Yay, I'm 183 weeks old today!
Masinja had a pretty typical week. At Speech he once again practiced his pretend play skills with a tea party and baby dolls. He played with the Duplos with the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore pieces again too. He also read Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Catch the Ball again. He really enjoys both books and has now memorized them. I didn't realize it but we had a copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear at home and he has been reading that all week. Last but not least his therapist worked on having him identify boy or girl using cards and added the pronouns he or she.
During OT Masinja tolerated the trampoline better than he ever has. He rode the horsey swing and afterwards he spotted the basketball hoop so his therapist let him shoot baskets for a few minutes. He then climbed the ladder to go down the slide but instead of using turtles/frog bean bags his therapist let him roll the basketball down the slide before him. We then moved to the smaller room and he played with the activity center for a few minutes while standing on big wedge to work on his balance. For fine motor skills his therapist had him work with alligator clips or large clothes pins as well as spring loaded scissors.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Weekly Update -- 28 June - 4 July 2010
Yay, I'm 182 weeks old today!!
Masinja had an eventful week. At Speech he practiced his pretend play skills again with a tea party and caring for baby dolls. He also played with blocks. Masinja -- read two books this week: Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Catch the ball both by Eric Carle. He really enjoyed Polar Bear, Polar Bear and has been quoting parts of it all week! Masinja's therapist tried something new. She used cards that had pictures on them and attempted to get Mason to use yes and no correctly by asking him if there was a particular object pictured on the card. After about a dozen tries he finally caught on!!
During OT Masinja once again practiced climbing the ladder and it was a little easier for him to do so. He was rewarded for all of his hard work by getting to go down the slide afterwards. He really enjoyed it because he get to let the bean bag turtles slide down before him. He also rode the horsey swing. His therapist has been swinging higher each week and he has been tolerating it quite well. Masinja used - scooter boards for the first time this week. His therapist had him lay on his tummy and pull himself across the floor with his hands. Her main objective is to try to improve his upper body strength in an attempt to help with his fine motor skills. She attempted to do a 6-month re-evaluation this week as well so she can assess what progress he has made. Masinja did well with stringing beads and unscrewing and screwing a tip back on. He's still struggling with scissors though and has regressed some with drawing horizontal lines; however, he now draws vertical lines very well. He wasn't able to stack very many blocks but I believe that was due to his distractibility.
Masinja had his 37th ECI session this week. His teacher and I discussed the use of the picture schedules as well as potty training. We also discussed various activities that I can do with him at home to help with the sensory processing issues such as finger painting with shaving cream and pudding as well as making homemade playdoe with cornstarch, water and food coloring. Lastly we discussed which type of scissors would be best for Masinja. His teacher was going to check with the OT on his team and have her take a few different pair to parent connections so he can practice.
Last but not least, Masinja went to Parent Connections this week. He did get to try several different kinds of scissors with the OT and it was decided that he works best with spring-loaded loop scissors. His OT have us a pair to practice with at home.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja had an eventful week. At Speech he practiced his pretend play skills again with a tea party and caring for baby dolls. He also played with blocks. Masinja -- read two books this week: Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Catch the ball both by Eric Carle. He really enjoyed Polar Bear, Polar Bear and has been quoting parts of it all week! Masinja's therapist tried something new. She used cards that had pictures on them and attempted to get Mason to use yes and no correctly by asking him if there was a particular object pictured on the card. After about a dozen tries he finally caught on!!
During OT Masinja once again practiced climbing the ladder and it was a little easier for him to do so. He was rewarded for all of his hard work by getting to go down the slide afterwards. He really enjoyed it because he get to let the bean bag turtles slide down before him. He also rode the horsey swing. His therapist has been swinging higher each week and he has been tolerating it quite well. Masinja used - scooter boards for the first time this week. His therapist had him lay on his tummy and pull himself across the floor with his hands. Her main objective is to try to improve his upper body strength in an attempt to help with his fine motor skills. She attempted to do a 6-month re-evaluation this week as well so she can assess what progress he has made. Masinja did well with stringing beads and unscrewing and screwing a tip back on. He's still struggling with scissors though and has regressed some with drawing horizontal lines; however, he now draws vertical lines very well. He wasn't able to stack very many blocks but I believe that was due to his distractibility.
