11/9/10 - School report: Speech - body parts, greeting, worked on "I see ____" walking through the building. Worked on "what" questions with picture choices.
Last night I went to the monthly PEPS (Parent Education and Parent Support for Special Services) meeting. There were two speakers there, social workers from both the Lyons and Westbrook schools. The main topic was regarding peer interaction. It was nice to hear other moms talk about their school situations with their child, but I also felt some anxiety when thinking about how Nikko may or may not have friends in the future. Socialization is so crucial to ASD kiddos, as well as the academic component. I tend to drill on vocabulary, numbers and colors, but it's equally important to make Nikko interact with other kids. Thank God Denis has Nikko enrolled in a swim class, and thank God the neighbor kids understand that Nikko is different when my kids play around with them. They are big-hearted kids, that Brianna and Alex, and I am eternally grateful for their kindness toward all my kiddos. Anyway, I hope to attend the next meeting in February and learn more from the moms, especially the ones who have older children. I'd like to get some insight into what Kindergarten and 1st grade would be like for an ASD kid in this district.
11/10/10 - School Report - OT: working on sequencing 5 part obstacle course. Did lots of movement and heavy work activities. I sang louder than Nikko and he looked at me strangely and then stopped his vocalizations. Also worked on cutting & drawing. *Making clicking noises.
Yeah. The clicking noises. He sounds like he's trying to speak like a tribal member from somewhere in Africa. It's some kind of verbal stim and he seems to insert it into his daily routine when he's transitioning between rooms or activities. He'll start clicking when I'm trying to ask him what color something is. It's like a replacement for "Ummmmmmm." Maybe he likes how his tongue feels coming off the roof of his mouth. But then what about the random hissing sounds he also makes? It sounds like he is gritting his teeth and trying to push air and spit through them. The hissing seems to happen when he's starting to get motoring and physical. At least he's not drooling excessively.
Today at 4:10p I got a phone call from Mrs. McCarthy. She told me that Nikko had a bad day at school. He was unfocused and distracted, wanted to just sit on Mrs. Napoleon's lap and cuddle, and he can't always get what he wants so cuddling was out. He just wasn't cooperative today and she knows that I like to keep track of these things so she gave me a call. (What a great teacher. *smile*) I wondered if he would be in a terrible mood for Jenna since he had ABA when he came home. I thanked her and kept wondering if he was constipated. How could he be? He was having poop throughout the day even if it wasn't a lot of poop. I realized that I had been trying so hard to get the MoPo into Nikko's juice, adding 1/4 of a teaspoon and really mixing it well, that for two days I didn't put any miralax to accompany it. I have seen him "perching" over the couch or table, but am still able to get him to sit down to eat if I pull out his chair so I didn't think he was in pain. Maybe he really is. His session wasn't great, either. Jenna wrote that he was whiny but when she got him to sit down he was able to complete his tasks.
11/11/10 - At 8am I heard Nikko grunting in the living room. I looked around the corner to observe him and he was hunched over the ottoman with a slight strain on his face. I was crestfallen because Nikko was constipated and Sarah was coming over at 8:30 for ABA. I really hated to have to unplug him before a session but knew that I had to get it going or he could have a very unproductive time with Sarah again. I started the suppository at 8:16a and held Nikko facing me in my lap until he could have a bowel movement. He didn't want to go willingly. Sarah knocked on the screen door at 8:30a and I had her sit in the living room with us, watching Handy Manny while Ronin and Audrey were doing silly stunts amid a screechy, whiny Nikko being held in my lap against his will. I was very apologetic to Sarah and I wondered if she had ever seen anyone do this to their kid before. I hope I didn't look like a lunatic mom. It took another 15 minutes but Nikko painfully passed a big poop. I dried his tears and tried to soothe him and change him, told him to go drink some juice before we all went downstairs for therapy. Luckily, he went willingly with Sarah and was not acting like he hated me for putting him through pain. Ronin and Audrey were fighting and crying over some stupid Lego Duplo blocks so I had to contend with them upstairs. Nikko's session went well, according to Sarah. She told me that he didn't want to sit down so she brought the drills over to him, and he was still able to accomplish them. Right when they finished he had another bowel movement, a messier one which I had expected sooner than later. Nikko was in a good mood when he came upstairs after ABA so now the universe is back to status quo and I have another chance to screw up his constipation progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment