Monday was another school day for Carson.
While I was getting him ready-changing his diaper etc- I told him that this was going to be another day with someone different in the room. I explained to him that Mrs. O from last year was going to be in the room to help with the other little boy in the room and if he was feeling afraid like he was last week all he needed to do was shake and we would understand what he was trying to communicate to us. I wasn't sure if he comprehended what I was saying to him but at least it made me feel a little better about everything after the disaster last week.
When we got to school and signed in Patty decided that it was time for Carson to try a bigger staircase. She had me climb to the top and call him to me. He had a huge smile on his face as he scrambled up to me. Poor Patty as she is trying to keep up with him as he is wobbling all over the place, missing steps etc. When he got to the top he hugged me tightly and didn't want to let go. I snuck away from him and went down the steps. Going down is definitely not as easy as going up (not that up is easy either) especially because Patty is determined to get him going up and down without holding onto anything. He is so unsteady just walking down the hallway. I'm not sure if I think that walking up and down steps with one foot on each step without holding onto the railing is worth the effort. That is not going to make or break him.
After the stairs we went into the music room and began with our waves at the beach song which Carson REFUSED to do. He started shaking like the week before and I honestly had to laugh because there was no one else in the room besides me Jen and Patty. I told him it was a nice try but we weren't buying it. After the song we struggled to get him to do any of the Yogarilla cards and basically gave up. Jen decided that since we didn't get any OT in last week we should focus on that for most of the time we had. She first had him cutting straws with a pair of scissors that are connected on the end with a strap so you can squeeze them like tongs. He cut a few times but quickly gave up. Jen then brought out a plastic container filled with sand that had little lizards and turtle balls (all plastic) buried in the sand. She first tried to get him to get them out with tongs but he seemed to be afraid of them. She then asked him to put his hand in and he seemed to be sensory-afraid of the sand.
He protested the entire time but I was finally able to get his hand down into the sand-which he quickly shook off. Jen then had the idea to stick his feet in the sand. We took his shoes and socks off and stood him up. Trying to get his feet in one at a time was impossible so I just picked him up and Jen grabbed his feet and I lowered him into the sand. Again it was only a matter of seconds before he decided that he had had enough. He pulled his legs up underneath him (I still had my hands under his armpits) and wouldn't straighten his legs out again. I had to set him on the carpet on his knees.
After the sand experiment Patty wanted him to do the obstacle course again. It is set up with different stations for different exercises. This week it was jumping off of a low step stool (which he can only do if two people are holding onto him), rocking on a board that is like a surfboard, kicking or throwing a ball, laying on a giant therapy ball and reaching down to pick up sea shells and then handing them to Patty and either being in or on a barrel and rolling. The only two that Carson truly likes to do are the two that involve him being inverted.
Patty doesn't like me involved with Carson's therapy. If he would allow it she would like it better if I wasn't even in the room BUT that being said I refuse to sit in the hall. I like to see what they are doing and implement it into our routine at home not to mention the fact that since Carson can't speak I need to know that he is safe. Usually I sit in a chair and watch. I try to stay out of their way and even try not to encourage him because that was a touchy issue last year too. I feel bad for Patty and Jen that Carson isn't into it yet this year. He was great on the first day but then it changed. I don't know if Amber being out for the past two sessions is making the difference but it's becoming more and more difficult to watch this implosion if you will.
After basically giving up on the obstacle course Carson came over to me and pulled the bucket of sand close to him. Jen just stood back to see what he would do. He squatted down and began to slowly pick through the sand with his fingers and pull out the turtle balls and the shells. One by one he placed them in Jen's hand. She originally asked for 3 but he didn't stop until he had them all out of the container. She was impressed with his concentration. When we started this endeavor he had no attention span. Zero. Now he can focus on a task (that he wants to do) for at least a couple minutes at a time.
I guess in the whole scheme of things it's not really going to matter to him if he can or can't cut with scissors or jump off of a step stool. I'm still trying to figure out how much it is really benefiting him for this therapy or if it's just so the 'system' feels like they are making a difference. I certainly don't want to hold him back or block him from reaching his potential but let's be honest, he doesn't have to conform to the standards of society to make his contribution to the world. I don't think anyone really cares that Stephen Hawking can't cut with scissors-it's his mind that makes him so intriguing. But I digress.
After PT/OT we went to Mrs. O's room for speech because Amber's room was getting new windows (yay!!) At first Carson didn't want to do much because he was interested in his new surroundings. We sat down and LaQuita read "Llama Llama Misses Mama" which happens to be a series that we read at home. We then played with homemade play-dough which smelled delicious! I later found out that the teacher who made it puts Kool-Aid in it to make it smell good. I swear it smelled good enough to eat. Carson had fun making (rough looking) letters and spelled his name and train! Afterwards Carson and I played with a train set on the floor with Mrs. O while LaQuita worked with the other little boy in the class. When it was time to switch we moved back to the table where LaQuita was sitting and took out his iPad. Her goal is for Carson to be able to recognize actions so that maybe it will help him with requesting things in the future.
Carson has been using the application Proloquo2go a lot recently and had figured out that if he uses the keyboard to spell a word he can then touch the word and the app will say the word for him. This has become extremely helpful at home because now he has a voice per-se. LaQuita pulled out 3 flash cards for him to look at and describe for her. One was people eating hotdogs. The idea was for him to write 'eating' but of course he wrote 'hotdogs'. The next two were smelling flowers - he got flowers - and a boy playing with a dog. This one he didn't do too bad - he wrote 'play' which I'll take any day of the week. She said we will try to do a few cards a week to see if it makes a difference for him.
Overall another varied week of school. Not sure if we are going to make it next week because a co-worker of mine may need to be out of the office for her daughter but if we are there I am hoping that we can get back on track with him and maybe he won't be so stubborn.
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