Masinja had his 37th ECI session this week. His teacher and I discussed the use of the picture schedules as well as potty training. We also discussed various activities that I can do with him at home to help with the sensory processing issues such as finger painting with shaving cream and pudding as well as making homemade playdoe with cornstarch, water and food coloring. Lastly we discussed which type of scissors would be best for Masinja. His teacher was going to check with the OT on his team and have her take a few different pair to parent connections so he can practice.
Last but not least, Masinja went to Parent Connections this week. He did get to try several different kinds of scissors with the OT and it was decided that he works best with spring-loaded loop scissors. His OT have us a pair to practice with at home.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Weekly Update -- 21 - 27 June 2010
Yay, I'm 181 weeks old today!!
Masinja had a pretty uneventful week. He went to Speech as usual and worked more on pretend play. He made a "cake" and we had a tea party as well. He also played with baby dolls, duplos,and read a few books. He worked on identifying emotions and imitation. While working on those skills his therapist discovered that Masinja has difficulty using yes and no correctly. It has now become one of his goals.
Masinja didn't have OT this week because his therapist took the week off.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja had a pretty uneventful week. He went to Speech as usual and worked more on pretend play. He made a "cake" and we had a tea party as well. He also played with baby dolls, duplos,and read a few books. He worked on identifying emotions and imitation. While working on those skills his therapist discovered that Masinja has difficulty using yes and no correctly. It has now become one of his goals.
Masinja didn't have OT this week because his therapist took the week off.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Weekly Update -- 14 - 20 June 2010
Yay, I'm 180 weeks old today!!
Masinja had an interesting week. He didn't have speech because he had appointment at the Monroe Meyer Institute for his autism screening.
The visit at Monroe Meyer was 4 hours long. It consisted of a meeting with the psychologist, a meeting with the speech therapist, a play session, and then a final meeting to review their findings. We spent an hour with the psychologist and discussed some of Masinja's behaviors as well as his medical history. We spent about half an hour with the speech therapist and discussed Masinja's communication skills as well as his development. During the play session I observed while T.M. went into the play room with Masinja. Two women attempted various pretend play activities with him including playing with cars, dolls, bubbles, blocks, a telephone and having a pretend birthday party. We had a short break before meeting with the psychologist once again to review the findings. Based on the observations of everyone involved in the screening Masinja, was diagnosed with PDD-NOS which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. Basically, in order to qualify for a diagnosis of Autism a child needs to meet 3 different criteria. Masinja only meets 2 out of the 3 criteria, hence the diagnosis of PDD-NOS. It is sometimes referred to as atypical autism.
During OT this week Masinja worked on more sensory stuff. Once again his therapist put him on the trampoline. He still wasn't impressed with it and pretty much refused to stand so his therapist just let him sit while she bounced. He also rode horsey swing again and loved it. The last sensory skill he worked on involved the playground equipment. He climbed a ladder and slid down a slide. It was a bit difficult for him to climb the ladder since he had never done it before. He loved going down the slide though. There wasn't much time left when he finished all of the sensory stuff so his therapist had him work with easy putty as a means of strengthening his hands. All in all it was a productive session.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja had an interesting week. He didn't have speech because he had appointment at the Monroe Meyer Institute for his autism screening.
