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Yesterday, Tyler said Uh-Oh at least 3 times after I modeled the word for him. So hopefully soon he'll start connecting the meaning with the phrase. Make sure to use it anytime the phrase is appropriate, i.e. drop something, say uh-oh, etc. let's help Tyler reinforce the phrase.
Other news.. Tyler did fantastic at the clinic today. For the first time, he paid attention to the little pretend kitchen. He's never noticed it before and frankly it's a very hard concept to grasp since it involves pretend play which is very hard for a toddler with autism. Tyler has also begin throwing balls in the past weeks which is new.
Tyler's communication is really coming along. Please remember that kids go through many stages of communication, they just usually go through them so fast you aren't aware they are happening so when I tell you the progress Tyler's made, please know that it is very signifincant to have happend in 4 months even if it doesn't seem that way to an outsider.
- At the beginning of the study, Tyler had very limited eye contact and was not using any sounds to get what he wanted or using any gestures, etc.
- First step: Tyler began improving eye contact to get what he wanted and then began using the hand pull.
- Tyler began using the handpull very consistently along with the eye contact.
- Just recently (last two weeks), Tyler has been using the hand pull, eye contact, and a sound to get what he wants. This started with the cars,.. i.e. we'd go Ready, Set, and then hold out for go (pushign the car) until he made a sound (he also makes gestures) and then we'd let the car go. We'd only do this one out of every 4 times so he didn't get frustrated and the game was still fun.
- Now that sound is beginning to generalize in all aspects of getting what he wants. For example, we played with a tub of water today at the clinic and I was pouring water from a cup. I'd say one and pour then stop and then say 2 and pour and then stop and then hold out on 3 for a sound and of course he' d make the sound. THen I elminated the one, two prompt and wouldn't start pouring (after I initially filled the cup) until he made the sound. He did this very well today and was very engaged for a full 10 minutes.
Yesterday's session went well too> We worked more on bathtub. The Bath is a very preferred for Tyler so we have to work hard at helping him transition out of the bathtub to prevent frustration and this went well yesterday. We make sure to have a clear ending by starting to drain the water while we have bubble play. This is consistent and indicates to Tyler that bathtme is coming to an end. Then we make the dring off time very fun with peek aboo with the towel. Once we are done drying, we have a video for him playing so help him get through "dress time".
So along with that we worked on snack time. And talked a lot about how to handle keeping Tyler regulated and eating while he's at the table. We talked about supports and having a lot of supports at the beginning and then slowly beginning to provide less exciting prompts to ensure the beginning of snack time is successful and then we can slowly work to get him less focused on the prompts and more focused on me. Example: On days we know Tyler is not likely to eat and is having a hard time staying regulated we start by putting in a video to help keep him engaged.. on day's he's not eating well but fairly well regulated, we use other prmopts such as a small car rolling back and forth and asking him to look once in a while or make sounds while eating or we also are just beginning to introduce finger puppets. On days when Tyler is well regulated and eating well, we'd start with just giving him his milk and then makign snack time fun with lots of songs, peek a boo, etc.
So that's about all I ahve time for right now. We do get a consultation (on a monthly basis) to have Carrie help Tyler and us with pretty much anything. So, we are going to use our March consultation to get Tyler's haircut which is a very painful process. Everyone can help initially get prepared for this by just occasionally touching Tyler's ears (softly) and rubbing his head, pullign up his hair like they woudl if he was going to cut it. We'll be getting out scissors so he can hear th sound over and over which he is very sensitive too (the sound of the scisssors actually cutting). So we are going to be doing all this for the next week (please help) so we can get him prepared for the actual haircut.
HAPPY EASTER ALL!
