Dean’s ABA Week

I had the day off on Wednesday, so I got to be a part of Dean’s ABA therapy. I love getting involved and I learn so much from it. Update: Dean can now point independently to everything that he wants. It is automatic to him now that if we present him with something, he points to it before taking it. We are really making some great progress here in the communication department. I cried the other day when he started doing it without being asked. He has become second nature to him and I couldn’t be happier. He has also been in a great mood this week and Dean had a lot of treats because of it. I like to celebrate and reward him for all of his great behavior. Tantrums are not rewarded but they aren’t ignored either. As a parent, I try to learn from them and see what caused the tantrum. I try to make it not happen again. Sometimes, it is a two year old being a two year old and other times, it is me not seeing the signs that he wanted a snack.

4/3/18 – Joyce

Great session! Dean placed the gears “on”, he’s never done that before! Did very well requesting snack. Excellent review of toys. Looked at a new book.

4/3/18 – Stephanie

Discussed the difference across therapies as well as the lack of generalization. Discussed the new cup and how he is doing with that. Played with new toys. Did great during snack item exchanging the picture. Joyce and Mike discussed use of highchair for more.

4/3/18 – Ann

Dean was in a happy mood this afternoon. Did a variety of toys. Looking for my prompts for pointing but not every time.

4/4/18 – Deb

Dean did well today. He was trying to grab my left hand to point but when object was in my left hand would not grab my hand and would point independently. Did well with toys needed help with links, string beads, and shape sorters. Did well with new straw cup and did well with snack. Some flipping and mouthing items. Very vocal.

4/5/18 – Ann

Dean did great this morning. Sat well for all toys. Lots of independent points. Handing pictures for snack.

4/6/18 – Ann

Dean was very active and happy this morning. Making lots of sounds. A lot more independent pointing. Did jumping on his new trampoline. Seeking out tickles and movement play.

As you can read, he had a great week with everyone else too. My boy has been super bubbly and I love his personality. He is very sweet and loving. He is not naturally angry or mean natured and I am so grateful that I got such a sweet little boy. We will have challenges facing us all throughout our life time, but I am sure we can conquer everything with love and drooly Dean kisses.

With Love,

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Dean’s EI Week

Dean is still suffering from the big D and it looks like my dad might be taking him to the doctors tomorrow. He is lethargic, not eating, and has sores on his bum. So, he doesn’t want to walk, because it hurts. He doesn’t want to take a bath, because it stings. It has just been a miserable week. I had a little bit of good news in regards to work, but there has been other reveals that put a damper on my day. A special someone got something and I am very happy for them. I have to speak in code. Work people read this. I got a bit behind from Dean being sick and cleaning the house, so I am going to try to catch up on these. He will have nothing for this week, because I cancelled the sessions due to Dean being ill.

2/13/18 – OT

Family found a sippy cup at Walmart that has a straw that stays primed! Dean did well today. He was alert and attentive and greeted me with big smiles and ran over to me and tried to give me a kiss several times! He sat in working chair happily for 30 minutes to complete many activities. He easily placed shapes into sorter – worked on signing more for ALL activities today – manipulatives and swinging. Perused pictures for snack time today.

• Continue using pictures at least 2 times a weekend
• Encourage pointing to desired items

2/15/18 – Speech & OT

Dean used “more” and pointed spontaneously for food 1 time. Dean was seen at home with Mike for a 6 month review of his IFSP. We wrote 2 new goals for fine motor play and feeding. Services will remain the same. Family happy with services at this time. Dean continues to do well. When given a choice of 2 items, he visually scans then selects via reaching for desired item. With prompting he points. He grabbed my hands to sign more for more swinging on 4 separate occasions. Used pictures with some agitation today but due to being tired occupied himself with toy appropriately exploring it while we talked to Mike about IFSP.

• Continue to offer pointing to choices
• Pictures for snack time

That was a week in the life of Dean. I love my little bug and I hope he feels better soon.

