What Matters Most
9 years ago
Monday, September 5, 2011
Summary of Group Meeting - August 28th 2011
Here is the summary! Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!
LIAM
1. “WHERE?” + “FIND” ---- Liam’s speech therapist, Jeannie, is working on “WHERE?” on Thursdays. She has this great cards that he loves and he asks her for cards using “where is …?”. Here are some ideas of how to help him to use more “where?” at home. He has used it in the past, so it is a matter of showing him how helpful it can be.
a. Play “hide and find” games. Hide things that he is motivated for, but that he is not too attached to. Hide them in the room, in the tent, in the ball pit, etc, etc.
b. You could hide snacks and then he has to find them.
c. Bring some cups/glasses to the room and hide things under the cups like the magicians do. First show him how the game works and then invite him to guess where things are.
d. Play “I Spy” with him since he loves those books and games. Plus, he just got an I Spy mat puzzle where you can also find things using “WHERE” and “FIND”.
e. Get “find and seek” sheets from Sam’s. Combine them with Bingo dots and flashlights.
2. “YES” and “NO” ---- We keep working on yes/no. We are getting there!!! It is a matter of persistence and consistency. Here are some ideas:
a. When you ask Liam questions, DON’T end the question with a noun. So, if you have applesauce or a snack in your hands, you can say “Do you want ….?” (pointing to the applesauce), but don’t say the word. He can say “YES”, “NO” or “applesauce”. If he says “applesauce”, you say “YES, applesauce”!
b. The sentence Shelby has been using to not use the NOUN is: “Is this what you want?”
c. I had a great time the other day playing this game with Liam. He wanted me to draw. So, he said: “draw an airplane.” I had some animal puzzle pieces there, so I would say: “What about a dog?, let’s draw a dog”. Liam: “NO dog”. Mom: “What about a fox?, let’s draw a fox”. Liam: “NO fox”. Mom: “So, should I draw this?” (pointing to the airplane in the book). Liam: “yes, airplane”. We did it many times. He was HIGHLY motivated by the drawing and would tell me no to the puzzle pieces and yes to the pictures he wanted from the book.
d. If you are using the light buttons, make sure you vary the questions so that Liam does not get used to answer only YES or only NO.
e. We made some glasses with YES and NO cards on top. With a YES glass, you can say: “YES, I love to sing” and start singing. Do fun stuff with the YES glasses. And then, with NO glasses, stop and do nothing. Keep showing him the differences between the YES and NO glasses.
f. In addition to “do you want …?” remember to use variations like “should we …?” or “should I …?
g. Make a game of things you know Liam DOES NOT like, so that he gets to answer NO. For example: “Do you want me to hang you from your toes?” Do you want me to scream as loud as I can?” “Should we wear more clothes on?” “Should I brush your hair more?” “Should we read this book about princesses?”
3. Tip-toeing ----- I will send you again the old and new videos for Liam’s feet. Please remember to do the foot exercises in your sessions. This is also a matter of consistency and persistence. Other ideas from Cara for helping his feet, which can be added to the obstacle courses:
a. Crab walk
b. Penguin walk
c. Walking backwards
d. Animal walk (except bear walk)
e. These animal walks could be combined with the animal cards and animal sounds games.
4. Obstacle courses: Keep using prepositions like: over, under, through, around, etc. At some point ask him what to do first, second, etc. We could use pictures, if we have taken pictures of steps of obstacle courses, or drawings, or words to give him choices for obstacle course steps.
5. Emotions, things we love --- Here are some ideas to show Liam more sentences about emotions and more adjectives about his favorite hugs/kisses/tickles games:
a. Keep telling Liam (and Dusya) sentences like: “I love playing ….”, “This is so much fun”, “This is great”, “This is silly”.
b. Introduce adjectives for the kisses, hugs, and tickles, like “I love crazy kisses”, “I love long hugs”, etc, etc. I, for example, types some sentences like this and cut them and put them in a bag and he had to pick a piece of paper and we would do whatever the paper said.
DUCHIS
1. If you see a chance to play a game with Tony and Duchis about something that BOTH love, like LEGOS, start playing and see if they both come to join you.
