DUCHIS’ GOALS FOR FEBRUARY
This month we are going full steam to help Duchis with her ATTITUDE
Goal #1 (flexibility): Help Duchis to see she can still be happy and enjoy herself even if she does not get what she wants
This last month Duchis has made herself upset when she does not get her way or the things she wants. At this point in her development, we want to share the control in the playroom; she is not 100% in control anymore. The more she gets used to sharing the control INSIDE the playroom, the more she will share it OUTSIDE of the playroom (in the house or outside of the house). She is at a new level and it’s important to show her that others have fun ideas, wants and desires and that that is ok. Our attitude will be:
“Hey, I am your friend; I want to show you how to do this in a different way”
• Don’t leave the room when she asks for things outside the room. She needs to see she can have fun with the things in the room.
• If she screams, remain calm and comfortable. Remind yourself that we are not trying to make her life difficult. We are showing her a very important skill to be able to have friends at school. If she cries and screams, tell her: “you can cry, go for it. When you are done, we can talk”, and then continue playing by yourself until she calms herself down.
• At times, her quick response is no. Honor her no by stopping one aspect of what you wanted to do…you can still do something else.
• Be persistent with this as you continue on with your play.
• Tell her, “OK. You don’t have to play. But, I’m going to play over here because I think it’s going to be fun.”
• Remove your energy from her and play in an excited way but not obnoxious way. Be aware of her and note that she really continues to watch, show an interest, and come over to play!!!
Goal #2 (interactive attention span): Show Duchis how fun it is to be kind and sweet to others
At this point, it is time to tech Duchis MANNERS She usually requests things with a bit of a DIVA attitude. Our position will be:
“Hey, you can say things nicer, because I am your friend, and I don’t have to ____”
• As part of your pretend play, create scenarios with the Barbies, the stuffed animals, the puppets, etc, in which people are SWEET when asking things, and people respond so well and so quickly and in such a helpful way when you ask things in a sweet way. Model situations when the toys say: “Oh, that was so sweet” or “Hmmm, that was not sweet”.
• Help her to see the difference in the consequences when we are sweet or not sweet to our friends.
• Help her to practice the affect associated with being sweet. When I ask her for the magic words when asking something. She says “PLEASE” with an attitude Show her how nice is to say “please” “thank you” “sorry” excuse me” “your welcome”.
Goal #3 (communication): Inspire Duchis to share emotions and experiences
• Model this through imagination play with characters. Share emotions and experiences such as “I love, this is fun, how exciting, playing is awesome. This is amazing. You should be so proud …”
• In your games, keep telling her how the characters feel: “I am tired / sleepy / bored / excited / curious / sick / happy / …”
• Have conversations with the toys about “how do you feel?” while you are playing
Goal #4 (communication): Motivate Duchis to follow 1-2-3-4- step directives while playing
To solidify Duchis’ expressive language, we need to make sure that her receptive language is strong and that she can comprehend and remember complex instructions. This will also be very helpful in school.
• Make Duchis work Tell her: “look under the table and get me that Barbie” or “go to the bed, get your pillow, and put it in the tent” or “go to the closet, find the cowboy hat and the horse, and put them in the castle” etc, etc
• Create sequences of activities and don’t repeat her all the steps constantly, but check how much she is remembering. For example, in the little Gym, she gets 4-step instructions of 4 exercises she needs to do in a row in her stations. They only repeat the instructions at the beginning and she needs to remember the 4 things and do them over and over again in the station (like first bear walk, then a forward roll, then a cartwheel, and finally a bridge).
LIAM’S GOALS FOR FEBRUARY
Goal #1 (communication): Help Liam to consistently use his fuller sentences.
Look at all the things Liam is saying SPONTANEOUSLY! This list shows that he has a nice repertoire of sentences to get his basic needs and desires met, and that we should never assume that he will not say something, but, in contrast, assume that he has all the words in the world and can put sentences together by himself.
• Wait expectantly for a response. Wait at least 10 seconds (1-Missisipi, 2-Missisipi …) before using non-verbal prompts to ask Liam again so that he has enough time to process the information or motor plan a response.
