Poor speech therapy session

Nikko's speech therapy was pretty much downhill today, despite not having Ronin in the picture. Nikko wanted to be by me almost the entire time, and refused to cooperate during the activities. He got attached to a spatula and then battled us when we took it away. He did a little bit with the plastic food, but really didn't accomplish much. I mentioned to Gloria about the talking machine that Shelly suggested to me during OT, but Gloria said that she wasn't too familiar with the apparatus and that Nikko would need to comprehend more in order to use it. You have to push a button to get the machine to say a word. Nikko doesn't push buttons on demand. And to understand that getting a machine to say a word for him, well, I don't think that concept is even a possibility for him. Gloria said that Nikko was probably just having a bad day, but I don't think so. He wasn't combative for the rest of the day, just really Velcro Man with me as usual. Gloria also noted that it seems many kids can tell that the end of therapies is near, which is when they act out, tantrum more or even regress. I really wish he wouldn't. I am definitely looking forward to preschool for Nikko in that hopefully they can help him make stronger gains, but I have a feeling I shouldn't bank on it entirely. Something I'd like to do some research on is the concept of Focus. Nikko is so unfocused, flits from thing to thing, easily distracted. Is it because there's so much visual clutter? If I took it all away would he go batty with nothing to look at? Or would he really focus on the few things left behind? How can I help Nikko focus better in everyday life, and not as if he is in a science experiment by taking away a few variables? I'm looking for a long-term answer.

We went to Mom's house again for dinner, and will do that tomorrow as well, but won't do it Thursday or Friday. The boys were ok, but Ronin kept screaming and crying every time Nikko took away the semi-truck Ronin was playing with. I had to contend with placating Ronin or getting Nikko away from the scene so that Mom could calm Ronin. I'm sure everyone's ears were ringing thanks to Ronin. Nikko is very comfortable in the sunroom, but has already broken one of Mom's flowers. He can be in a room without me for an unspecified amount of time, but he does start looking for me and begins to wail if I can't be found in the next room. His dinner was bread and butter again. *sigh*