2. Duals in the playroom with 2 adults --- When the opportunity is there, we can play 2 adults with Duch so that we keep modeling her being a friend and things like: empathy, sharing, imitation (simon says, follow the leader, action songs). Even when you are alone with her in the room, keep creating play scenarios where she gets to learn things like:
a. “How are you?”
b. “What did you do today?”
c. ___ looks excited. ____ looks sad.
d. A friend gets hurt
e. A friend does not want to share a toy
f. A friend is confused
g. “Are you ok?”
h. “Can I help you?”
i. Show her to pay attention to another person and how to talk with another person in these situations.
j. The other day, I typed in pieces of paper different scenarios of things that happen to friends, like “my friend has a fever” or “my friend’s toy broke” and we got to play puppet shows of the scenarios with her toys. I had the pieces of paper in a bag and she was very motivated to give me papers so that I would recreate the next scenario.
3. Conversations ---- Talk with Duch about experiences she has had, like the movies or the bookstore. Use sentences like “Tell me about story time at the bookstore”, or “Tell me about the Smurfs movie”, “what is your favorite part?” “Tell me more”. Use her favorite topics so that she is highly motivated. Inspire her engage in conversations.
4. Pronouns ---- Cara taught us the trick of using our hand and point to ourselves, when we say “Me/I/My” and pointing to her (Duch), when we say “You/Your” and pointing to somebody else when we say “he/his”. Keep pairing names and pronouns so that she gets more used to use pronouns. It is a matter of modeling a lot and she will start doing it more.
LIAM
1. “WHERE?” + “FIND” ---- Liam’s speech therapist, Jeannie, is working on “WHERE?” on Thursdays. She has this great cards that he loves and he asks her for cards using “where is …?”. Here are some ideas of how to help him to use more “where?” at home. He has used it in the past, so it is a matter of showing him how helpful it can be.
a. Play “hide and find” games. Hide things that he is motivated for, but that he is not too attached to. Hide them in the room, in the tent, in the ball pit, etc, etc.
b. You could hide snacks and then he has to find them.
c. Bring some cups/glasses to the room and hide things under the cups like the magicians do. First show him how the game works and then invite him to guess where things are.
d. Play “I Spy” with him since he loves those books and games. Plus, he just got an I Spy mat puzzle where you can also find things using “WHERE” and “FIND”.
e. Get “find and seek” sheets from Sam’s. Combine them with Bingo dots and flashlights.
2. “YES” and “NO” ---- We keep working on yes/no. We are getting there!!! It is a matter of persistence and consistency. Here are some ideas:
a. When you ask Liam questions, DON’T end the question with a noun. So, if you have applesauce or a snack in your hands, you can say “Do you want ….?” (pointing to the applesauce), but don’t say the word. He can say “YES”, “NO” or “applesauce”. If he says “applesauce”, you say “YES, applesauce”!
b. The sentence Shelby has been using to not use the NOUN is: “Is this what you want?”
c. I had a great time the other day playing this game with Liam. He wanted me to draw. So, he said: “draw an airplane.” I had some animal puzzle pieces there, so I would say: “What about a dog?, let’s draw a dog”. Liam: “NO dog”. Mom: “What about a fox?, let’s draw a fox”. Liam: “NO fox”. Mom: “So, should I draw this?” (pointing to the airplane in the book). Liam: “yes, airplane”. We did it many times. He was HIGHLY motivated by the drawing and would tell me no to the puzzle pieces and yes to the pictures he wanted from the book.
d. If you are using the light buttons, make sure you vary the questions so that Liam does not get used to answer only YES or only NO.
e. We made some glasses with YES and NO cards on top. With a YES glass, you can say: “YES, I love to sing” and start singing. Do fun stuff with the YES glasses. And then, with NO glasses, stop and do nothing. Keep showing him the differences between the YES and NO glasses.
f. In addition to “do you want …?” remember to use variations like “should we …?” or “should I …?
g. Make a game of things you know Liam DOES NOT like, so that he gets to answer NO. For example: “Do you want me to hang you from your toes?” Do you want me to scream as loud as I can?” “Should we wear more clothes on?” “Should I brush your hair more?” “Should we read this book about princesses?”
3. Tip-toeing ----- I will send you again the old and new videos for Liam’s feet. Please remember to do the foot exercises in your sessions. This is also a matter of consistency and persistence. Other ideas from Cara for helping his feet, which can be added to the obstacle courses:
a. Crab walk
b. Penguin walk
c. Walking backwards
d. Animal walk (except bear walk)
e. These animal walks could be combined with the animal cards and animal sounds games.
4. Obstacle courses: Keep using prepositions like: over, under, through, around, etc. At some point ask him what to do first, second, etc. We could use pictures, if we have taken pictures of steps of obstacle courses, or drawings, or words to give him choices for obstacle course steps.