LIAM’S SPONTANEOUS SENTENCES (FEB 2012)
1. I want … (books, cereal, cards, toys and food in general)
2. Give me …. (books, cereal, cards, toys and food in general)
3. Let’s fly
4. Let’s spin like a top
5. Let’s be a …
6. Let’s blast off
7. Open the door
8. Come here
9. Go there ( when he wants us to leave and let him do what he wants to do)
10. Walk upstairs / downstairs
11. Jump on the trampoline
12. Let’s bounce on the ball
13. Sit down
14. Pick me up
15. Lay down
16. I love …. (tickles, hugs, kisses)
17. I love you
18. I like …. (tickles, hugs, kisses)
19. Kiss me
20. Open the mouth
21. Show me … (we used this for games with silly faces and sounds)
22. Let’s go to the backyard
23. Let’s watch …. (“name of a video”)
24. Let’s play computer
25. Let’s go potty 26. It’s snack time
27. It’s bed time
28. I need help / Help me
29. Turn light on / off
30. Turn shower on /off
31. Ready for a towel
32. Take … (pants, jacket, socks …. ) off
33. Put … (pants, jacket, socks… ) on
34. Scratch my back
35. Draw a … (he tells us what to draw on the board)
36. Fix it
37. Find ….
38. Where’s ….?
39. Erase it (drawing games)
40. Write the word …
41. Read it (books)
42. Say the word (books)
43. May I be excused?
44. See you later / bye bye
Comments and feelings
45. I am sad / grumpy
46. I am tired
47. I am sick
48. It’s raining
49. It’s cold
50. I want calm
51. Liam happy
Goal #2 (communication): Inspire Liam to share emotions and comments
• Model this through pretend play. Share emotions and experiences such as “I love, this is fun, how exciting, playing is awesome. This is amazing. You should be so proud …”
• Talk about the weather each day, like teachers do in Kindergarten. Have a calendar poster and talk about the day of the week, if it’s valentine’s day, etc. Use the calendar to comment about days/weeks/weather/what to wear, etc.
• In your games, keep telling him how you and the characters feel: “I am tired / sleepy / bored / excited / curious / sick / happy / …”
• Have conversations with the toys about “how do you feel?” while you are playing
• Model lots of talking about feelings. Liam does have some feeling cards we have used in the past. Megan told me to check at Walmart for a poster with lots of faces with expressions.
• Keep using non-verbals (shoulders, yes/no with the face, fingers, hands, faces) so that it is not only about words but he reading all the non verbals
Goal #3 (interactive attention span): Inspire Liam to imitate us while playing
• When Liam is motivated in the games, ask him to imitate your sounds, your expressions, your faces, how you move the toys, how you act (it’s cold, brrrrrrr), etc.
• Practice strong voice, loud voice, soft voice to help him to get more control over his voice
Goal #4 (communication): Help Liam to make choices and answer multiple choice questions
During play, give Liam multiple choices. Sometimes you can mention the items, like “do you want a truck or a bus?” and sometimes just say “which one do you want?” and show the options to you?
• If you tell him “do you want the truck or the bus?” and he says “truck or bus”, you can tell him: “you need to choose, which one?” and she what he says.
• Pus his preferred item first when naming the choices. Put the item you know he does not care too much about at the end.
• Show him also that he can say: “BOTH of them”
Goal #5 (communication): Motivate Liam to follow 1-2-3- step directives while playing
To solidify Liam’s expressive language, we need to make sure that his receptive language is strong and that she can comprehend and remember complex instructions.
• Make Liam work Tell him: “look under the table and get me that car” or “go to the bed, get your pillow, and put it in the tent” or “go to the closet, find the school bus, and put it on the track” etc, etc
• From Vanessa: “To provide the appropriate amount of support, first give the direction without any cues. If needed, you may add visuals/gestures. If Liam is still have some difficulty, you may want to add a physical prompt such as leading him to the napkins. Over the next month, let’s explore and keep in touch regarding what types of directions Liam is have more success or more difficulty with.”
*** From Vanessa: Count “circles” of interaction. A circle is when you do something and Liam does something (a back-and-forth). Liam can close circles in a number of ways: looking back at you in a fun way after you’ve done something, using a gesture, sharing a delightful smile, making a choice, or of course, use words and sentences. The goal is to get to 10 circles in a row.
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