With Love,

 

Dean’s ABA Week 1/5/18

I am really happy that I really like the HMEA representatives that come over to work with Dean. They are reliable and always let you know ahead of time if they will be missing time and when they can, someone fills in for them. I wish his OT would arrange for that. It would be so much better for Dean. He missed Thursday this week because of the snow storm, but otherwise, he had a full week.

1/2/18 – Anne (The regular ABA worker Tues, Thurs, and Fri)

Dean did great remembering routines we started last week. Came to sit with me as soon as he saw toys. Starting with a runny nose. Tired after first hour.

1/3/18 – Joyce (Supervisor, does 3 hours during the week generally: Wed & Fri)

Deb getting to know Dean. Practicing “all done”, “more”, pointing, beginning toy play. Runny nose – allowed staff to wipe. Very interested in staff and toys.

1/3/18 – Deb (In-Training ABA, does only Wed)

Played with Dean today. Worked on pointing, “all done”, and “more”. Dean had a runny nose today. Went over a few items with Joyce.

1/5/18 – Anne

Dean liked ring stacker toy. Looking for my hands to complete toys for him. Worked on pointing, more, and all done. Sat for longer durations on my lap.

Dean had a great week with his ABA girls. To say he is a major flirt wouldn’t be saying enough. He loves his leading ladies. I’m looking forward to more progress in the next week. I have to say that I have noticed that he does sit with me for a longer period of time than he did before. He can sit with me for 10 minutes flipping through a book before wanting to run around again.

With Love,

Dean’s Update Week 12/18/17

I miss being home with Dean instead of being at work. I know it is a necessary evil, but I miss my boy after spending so much time with him. I almost got my room organized during my vacation. I still have to finish up my closet, but then, I will be done. I will be moving onto Dean’s closet and cleaning it out. I want to get rid of the junk and store all of the consignment clothes in there and keep the toys that Dean has grown out of. I don’t want to have it all in my closet. Dean’s has so much junk from my dad and us just shoving things in there. After I do Dean’s closet and dust Dean’s room, the rest of the house is relatively easy. I just have to dust and organize here and there. This is my “Winter” cleaning. I try to do a complete cleaning every season. Hopefully, it will get easier as I go along and quicker now that I’m slowly purging what we don’t need.

12/18/17 – OT

Dean had ABA evaluation last week. Services to start tomorrow. He will be starting with 1.5 hours 4 days per week 8-9:30. Dean did well today. He sat for an extended period of time to work through three different activities. He was able to pull apart pop beads when only two were together. He did it independently 5 times, which he had never done before. He was able to place ball into pig popper.

• Continue to have him point to choices

12/18/17 -Speech

HMEA meeting today to add to services to IFSP service delivery page. Dean was seen at home with Mike and Anne from HMEA. Services will begin 12/19 at 8 am. 1.5 hours Tuesday through Friday with 3 hours supervision per week. Services will be increased as Dean tolerates sessions. Dean placed a few shapes in shape sorter and looked when toys were brought up to therapist’s face.

• 12/19 Services to start w/HMEA

He only had two sessions on the same day that week. His OT cancelled on Thursday and then cancelled her makeup session on that Friday. Hopefully, she can make up the day next week, because OT has been doing wonders for Dean.

With Love,

Dean Haul

I though that I would show you some of the items that I picked up for Dean lately. He is a spoiled boy, so he gets a lot of stuff. I have buying some things for him that he needed for his therapy sessions. He sees a Speech Therapist once a week and an Occupation Therapist twice a week at the moment. He needed some developmental items to help him discover his world ad get out some excess energy. He has some toys that I’m going to consign is my expecting friend doesn’t want any of it.

Nuby Teething Necklace

Dean really needs something that’s okay to put in his mouth and chew on. I bought him this teething necklace, so he would stop eating his toys. His Speech Therapist Lisa brought over a Chewy, which is a T-shaped tube that is made for sensory oral cravings. Dean loves chewing and sucking on it. Now, his toys are not being tasted. I can actually buy him wooden learning toys now that he has something to put in his mouth while playing. He dropped the binky at 4 months old and wouldn’t go back to it when offered.

