Yesterday evening was much better ( bad night R did not sleep toill 1.30 am and also did the deep pressure thing aka totally weird and uncomfortable for me )
The key was doing some of the routine things with him as swinging , singing etc plus also doing some alone time with him - he really needs mommy and me time which is very sweet - all things considered

Sensory Activity R seeks

Specifically these are the activities that R seeks today July 30 - 2007

• Swinging - the more vigorous the better
• Singing - SLOOOOOOOOOOOW- the slow twinkle twinkle is the biggest hit
• Rough housing !and cuddling
• Baby sandwich
• Tickling
• Drinking aerated drinks
• Car journeys
• Being in the Ergo ( baby carrier )

Maybe doing some sensory related things today

The weekend was really really bad
Washing Machine and Dishwasher were not working ( that is the appliances were fine the plumbing was screwed up ) So could not get any work done this weekend - in fact not only could I get no work done - I wasted a TON of time clearing up messes
I was stressed which =R was stressed = he spent all the bloody time stimming and we accomplished very little
Later in the evening we went to the ASA- ETC meeting and R really enjoyed swimming - thought I must get a ball for him later !!
Anyway - R has started lying on our leg or arm and moving from side to side - I think its a new stim and kind of looks obscene so today in the evening I am planning on doing some sensory related things

1. Nursing and Snuggling
2. Up and Down with him sitting on my feet
3. Baby Burrito
4. Sand box
5. Swing
6. Slide
7. Trampoline - funnily enough I fouund that he has learned to jump

I definitely feel like we ave reached a plateau - There could be many reasons

1. last week and the week before that we had minimal ABA ( therapist on vacation)
2. Speech therapist broke leg
3. Visitors at home - so distracted mother

If anything could convince me that intervention is key this is it - now I will have to see how next week goes
I think I really need to step it up with Floortime
First of all I dont think I am really doing it right
Second I dont think I am doing enough
Today evening this is how it went

1. My mom fed him - dinner - spinach and rice while watching Little Einstein
2. Nursed and compliments and connecting with R
3. Went through the KK drive thru
4. Sang a song on our front porch swing
5. Took our activity board and got him to choose activities - and use PECS to ask for More Swinging , ball slide etc
6. Some playing outside -
7. More nursing ( ithink he is really insecure with the parents being here )
8. Then Bath time with loads of games
9. Songs on CD - he asked for more Twinkle Twinkle
10. Then I got on the treadmill and he watched some Blues Clues and ate goldfish crackers
11. Now he is supposed to be sleeping with Dad but I can hear him and its midnight
    

Its definitely a plateau - I need to step it up

Mom and Dad are home

Well yesterday was a pretty poor day for Floortime - my mom and Dad came in from India and we spend the evening getting the house ready , getting dinner done and picking them up from thw airport
Rohan was very very overstimulated
He stimmed like crazy and could not go to sleep - when I scolded him - he cried really heartbreakingly and I felt so bad for being mean - but I was really tired and finally at 1 DH told me to go to the guest bedroom and sleep - so I did but I am still so tired as well
For some reason I was stressed out too and R does a really good job about picking up on my moods
Today I MUST pay more attention to him

Yesterday we did okay
These are the activities I did with R in the evening- Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow so I wanted to clean up and so did not get enough time with him

1. Singing Row row and doing actions with him
2. Swinging
3. Lots of rough housing and kissing and cuddling - doing UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP and Doooooooooooooooooown
4. Used PECS during Bath - he seemed to pay a lot of attention to the Bath Image - play with Alphabets during Bath - he hold up a letter - gives me eye contact and then I sing the Leap Pad Letter song - " The E says eh"
5. Listened to a Song CD

His Psychologist saying that he is still at Level Two has really disturbed me though and it keeps popping in my head

Meeting his Psychologist

Well we met with his Psychologist
For some reason whenever he is with her he is so "Stimmy": I think part of the reason is that we always meet her in the evening after my work and he is desperate to just unwind and nurse!
Yesterday evening honestly was pretty shot in terms of doing anything producive - I was really tired plus I could clearly see R was not really with it - he had had 4 hours of therapy that day and was done
Dr Neece definitely sees him at Level 2 - which is a much lower level than I see him at obviously

Just a news Flash- he had a speech evaluation today !
His Expressive langauage is Absent
R's receptive langue is now at the 2-2.5 year old range which is okay - okay not great - all things considering - so he is about 6 months behind now - he follows 2 step commands now
I need to focus on the important thing which is that he is making progress - butI long for for meaningful language from him
Yes I know the game is about communication and not words - but I long for them nevertheless!Its amazes me that I -who am so into language almost to the point of being pedantic( see what I mean!)- have a child so so like me - who has no words at all
As Kramer says - Mother Nature is a MAAAAAAAAAAAD Scientist

IYesterday night we got through pretty much all the things that we had planned to do except the match picture to object - just did not get around to it
I had a schedule with 5 - 6 PECS and R chose the activity ( swing, ball, puzzle, sing ) and we did the activity - The thing is I am not sure he really gets it - AND I TOTALLY THINK ONCE HE GETS IT IT WILL BE A HUGE STEP FORWARD - this is my question- should we just keep repeating till he gets it or is there something else I need to be doing
Yesterday he did the numbers puzzle really well - he needed help putting in the nubers in the slots
In terms of doing what HE wanted to do we some singing , plenty of rough housing - R lay on the pillow and squirmed in excitement to be a "Baby Sandwich"

Starting today Floortime-Lite

This is going to be my Floor time blog for our son -R
I was planning to start Floortime much more instensively and much sooner and while I have been good about it right from when I first read the wonderful Engaging Autism and also the write up on coping.org
First a little bit about our son - R is 2 years and 8 months and 11 days old. He has no words but expresses a lot of love for us through hugs, cuddles and kisses.
He still nurses and sleeps with us and is a very gentle and sweet child with better manners than most typical kids even
He also fits clearly into the Autism Spectrum

• He has no language - we have started the use of PECS but we dont know if he understands all the images - clearly he knows the picture for Swing :-) . He will also give me the wrapper of Dum Dum and sign "More " which means both "more" and " I want"
• He has no interest in his peers - though he loves other adults like his therapists
• He does a repetitive activity - stimming - he runs around making a hmmmm sound to breaks in patterns ( like say the seam of a sofa) and to moving lines - like the streaming news at the bottom of the screen

Today I am planning on trying an activity Schedule with the following things on the schedule -

• Swing
• Ball
• Bubbles
• Puzzle ( Shapes )
• Sing Songs ( The ever popular Twinkle Twinkle )- I may use some images with these

And a Bath schedule

• Bath
• Wash Hair
• Brush Teeth

we are really trying hard to get the generalise the idea of PECS and I think that if I use PECS everyday then he will get the idea sooner rather than later

The other thing I plan to do if I get the time is testing Rohan to see if he can match images to actual objects - ie a picture of a spoon is an actual spoon!

I will write in the night as to how the evening went