3/27/08

Well looks like both the boys are catching colds. Tyler's has had a little bit of a runny nose for a day or two. Ben woke up this morning and said "nose is bothering you" ha! He still is trying to figure out the "I" "you" and "me".

Floor group went well today. one of the other toddler's took a preferred toy away from Tyler and he remained regulated, didn't really seem to care which is excellent! Also, the floor group leader (sheri) had a faux hair cut chair, etc. set up so Tyler could practice getting his hair cut. That went really well too. He had a chair, cape, scissors, a comb, etc. We had him sit in the chair for a minute or so to practice. We'll also be taking him into the salon a few times before the actual hair cut so he can get used to the environment. Big thanks to Sheri for helping us get Tyler ready for the real thing.

Today's session also went very well. Tyler was very well regulated today in spite of his cold. He signed for milk very clearly at snack time. I said milk and reached for it and then he signed it, fantastic! We'll continue this strategy where I say it and wait for him to sign, if he does not sign, I'll do hand over hand signing (making his hands sign it) and then give the milk.

He's really come a long way on puzzles. He used to not be intersted at all and now not only is he intersted he's matching up the pieces with their appropriate location. Next we'll work on receptive language and asking Tyler to point to cat, or cow, etc. We'll work up to this by pointing out the names and sounds of all the animals or whatever is in the puzzle. This is a wonderful foundation to build upon for all of his learning.

Carrie and I talked a lot today about how far we've come with Tyler, believe it or not, we are now entering the 6-month of the study. The last 2 video's, Carrie realized how well all the routines are coming along and how well regulated Tyler has become. So we are focusing on "up'ing the ante" We really need to push Tyler to make eye contact and sounds and push for that communication. Now instead of only forcing communication one out of every four times, we are going to wait for T yler to do it one out of ever two times (when well regulated). We are also going to focus more on independence, i.e. brushing his own teeth, throwing away his diaper, pulling up his pants, putting away his dishes, etc. Now that it's getting nicer out, we'll be working on some outdoor activities as well.

Feedback from last weeks session/Session notes:

We discussed strategies to make snack time more exciting to Tyler which included changing the locatino of Tyler's chair and having Tyler pick out a toy to bring to the table before he's put in his chair as we do with diaper changing time. We struggled last week with just getting Tyler to sit in his chair.

Car Routine: Looked good, Tyle rprovided consistent eye contract and vocalizations. He also did a job nice of following hte receptive direciton of "push" on several occasions. Caregiver uped the ante by holdoing out for more consistent eye contact coordinated with vocalizations. The caregiver did a good job moedling gestures "go" with an arm extension and point.

Book Routine: Since Tyler is now interested in books, but not always intersted in letting you participate with him in the book, we are going to work to each have a book and be pointing and talking about the book we have and then hope that Tyler eventually sees how fun our book is and wants to participate too. This may seem like a long shot but......he often brings us toys or wants us to see toys that we don't necessarily play with, he just wnats us to be around him as he plays so he is really starting to want that social interaction or at least having us near.

General feedback on all routines is that the caregiver is doing an excellent job of beginning and ending routines.

Signing, signing, signing..... very important to continue to model the signs since he's really picking up on imitation.