Speech gain :)

4/13/11 School Report - Speech: Good job verb identification. Worked on requesting.
4/14/11 School Report - Speech: worked on yes/no, requesting, playing doll house. He wanted help with a game and said "help" 3 times.

Those were from last week. Our IEP meeting was yesterday. Today he went back to school.

4/19/11 School Report - Bathroom: Nikko went potty and was dry.
OT: Lots of great talking today. Responded to my greeting "Hi, Mrs. I," did so with Ms. Winters, too! Also aid "get chair" when on the swing. Nikko helps me put swing up & down with a chair. I believe was Nikko's way of wanting ot get off swing. Also worked at table with drawing/tracing/printing name.
Speech: Nikko was very happy today! Worked on requesting, saying "no" to cauliflower snack. Went to office for greetings, said "Hi Ryndak" & "K" for Mrs. Kaczynski! I asked, "Where's Ronin?" he said, "Home". I said no - he said, "Audrey's at home." & then got "Mommy's at home." GOOD DAY!!!


Um, that's just amazing. AMAZING!!

Today Nikko had swim class (for another three weeks through the NWSRA) and he seemed very excited about getting out of the door when Denis came home. He approached me eagerly to put on shoes and socks, shoved his jacket at me to help him put it on, and was literally nose-pressed against the door impatiently waiting for Denis. That Nikko loves the water. He's been behaving regarding the clothes-stripping, or maybe I've been better at catching him before he decides to strip. I really have to do some research on motility, because I see Nikko in the hallway, hunched over, crossed legs, and straining to push something out. When the diaper change happens, it's a small, mushy mess. We're at 1/4 capful now and I'm hoping that the poop smears will become less frequent. That is the goal, and it is trending less very slightly. I mean very.

I fear the fruit snack invasion again. I bought some from Costco, to try giving it as a snack to the kids. Of course they love it. However, Nikko is starting to ask for it frequently. He is mastering opening the doors WITH the child-proof handles on, and can access the pantry. He saw the fruit snack box in the pantry the other day and was repeatedly opening that door this morning. I had to take the box and hide it in our room. Now when Nikko opens the door he looks a little confused at the void where the box had been.

One big thing to note from the meeting yesterday was that we were able to discuss the whole "I want_____" interaction while Linda H. was present. Both the teachers and I were having to work really hard to get Nikko to say it as a precursor to getting a reinforcer. Linda told us that we should stop demanding the I Want from him. It's a level of language that he is just not at right now, and we should go back to the single word requesting. I asked for how long and the answer was kind of unclear. I guess it depends on Nikko, when he is able to show us that he understands the value of language and the value of requesting in a more complex way to get what he wants.