Speech - 3 times a week
Here Adi is playing a game with Lois. Lois hides a little ball in one of these hollow balls and Adi has to use her skills of deduction to figure out where the ball is.
Covering her eyes...
Shaking the balls to figure out where the little ball is.
When she's made her decision, Lois opens it up! Yay! Adi got it!
Adi's speech therapy is very similar to special ed. She just learns to integrate words (saying, understanding) into everyday matters. She says so many more words for her speech therapist than she does for us! Should I be miffed that she never said "car" to me? In speech Adi is estimated to be 18-24 months level.
And I just had to add this photo from back in October...
Special Ed (Aviva) - 2 times a week
Adi has two special ed teachers. They both have different approaches, and I think Adi gains so much from each style.
Aviva teaches Adi about everyday things. Body parts, animals, flowers, feelings, routine... She does it by pairing up a little song, action or chant to an object or concept.
Adi picked up SO many things through this method. She can't say "nose," but she can press it and say, "Beep beep." She can now say "dog," but before she was able to, she'd say "Woof-woof." She can't say "stomach," but she can drum on it while singing the tune of "Yummy in my tummy."
Special Ed (Mary) - 2 times a week
Adi has another special ed teacher, bringing her weekly total to four sessions. What I love about having two teachers is their different approaches. Mary is more "go with the flow" than "routine." Like this day, when she took Adi out to a toy store. Fun!
They also have conventional sessions ;) (This ones from December).
They match pictures of everyday items... sometimes they match a little toy to a picture of the same toy. Adi has to pick out an object from a lineup... like an apple, a chair, and a hat. She should give the picture that Mary asks her to give. They dress up dolls and and do role playing. Sometime Adi has some free play so Mary can see how she interacts with certain toys and games.
Physical Therapy - 2 times a week
In PT, Randi is working with Adi on stepping up and down curbs and ledges... stepping over thresholds and obstacles. Without holding on, even! Adi's not there yet, but practice makes perfect. I just know that I wouldn't want to be the one to have to force Adi to step on and over things for half an hour straight. Adi's getting stronger each day, even though she still falls over her own feet a lot. But I guess everything comes with practice and time. The stairs in our house have really ratty carpeting. We are planning to replace it soon, and then I guess Adi and Randi can practice going down the stairs.
Adi just came up behind me. She saw this photo on the computer and said, "Wadi. Wadi."
"You're right, Adi, that is Randi."
"Uh-huh!"
Occupational Therapy - Once a week
Jill is Adi's OT. She is the one that lent us the amazing, wonderful, awesome weighted vest. She plays a lot of sensory games with Adi. Digging in a box full of beans, playing with clay, climbing through tunnels. They do fine motor things like drawing, pegs, puzzles... We also tried out brushing therapy, but never got into a real regimen with it.
Jill comes only once a week, and she's been working with Adi less than a year. And try as I may, I was never able to get pictures of them working together. Adi would freak when she saw me, so I had to be hidden. The only good place to take photos unseen is from the window when Adi's working at the table. Usually Jill took Adi all over the yard, they worked inside the house. It was so frustrating! But finally I did.
One session on Sunday, three on Monday, three on Tuesday, one on Wednesday and two on Thursday. Whew! Little Miss Popular.
wow i HAVE So much to say...
ReplyDelete1. Adi is doing amazingly. I often compare mendy's progress with adi's and you should know adi's progress is a lot better/more than Mendy's. She barely seems delayed to me! She understands, she speaks, she cooperates with therapy... she seems BH BH to be on a really good track.
2. WOW SO MUCH THERAPY.... how does that impact your schedule? arent you 'locked in' to your house? how do you work your schedule around her sessions?
3. I thought she was going to HASC this year?
4. BH you know youre lucky to be getting this much therapy,with all the cuts...
5. Did you apply for SSI or Community Hab for Adi? With SSI you can at least buy equipment & things for her...
1. Adi and Mendy have very different types of delays. She is pretty delayed, as you'd see if you spent a day with her. She is not on the spectrum, so it's different. She participates in the session, she tries to do what is asked of her, and she is on par socially (maybe even advanced.)
ReplyDelete2. I have a strict rule- no therapy past 12 o'clock. I have rarely had to break that rule in these past 2 years. During the year, I pick up the boys in the afternoon, so we get our outdoor time/shopping done then. During the summer it was a bit of a pain, but we're not morning people and were rarely ready to go out of the house before noon. We also have a big yard and therapists often work there, so we don't feel that jailed.
3. She will go there as soon as the Board of Ed meeting is scheduled and takes place. Not that soon. Where is Mendy this year?
4. Yes! I am so grateful for what she has. She started 2 years ago when it was getting stricter, but wasn't nearly as bad as now. Luckily they didn't take away sessions, and they even added.
5. I am pretty much lost and confused with all the options and mind numbing abbreviations. I will run those terms by our service coordinator.
Mendy is going to Yeled VYalda. They are the only ABA center in Wmsbg.
ReplyDeleteSSI is social security disability. You get it from the Social security office. You have to be income eligible.
Res Hab/Community Hab is a paid girl who can come and play with Adi, take her to the park, do therapy carryover... paid for by the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities. You have to get Medicaid - straight medicaid - and her IQ has to be below 70, you need a psychologist's report. You apply through any special service agency - Ohel, HASC, Hamaspik, Human Car, etc.
No therapy past 12! Wow, lucky girl... mendy's schedule last year was: 9:30 - 12:30 ABA, 1:00 - 1:30 Speech, 2:00 - 2:30 OT (at a center). Twas a NIGHTMARE.