Breaking Routine - Not Always Easy

Elizabeth warned me over and over again about the dangers of having a daily routine with Raquel. I agreed with what she was saying but continued to walk, drive, walk, drive, walk, drive. And I met the majority of our neighbors - again, not always a good thing.

We have slowly been trying to break the vicious routine cycle and have made some serious progress. She no longer has to go for a walk or drive before she naps. And we don't play "I'm Your's" nearly as much for calming. But one routine that we are still pretty consistant with is her morning walk with Mike, Gabby and Annie. She typically starts to get more and more impatient when it doesn't happen when she wants it to, and then the behaviors happen.

Today was different. She started getting a bit unhappy and I asked her what she wanted. She went to the back door and pulled off her PECS for Annie. She then went to the living room and sat down, holding and looking at the picture. I told Mike and he immediately got ready and off they went. Again, PECS is what I'm constantly struggling with and this morning I felt that she was actually communicating functionally with them.

And it happened again this afternoon. After her nap, I gave her the usual snack. She seemed very bored with it so I asked her what she wanted. Then I heard the velcro come off the fridge (remember, the PECS are affixed to some doors and our fridge by velcro), and she was holding the applesauce PECS. I immediately praised her and gave her the applesauce, and she was very happy.

Today Janine overlapped with Cari's session and was very pleased with what Raquel demonstrated with the PECS earlier today as well as how the session went. Raquel was very cooperative and somewhat vocal. She was even pretty affectionate with Janine, which Janine loved. Raquel was still very stubborn and continues to want to do things on her terms. Wednesday is our next Team Meeting - I can't believe it's been a month already - and we'll be able to discuss any of our concerns then.

I also finally heard from a replacement physical therapist. She will be coming next Tuesday night to do her assessment of Raquel and what she feels she needs as far as therapy goes. I'm hoping she'll be willing to do therapy at the park like we did with Trish.