5. Emotions, things we love --- Here are some ideas to show Liam more sentences about emotions and more adjectives about his favorite hugs/kisses/tickles games:
a. Keep telling Liam (and Dusya) sentences like: “I love playing ….”, “This is so much fun”, “This is great”, “This is silly”.
b. Introduce adjectives for the kisses, hugs, and tickles, like “I love crazy kisses”, “I love long hugs”, etc, etc. I, for example, types some sentences like this and cut them and put them in a bag and he had to pick a piece of paper and we would do whatever the paper said.
DUCHIS
1. If you see a chance to play a game with Tony and Duchis about something that BOTH love, like LEGOS, start playing and see if they both come to join you.
2. Duals in the playroom with 2 adults --- When the opportunity is there, we can play 2 adults with Duch so that we keep modeling her being a friend and things like: empathy, sharing, imitation (simon says, follow the leader, action songs). Even when you are alone with her in the room, keep creating play scenarios where she gets to learn things like:
a. “How are you?”
b. “What did you do today?”
c. ___ looks excited. ____ looks sad.
d. A friend gets hurt
e. A friend does not want to share a toy
f. A friend is confused
g. “Are you ok?”
h. “Can I help you?”
i. Show her to pay attention to another person and how to talk with another person in these situations.
j. The other day, I typed in pieces of paper different scenarios of things that happen to friends, like “my friend has a fever” or “my friend’s toy broke” and we got to play puppet shows of the scenarios with her toys. I had the pieces of paper in a bag and she was very motivated to give me papers so that I would recreate the next scenario.
3. Conversations ---- Talk with Duch about experiences she has had, like the movies or the bookstore. Use sentences like “Tell me about story time at the bookstore”, or “Tell me about the Smurfs movie”, “what is your favorite part?” “Tell me more”. Use her favorite topics so that she is highly motivated. Inspire her engage in conversations.
4. Pronouns ---- Cara taught us the trick of using our hand and point to ourselves, when we say “Me/I/My” and pointing to her (Duch), when we say “You/Your” and pointing to somebody else when we say “he/his”. Keep pairing names and pronouns so that she gets more used to use pronouns. It is a matter of modeling a lot and she will start doing it more.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Liam is blossoming
You know, because Liam is harder to take pictures of, the blog always has more pictures of Duch and Tony, but that does not mean we don't have some great pictures of Liam lately. I can see his awareness going up and up and his face when connections are being formed in his brain when he talks to us. I know we will see great developments in Liam this year. Enjoy the pictures and remember to always celebrate where Liam is right now and to keep showing him all he can be.
The triplets are turning 6!!!
This is birthday week in the house!!! On Tuesday, we will have a tiny celebration since it is school day for Tony and there is Yulene in the afternoon, too. On Sunday (Aug 28), we will love to celebrate with our SonRise family that Liam, Tony, and Duchis are turning 6 years old! We will have a group meeting from 2pm to 4pm and then the party starts at 4pm. We will have cake, ice cream, and pizza, a Dora piniata, and we can play musical chairs and pin the tail on the elephant! More than anything it is a celebration of where the kids are and a time to visualize all they can be. It is also the birthday of our SonRise program, actually. It is turning 2 years old in full-time mode! :) I have invited former team members, too. Enjoy this picture of the kids when there were 6 months old -- it is one of my favorite pictures EVER! :)
Maddy is off to college!
We are missing Maddy and her calm happy energy around the house when she came to help us after a day at high school! I thought it was sweet that the first picture I got from Maddy was a picture Shelby took with her phone of Maddy and Liam, and the last picture I got from Maddy was also of her with Liam. In between? Almost 2 years! Have a great experience and a great life, Maddy! And come visit us when you have time! We all love you!
Do you see a trend here?
Ladies, look at these pictures and see the trend ... this is my dream slowly coming true ...
Yes, they are definitely gravitating more to each other!!! Congratulate them when you see them interacting or sharing something. They need to see how much we love when they do that, so that they keep doing it. Yesterday night it was very nice because it was almost 8pm and we were all upstairs. At some point, Tony crashed on daddy's legs and Duch and crashed on Tony! We keep doing variations of crashing on each other and Duch and Tony loved it. All of the sudden, Liam comes and I help him to crash on Duch and Tony, who were still crashing on daddy! ..... PRICELESS! fo everything else .... Mastercard.
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| Looking at pictures ... |
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| Looking at a book ... |
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| Playing with toys ... |
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| Showing their teeth ... |
My bday this year
I had a great time this year on my birthday. Thanks so much for helping the kids to write such great bday cards!!! I was so impressed when Kristen said that Liam had written his own card!!! It's the dream of a mother, believe me :) Here are some pictures of the day, including the cards! Thanks!
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