The visit at Monroe Meyer was 4 hours long. It consisted of a meeting with the psychologist, a meeting with the speech therapist, a play session, and then a final meeting to review their findings. We spent an hour with the psychologist and discussed some of Masinja's behaviors as well as his medical history. We spent about half an hour with the speech therapist and discussed Masinja's communication skills as well as his development. During the play session I observed while T.M. went into the play room with Masinja. Two women attempted various pretend play activities with him including playing with cars, dolls, bubbles, blocks, a telephone and having a pretend birthday party. We had a short break before meeting with the psychologist once again to review the findings. Based on the observations of everyone involved in the screening Masinja, was diagnosed with PDD-NOS which stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. Basically, in order to qualify for a diagnosis of Autism a child needs to meet 3 different criteria. Masinja only meets 2 out of the 3 criteria, hence the diagnosis of PDD-NOS. It is sometimes referred to as atypical autism.
During OT this week Masinja worked on more sensory stuff. Once again his therapist put him on the trampoline. He still wasn't impressed with it and pretty much refused to stand so his therapist just let him sit while she bounced. He also rode horsey swing again and loved it. The last sensory skill he worked on involved the playground equipment. He climbed a ladder and slid down a slide. It was a bit difficult for him to climb the ladder since he had never done it before. He loved going down the slide though. There wasn't much time left when he finished all of the sensory stuff so his therapist had him work with easy putty as a means of strengthening his hands. All in all it was a productive session.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Weekly Update -- 7 - 13 June 2010
Yay, I'm 179 weeks old today!
Masinja and I got back to our normal routine this week.
At Speech he worked more on pretend play. We had a tea party and he fed a few baby dolls and brushed their hair and rocked them to sleep. He also played with some mega blocks that had pieces with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore on them. He hasn't really shown much interest in anything other than Sesame Street characters but he certainly was interested in the Pooh characters. Masinja's therapist tried to get him to listen to a story and then retell it but it didn't go over very well. He listened just fine but he was not interested one iota in the retelling part!
At OT Masinja's therapist started working on more of the sensory issues. She got on a trampoline with him and held his hands while she jumped. He wasn't impressed to say the least. As soon as she started bouncing he said, "Do you want to get down?"He tried to get off immediately. He also rode on a horsey swing and crawled through a tunnel several times. He did really well with both. Masinjha worked on fine motor skills using small pop beads and easy putty. He got a special treat at the end of the therapy session when his therapist gave him some chocolate pudding. She wanted to see how well he could use a spoon. I have to admit I think that was the highlight of his day! He definitely has a sweet tooth :o)
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja and I got back to our normal routine this week.
At Speech he worked more on pretend play. We had a tea party and he fed a few baby dolls and brushed their hair and rocked them to sleep. He also played with some mega blocks that had pieces with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore on them. He hasn't really shown much interest in anything other than Sesame Street characters but he certainly was interested in the Pooh characters. Masinja's therapist tried to get him to listen to a story and then retell it but it didn't go over very well. He listened just fine but he was not interested one iota in the retelling part!
At OT Masinja's therapist started working on more of the sensory issues. She got on a trampoline with him and held his hands while she jumped. He wasn't impressed to say the least. As soon as she started bouncing he said, "Do you want to get down?"He tried to get off immediately. He also rode on a horsey swing and crawled through a tunnel several times. He did really well with both. Masinjha worked on fine motor skills using small pop beads and easy putty. He got a special treat at the end of the therapy session when his therapist gave him some chocolate pudding. She wanted to see how well he could use a spoon. I have to admit I think that was the highlight of his day! He definitely has a sweet tooth :o)
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Weekly Update -- 17 May - 6 June 2010
Yay, I'm 178 weeks old today!
