From The Hubby's Point Of View

Mike was talking about my blog today and how he feels that I'm not focusing on what is going on outside of therapy. So I decided to post tonight on his point of view, because he is very much involved in all of this and his thoughts definitely do count. But first, here's what happened today.

We had another very insightful OT session. I'm feeling more and more comfortable with Karin as the weeks progress and, again, this week she was able to give me a lot of feedback.

Remember how Raquel used to throw herself back and the whole pillow thing? Yes, I did say "used to" because it's something she doesn't do anymore, which is awesome! But, what she's doing now is hitting herself on the head when frustrated or overly tired. I asked Karin about it, and she said that hitting herself is obviously more preferred than the throwing back, but still related to the sensory thing. This one being the proprioceptive sense, that Raquel is seeking proprioceptive input. This is the position sense, the one that deals with body awareness and motor control & planning.

Karin gave me ideas to help with this, such as wearing ankle weights, a weighted vest, or a back pack. She said that having that additional weight on her will help give her that proprioceptive input that she is seeking. By constantly having this input, it will have a calming effect on her. Other ways to receive this input is by lifting slightly heavy items. Today Karin brought a medicine ball that Raquel would roll and throw to me. This helps to develop arm strength. She also brought a bolster pillow that she used in rotation to her fitness ball. Again, just trying to develop arm and core strength. She also used it for the wheelbarrel walking. She also suggested that I create a mini-obstacle course in the living room. Raquel seems to know the placement of everything and can be clumbsy and not watch where she is going. Today, she tripped over Karin's legs, but demonstrated her saftey response by putting her hands down to protect her face before falling. This is a good thing. A lot of kids don't show this yet and end up getting hurt. An obstacle course will help develop Raquel's motor control and coordination.

We had another great session with Jennifer this afternoon. Jennifer commented on how much more alert, aware, and present Raquel was today. I noticed it, too. It's like she's coming out of a fog. She was very interactive, very vocal, and seemed to really enjoy the entire session. She was laughing and smiling the whole time.

Jennifer did say that she is noticing a pattern with the data. She said that Raquel will do about 5 independent trials and then choose not to and will get not only a negative score, but also marks for behavior. She thinks that we need to adjust the program to only record her at 5 trials. The goal is to do as many as possible up to 10. Jennifer rotated toys today and doesn't feel that she's getting bored with the toys - just bored with the task. She said by adjusting the program a bit, we'll see more progress and she'll continue to improve. And of course, that's the goal. Today, I was working at my laptop in the other room for probably half of the session. In the beginning, I had to sit on the floor next to them the entire time and every time I'd leave, she'd follow me. I can tell she's starting to build a rapport with the ABA team, and is getting more and more comfortable around them.

Okay, Mike's take on all of this...

Mike feels that I am doing a little bit of, let's say, sugar coating. He says that I'm talking only about how well she is doing in her therapy but I don't mention how difficult it still is when we don't have a therapist in the house.

Today will be the example. Raquel woke up at 6:15am on obviously the wrong side of the bed. We normally call her our "kissybug" in the morning because she is happy and overly affectionate. Not this morning. She woke up in a mood and was just a big pain and using the "me mad" talk all day. Mike took them for a walk and to the mall and got her back 15 minutes before Karin showed up. He walked in with her carrying on. We played "I'm Yours" and when Karin walked in, she settled down for her session, but was still a little aggitated.

Once Karin left, she immediately went down for her nap, which I was really happy about. But then she woke up and was again, really fussy. She didn't want to be held, kept telling us she was mad, but we couldn't figure out why. More "I'm Yours." I must have heard that song 10 times today.

She was completely freaking out right before Jennifer came. I really didn't know what to make of the session but as soon as Jennifer walked in, Raquel was ready to work. And about an hour after Jennifer left, she started up again with the "me mad" talk and was very challenging for most of the night. Trying to guess what she wants is often very much a struggle because she's not able to use the PECS functionally yet. I will be talking to both Mary and Janine about this next week.

So, even though we are seeing a lot of progress when recording the data during the sessions, she still can be a little overwhelming at times. I contribute this to her lack of vocabulary - she's frustrated by not being able to communicate her needs. And, if we get frustrated, she picks up on our vibe and it escalates. We are constantly reminding ourselves to stay calm, and keep a quiet house. But, isn't that everyone's goal? :-)