTHING. She was a little calmer when Trish left, but it wasn't until after she left that I was able to completely calm her in our rocking chair. She fell asleep in my arms out of pure exhaustion and slept for about 20 minutes. When she woke, although tired, she was very cooperative and Elizabeth was able to continue on with her session. She even cried a little when Elizabeth had to leave.
The whole thing was very disturbing to watch. Looking back, I should have stepped in sooner to prevent it from escalating, but at the same time, it was an awkward situation for me - these are the people that are supposed to be helping me learn how to deal with my daughter. But, when I had that feeling, I should have done something.
The good news: speech went really well. I almost cancelled it because of the morning ordeal, but she had a good lunch and her usual nap so I thought I should at least try. Mary is very encouraged by Raquel's continued word approximations and is convinced that she has more vocabulary than she is using. At one point, she rolled back and bumped her head on a toy. She cried and came to me and said, "I hit my head" while rubbing the spot she bumped. Mary was very excited to hear that and is encouraging us to listen for more words and to repeat them back to her in conversation so she will begin to add them to her regular vocabulary.
The other good news: I heard from the new occupational therapist and she starts next Monday.
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