Masinja and I had a very eventful 3 weeks. We made the trip to NY so we could be there when Masinja's grandpa had surgery. Masinja got to see all of his great aunts and uncles and even some of his second cousins. We were originally only going to stay in NY for a little over a week but we extended our trip. We went to go visit Masinja's grandpa in the hospital as often as we could and we also visited with Uncle Vin several times. The first week we were there we spent a lot of time with Masinja's Uncle Sean, Aunt Joyce, and Uncle Gary and Patty. Gary and Patty had to go back to Ohio though so we spent even more quality time with Sean and Joyce when we weren't visiting with other family members and friends and making multiple trips to Friendly's :o) Gary and Patty came back to NY for Memorial Day weekend and brought Masinja's cousins Taylor and Jordan with them. We had a great weekend and Masinja had a blast playing with his aunts and uncles and cousins. The plane ride home wasn't a pleasant experience though. It rained most of the trip and there was quite a bit of turbulence. Considering Masinja's issues with gravitational insecurity the turbulence was a BIG problem. He cried for most of the first flight and I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to get him back on a plane for the second one. He was a trooper though and I'm sure it helped that the second plane was a big jet. We made it back home safe and sound. We'll go back to our normal routine next week.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja and I had a very eventful 3 weeks. We made the trip to NY so we could be there when Masinja's grandpa had surgery. Masinja got to see all of his great aunts and uncles and even some of his second cousins. We were originally only going to stay in NY for a little over a week but we extended our trip. We went to go visit Masinja's grandpa in the hospital as often as we could and we also visited with Uncle Vin several times. The first week we were there we spent a lot of time with Masinja's Uncle Sean, Aunt Joyce, and Uncle Gary and Patty. Gary and Patty had to go back to Ohio though so we spent even more quality time with Sean and Joyce when we weren't visiting with other family members and friends and making multiple trips to Friendly's :o) Gary and Patty came back to NY for Memorial Day weekend and brought Masinja's cousins Taylor and Jordan with them. We had a great weekend and Masinja had a blast playing with his aunts and uncles and cousins. The plane ride home wasn't a pleasant experience though. It rained most of the trip and there was quite a bit of turbulence. Considering Masinja's issues with gravitational insecurity the turbulence was a BIG problem. He cried for most of the first flight and I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to get him back on a plane for the second one. He was a trooper though and I'm sure it helped that the second plane was a big jet. We made it back home safe and sound. We'll go back to our normal routine next week.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Weekly Update -- 10 - 16 May 2010
Yay, I'm 175 weeks old today!
Masinja had an interesting week. I would like to report on Speech and OT but due to the events of the week and the fact that I have fallen behind on updating the blog, I honestly don't remember what activities he did this week. About the only thing I can report on is that Masinja had his 36th ECI session. His teacher, services coordinator and I discussed the differences between an IFSP and an IEP because Masinja will be transitioning to an IEP in August. We also discussed preschool placement. Masinja will start prechool in September and will go 3 days a week. He will be going in the morning from 9 to 11:30. We have the option of having him ride the bus but T.M. and I decided to drive him ourselves. He will also be eating lunch at home instead of at school because he still has feeding issues.
Masinja got to fly on an airplane for the first time this week. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April and started having complications this week. We flew to NY bright and early Saturday morning to spend time with him and to be there when he has surgery next week. We were planning on going to NY for a visit next month but the circumstances speeded things up a bit! We'll be heading back to Nebraska next Sunday.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
Masinja had an interesting week. I would like to report on Speech and OT but due to the events of the week and the fact that I have fallen behind on updating the blog, I honestly don't remember what activities he did this week. About the only thing I can report on is that Masinja had his 36th ECI session. His teacher, services coordinator and I discussed the differences between an IFSP and an IEP because Masinja will be transitioning to an IEP in August. We also discussed preschool placement. Masinja will start prechool in September and will go 3 days a week. He will be going in the morning from 9 to 11:30. We have the option of having him ride the bus but T.M. and I decided to drive him ourselves. He will also be eating lunch at home instead of at school because he still has feeding issues.
Masinja got to fly on an airplane for the first time this week. My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April and started having complications this week. We flew to NY bright and early Saturday morning to spend time with him and to be there when he has surgery next week. We were planning on going to NY for a visit next month but the circumstances speeded things up a bit! We'll be heading back to Nebraska next Sunday.
That's all for now.
Peace,
T.M.M.
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