I bought this pink bouncing unicorn at Toys R Us. Dean loves to bounce on his unicorn and he looks absolutely adorable doing so. It also helps with his therapy to slow down in order to learn. He needs to burn off energy before you can work with him to learn something. The other option at Toys R Us was a red horse, but this color is brighter and he is attracted towards bright objects. He’s man enough to ride a pink unicorn. 🙂

This is a new type of book that I bought Dean. It is a touch and feel book. He loves looking at the pictures and flipping through the pages. He won’t touch and feel the book yet though. I try to guide his hand to touch, but he isn’t interested. He just likes to look and flip the pages. As I write this, he has all of his books opened around him and he’s giving each of them a turn. Such a cutie!

Sassy 360 Cup

I finally found a sippy cup that Dean can use. Because of it’s grooved design, this cup does not leak. I love it! Dean only uses it when he wants to, but with some new rules, I think he’ll be drinking out of these cups instead of the bottle in no time at all. He gets his cup around the clock and only gets the bottle at his designated times. We let him fuss a little bit, but no full on crying tantrum. He knows how to use this cup and he has drunk out of it. That is half of the battle. This is the first cup that he has learned how to use and it didn’t take him very long. Maybe, because it is more like a cup than a bottle? IDK. All I know is that I want him off of the bottle as soon as possible.

I saw this at Walmart and I knew that Dean had to have it. His pillow is used in therapy sessions to give him compression hugs and he loves it. He loves the Paw Patrol, so it’s the comfort of pictures he knows and the pressure of the compression. Compression works wonders on calming Dean down from a tantrum and getting him ready to go to bed. Firm pressure gives comfort and relaxes the muscles. I’m learning a lot about my son through his therapies.

I’m thinking about writing a book about dealing with a child who has autism. What do you think? I’ll probably touch up on my life in the first chapter and then, talk about the early months with Dean. Then, to the first time I thought something was wrong, to how Early Intervention was, and his diagnosis. Do you think this is a good idea? I think I’ll write even if no one reads it. I’m thinking about making a separate blog and write chapters there. If I get enough followers for it, I’ll turn it into a book. At least then, I can gauge the public’s interest and possibly help other parents along the way. I can always turn the blog chapters into a book.

With Love,

Snackers

For Market Basket Snackers Snack Crackers

I cannot tell the difference between these and Ritz crackers. I really like these and I would repurchase them. They were pretty cheap at 2 bucks a box, while the cheapest I can get the Ritz is on sale for $3. Now, I will buy the Ritz if it is on sale or if I can get the big family pack for $4, because it is nice to enjoy name brand items. Especially when it is cheaper than the off brand or a better value. Also, the MB snackers can sell out and I won’t be able to find any in the store. Then, I kinda have to buy the Ritz which happens to be on sale a lot at MB. I think people are buying the MB so much that the Ritz isn’t selling, so they have to discount the Ritz.

With Love,

❤ Selena Hannah ❤

Pasta Pick-Ups

For Gerber Graduates Pasta Pick-Ups Cheese & Spinach Ravioli

Dean is not ready for these yet. They went to waste for the most part. He’s not ready to eat this kind of food yet at this size. He gets bored easy with food also. I might try these again in a month or so. I feel like these are for two to three year olds. My son is just not there yet to eat these. He likes to eat the filling, but doesn’t really finish the pasta part. He will eat four whole pieces of ravioli before he gets full and starts only eating the filling. I like these packets for a quick meal, when what the family is eating is a little too advanced for him.

With Love,

❤ Selena Hannah ❤

Fruit Pick-Ups

For Gerber Fruit Pick-Ups Diced Apples

Dean really loves these cut up apples. I will not be repurchasing again, though. Dean eats pieces of fresh cut up apples now. I am not afraid that he will choke on a piece anymore. These bowls had two servings of fruit and he generally ate these in four sittings. I like that there aren’t a ton of preservatives in Gerber foods and I feel like Gerber wasn’t always like that. I have only seen the apple option at all of the stores that I shop at, so I am unsure if they make anymore kinds of diced up fruit. I highly recommend these, because they are soft, easy to mash up, and swallow. They are great for early chewers.

With Love,

❤ Selena Hannah ❤