More Progress than I Thought

OK we did ABA today. I watched as Theresa exhausted from a full week complied with every request. She got to play for an hour after since she did so good. I talked to the therapist about her goals. There are a lot that haven't been filled in because they haven't had time to assess them while they tried to increase her speech. Now she can move on and I can use some of the things in her book to get her to talk for me. Puzzles and letters she likes I can use those to get her to talk.

When we got home she had a small tantrum before she ran over to the couch and went to sleep. Now she's up, she's talking and she's upset. Her "snack" is not what she wanted it would seem. If she wants something different she has to say it.

In another week we should have the forms I mailed off today back. I signed it and my husband was actually supposed to sign it. So now I have to wait until they send it back and take it back all over again. OH well, next time I'll pay attention before I seal the envelope so I don't have to wait until I mail it off to figure out I got it wrong.

Now it's time hopefully to get a little bit of work done and some laundry. Not so thrilled at having to do the last part.

Exhausted and Not Done Yet

I'm exhausted. We've had therapy every day this week and have one more day to go. I'm truly tired of having to get up and leave the house. This week we had an additional ABA session Monday. We had our three regular speech sessions and on occupational therapy session too. Now we have one more day of ABA tomorrow on our regular day. Two long hours of watching and hoping they aren't allowing her to do anything I don't want her to do. All the behaviors that I wanted to stop stopped when she began therapy and started learning how to speak. It took 2 1/2 long years to get the dangerous behaviors to stop I really don't want them to restart as she learns to be more independent.

I haven't got enough work done this month but some is better than none. I'm still adjusting to the summer schedule and not having any time that I can actually sit down to work without any interruptions. The summer vacation is only two months and I have no idea which class Theresa will be in. I have her IEP somewhere, she's been rearranging so I can't find it or anything else since she started.

I'm hoping to get everything back into my desk this weekend. OK time to pretend that I'm not too tired to get some work done.

Still Confused

OK I did my time in the first of four mandatory ABA driven "parenting" classes and now that it's all over I'm confused. At least I have the sheets that they use to do the data collection on, so I can look it up. I'll get less confused that way. I wonder what the rest of them are going to cover. There are six classes total only four are required.

I managed to get one article written today. Tomorrow and Thursday we have speech, Thursday afternoon we have OT. Friday we have a two hour ABA session which will make a total of four hours ABA this week. It also means that we left the house five days to go to structured therapy. I have to find her scissors before Thursday so that I know she's using them in OT. Then the therapist can see how far she is with those so they know when to take the step to the next pair. Besides Theresa has small hands.

OK well, it's after midnight and sleeping in is a luxury that I don't have so I guess I better end this post.

Common Sense Please Stand Up

I posted an article on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday that appears to be doing rather well. It's been viewed over 900 times since yesterday morning. At least I know someone is reading what I write.

We did a two hour ABA session yesterday. I watched this time. I'm still wondering at what point therapists will ask to find out what kids can do and are allowed to do. I never imagined I've have to tell someone that my THREE Year old is NOT allowed to go down slides head first or backward. I have a kid with no sense of danger, I'd prefer not to teach her to break a bone. She did sorting yesterday too.

I've given a lot since she began therapy and allowed her to have things with the therapists that she'd never be allowed to have at home because they're too small for her age. She put tiny marble looking things into different color cups yesterday and they worked on imitation. The child knows how to imitate I prefer she not perform on command like a trained seal. No she's never seen a giraffe or any other jungle creature so she got the name of the animal on the card wrong. I know common sense went out the window with her diagnosis but there are some areas that it's rather useful.

After all the goal is make the child self sufficient and ensure that she has manners. I'm going to have to go over the goals that the therapist set for the child. There are some things MY children aren't allowed to do and I'm fixing to scream as loudly as I can if someone doesn't start asking if she's allowed to have or do certain things.

On the bright side she's smarter than most of the people I deal with everyday.

Not much done today.

Well, I managed to do some promoting, editing and a little house cleaning today. Not a very productive day since I slept late but that's OK too. I managed to get some of the things I need to do done and the rest will wait. We don't have an appointment until Tuesday.

We missed table time today but Theresa has been in a good mood all day. I'm glad that she had a good day, she's just been a little active it seems.

Back to Basics

OK there was no ABA today. Sarah (therapist) had a sick child. We did do an hour with the nutritionist. I even scheduled another visit in one month. I have questions still, I'm hoping that the next time Theresa won't destroy the list.


I just realized I can not find the list of things that she was sensitive to. I'm going to try bananas in her bread in place of eggs, maybe. I have to find a different substitute in the meantime of things that can be used. Can't go get groceries yet. 


The easiest way to find her sensitivity is go back to basic. She can have meat, vegetables and fruit. That is as long as it's not an orange. I'll be keeping a food diary for her for a few weeks. I'll be giving the sheets to the nutritionists once a week or so until the appointment so that she can look over them and find a pattern. 


The worst part is that a rotation diet may not work for Theresa. There is no way to be sure until we do it. The best part is that she'll have healthy eating habits. 


Well, the laundry is going to be done soon and I need to get an article written before it finishes. That's part of the joy of working at home.

Plans for the Week

The summer's here. So far we've had one speech therapy appointment this week. Today's was cancelled because of an appointment for the therapist's son. Tomorrow we have to see the school speech therapist and then the OT. 


Friday we meet with the nutritionist and then go to ABA for two hours. We'll have two follow ups with the nutritionist while we figure out what she's eating and what she's tolerating. I'll spend the following two hours in ABA with her. She's starting to respond more. 


She's made enough progress that home therapy is more organized. We only have a half hour of table time though. She won't sit at it any longer when she's at home too many distractions we have to get rid of. We're working on it. She'll sit on the couch and do her flash cards, quickly because they bore her.


OK time to improve some past articles and write a few new ones since the summer isn't going to be a complete vacation like I wanted.