Kaufman-Day 2

Speech:  Uh, can I just go ahead and say that yes, Nancy Kaufman is truly amazing.  I want her to relocate to our neck of the woods so we can work with her every week.  Her energy and intensity is amazing, and a million cups of coffee would still not get me anywhere near the level of energy and enthusiasm and intensity she has.  She pushes the kiddos hard, yet knows their limits and makes sure they have moments of fun while they are working.  And she really does make it fun and keeps them engaged and motivated.  She reminds me of a loving drill sergeant. ;)  She got Kiddo to say more words and phrases in a half hour session, then I think I've gotten him to say in the past week.

They worked on lots of his favorite words (pizza, banana, puzzle, shoe, water, sticker, monkey) as well as a lot of the words on her Kaufman cards.  And lots of phrases, such as:

• Put on/off
• Put away
• I want to pick
• Up high
• Oh no!
• Stand up
• Go down

and lots of phrases using verbs, which can also be used as requests:

• pet puppy
• throw ball
• read book
• eat apple
• open bag
• turn on/off
• hug baby
• blow/pop bubbles
• sleep bed
• ride bus/boat
• put on hat

She also has been working on those final consonants (such as hat, boat, bed, up, want, book, yes, pick) and he's doing so much better with them with the help of hand cues.  

She's also getting him to say "yes" with the final "s" sound, instead of his usual "yeah," and to say "again" instead of his usual "more" when he wants something to happen again.

I have pages of notes I've taken, and Nancy records each session, so I can't wait to watch the DVD sessions again and share them with his speech therapists when we get home.

I'm so proud of how hard he's been working for Nancy.  We've prayed hard that he would cooperate with Nancy and her methods that he would learn a lot, and we see God answering our prayers and blessing our time here. :)

OT:  Oh my goodness, their sensory gym is amazing and I wish I could get a pic of Kiddo working/playing in it, but sadly they don't allow pictures in it, though I'm grateful to be able to go in and watch and learn.

In OT today, he did some swinging, did an obstacle course twice that ended up in a super fun ball pit, and played in a kiddie pool of dried rice and beans.  He loved that!  He laid out on his tummy in it, his arms going up and down like he was making a snow rice angel.

Ms. Jessica did quite a bit of work on his picky eating and oral motor skills.  He got to eat some veggie straws, and had to bite it using his back molars, rather than biting it from his front teeth, to help strengthen his jaw.  He caught on quite quickly and ate several veggie straws, biting from the back molars each time and asking for more.

She then showed me strategies for introducing him to new food so he doesn't experience the anxiety/meltdowns he normally does about having to eat anything new.  Today he tried a slice of pear and a turkey burger.  He did great, taking two bites of the pear (he wasn't a huge fan) but eating about half of the turkey burger.  She believes his picky eating and anxiety about new foods stem from a texture thing, and so her strategies should help him deal with new foods and their new textures.

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Little Brother's adventure included shopping with Grandma at Meijers, where the pony rides are only a penny.  He loved it and cried when it was time to get off.

Kiddo is so proud of all his "ticker"s he got for his hard work in each session and didn't want to take his shirt with his stickers off for bed.  He is currently sleeping in this outfit.  He was so tired that about half an hour before his usual bedtime he didn't say a word, just went to the bathroom and then climbed into bed by himself.  Within a minute, he was asleep, and about ten minutes later when I put Little Brother into his pack-n-play for the night next to where Kiddo was sleeping, Kiddo's eyes flickered open and he was immediately back asleep again.  

Kiddo is working so hard and making me so proud. :)  Stay tuned to see what we learn tomorrow!