Wow full house today. We don't always combine this many therapies, it just worked out.
M. the Speech Therapist was scheduled to come at 10:30. C. the COTA was scheduled for 11:00. My son has a lot of electronic toys and he would rather play with them than interact with the various people who come to see him and I am really frustrated by it. He only has a year left with these services and I want to take advantage of them. I moved all his electronic toys from the living room to the hallway that connects the kitchen to his bedroom. Ten thirty came and went which was making me nervous because M. was supposed to be coming. Ten forty sill no M. so I checked my calendar because maybe I was wrong. Shortly after 10:40 M. knocked on the door. She said she saw C. outside and was going to come upstairs with her, but after 10 plus minutes realized C. was just early.
I told M. I hid all the electronic toys and she was really happy I did that. She said she would take the batteries out of her kid's electronic toys and then they were just toys. My son would at first not engage with her and instead held on to the front of the couch and danced. I asked him if he could dance with M. M. picked up a puzzle and the two worked on that for a little bit. My son mostly wanted to walk around so M. kept distracting him. Since he wanted to play on the couch, she picked up a ball and put it on the couch and rolled it to him.
I did get to tell M. about "gotta go". (http://momlovesscifi.blogspot.com/2015/04/my-son-just-made-more-progress.html) She was duly impressed.
At 11:00 C. the COTA and D. a student arrived. Sometimes EI/PT/OT/ST will bring a student. They always ask prior to the visit if it is ok. I am pretty laid back and have never had a problem with students coming. I do have a tiny apartment (about 400 sq. ft.) so we were kinda becoming a little tight in my extremely tiny living room.
What I like about having multiple services is that they can double up. It makes my life easier. Although for someone with social anxiety is can be overwhelming sometimes, they are not here to see me so it makes it easier in that respect.
When C. arrived we discussed how my son is doing with baths. She had suggested in the past that he gets placed in the tub first, then draw the water with him in the tub. I was sceptical at first, but it worked. He was fine until his hair was washed, then he got upset. C. asked if he ever got laid down in the tub to rinse off and no he hasn't only because the tub is so traumatic that baths are kept as short as possible. She said laying him in the water will rinse out his hair and some kids have an easier time with it.
M. and C. played with my son with his sensory box and they played with puzzles. M. noted when given two puzzle pieces my son chooses quickly and doesn't hesitate like most kids. When my son got frustrated and was done, they made him use sign language to signal he was done. He played with D. with his toy where you push the beads along on wires. M. noticed he would rock from foot to foot and asked if he does it with shoes on. I really couldn't remember because we primarily wear shoes outside. I put his shoes on and he continued doing the same thing. M. played with sensory balls, the kind with rubber spokes all over them, by rolling them on my son's head, neck, and back. He loved it. Since bath time is so awful, I asked if it would be ok to bring the ball in the tub and massage him with it in the water. They said sure. M. even suggested textured bath mats. M. and C. then engaged my son by having him play ball with them. M. said to create opportunities for engaging him like this.
At 11:15 there was a knock at the door. It was A. the EI coordinator. She was late because she had an appointment in another town.
My son was mouthing a lot of toys and C. asked how brushing his teeth is going. It is going well, except now he likes to bite the bristles of his tooth brush. She suggested getting an electronic toothbrush and just rubbing the outside of his checks to give him the oral stimulus he needs. She asked if he has a straw cup or a water bottle because that does the same thing. He does have a water bottle with a straw but I don't know how to teach him to suck. She told me to put water in it, then drip a few drops on his mouth by holding the bottle upside down. He should open his mouth for the straw and once the straw is in his mouth, run my fingers along his check to facilitate sucking. We are definitely trying this.
M. commented this was an incredibly successful visit and credited my hiding the electronic toys.
I am glad of our progress and looking forward to our next therapy/EI visit.
