So my mom got me a weighted, adult-size hula hoop and instructional dvd for Christmas. I had asked for them on a whim. I had never actually used a hula hoop successfully before, but I’d never had an adult-sized one before either. Supposedly the bigger it is, the easier it is.
So, I tried it. I’m terrible at it, but I had fun. I managed about 30 seconds to a minute at a time over 15 minutes or so. The next day I was bruised. Seriously! Bruised. So, there was a three day break while I waited to heal. The next time I tried it I was a little better. I could hoop for say, 45 seconds at a time to maybe 2 minutes at a time. Again, over a 15 – 20 minute time span. The next day – more bruises and another waiting period.
I’d really like to hula hoop for fun and fitness. I find it to be a mood booster. I could use a mood booster. But at the rate of 15 minutes twice a week I don’t see much progress happening. At least I do see a little bit of humor in the situation.
A Speech Pathologist Mother and Her Daughter Diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech
Monday, January 17, 2011
Symbiosis
Ava and I are like two halves of a communication whole. When it comes to common routine things I almost always know what she wants and what she’s trying to communicate. I know that she wants a snack when she gets up from nap. Usually we go through a question and answer routine. Do you want a banana…some yogurt…some milk…etc? She’s remarkably eloquent with intonation and vowels. I wonder if my ability to read her and to facilitate her communication is a mixed blessing. I’m pretty sure she’s less frustrated than other kids with her level of verbal skills because I’m so good at helping her. However, she’s reluctant to spend time with anyone but me. Also, she may not try as hard to verbalize because she doesn’t have to.
Recently we’ve begun teaching her sign. We also put up a communication board with the most common things she wants from the kitchen on the wall in the kitchen. I’m expecting her to actually ask for what she wants in one of those two ways (usually accompanied by a verbalization) instead of just guessing until I get it right. I think she likes it. She’s excited about being able to ask for what she wants using the communication board. She’s spontaneously using the signs for milk, please, and help. It’s really a lot of progress for only about a week of using these interventions.
There’s just so much more locked in that little head. She’s almost two. She should have at least 50 words and be using 2-3 word phrases. I don’t know that many signs, and our communication board only has 8 pictures. You can just tell that she’s wanting to communicate more complex thoughts and just doesn’t have the tools to do it. I wish I were fluent in sign so that I could open up a whole different method of communication for her. I want to hear what she has to say. I don’t care right now how she says it.
Recently we’ve begun teaching her sign. We also put up a communication board with the most common things she wants from the kitchen on the wall in the kitchen. I’m expecting her to actually ask for what she wants in one of those two ways (usually accompanied by a verbalization) instead of just guessing until I get it right. I think she likes it. She’s excited about being able to ask for what she wants using the communication board. She’s spontaneously using the signs for milk, please, and help. It’s really a lot of progress for only about a week of using these interventions.
There’s just so much more locked in that little head. She’s almost two. She should have at least 50 words and be using 2-3 word phrases. I don’t know that many signs, and our communication board only has 8 pictures. You can just tell that she’s wanting to communicate more complex thoughts and just doesn’t have the tools to do it. I wish I were fluent in sign so that I could open up a whole different method of communication for her. I want to hear what she has to say. I don’t care right now how she says it.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Schedules
The rhythms of life as a stay at home parent have gone through such distinct stages. There’s the sleep deprivation / breastfeeding stage where night and day blend together as do the days of the week. All time is the same. It drove me crazy a bit. And with my two babies only 15 months apart, in some ways I felt like I spent two straight years in that stage.
Next there was the stage of two toddlers. This was actually quite nice. I liked it here. The days and nights become distinct again. Days start to have regularly scheduled appointments like nursery school two mornings a week. Regular playdates are set. Conversations begin to return with adults aside from your husband and on topics other than the feeding, sleeping, changing, and development of babies.
And now there’s something new. Parent of a child with special needs. I’m barely starting this and I’m realizing that appointment are beginning to be difficult to keep track of. There’s school two mornings a week. Two half hour therapy sessions a week with the private therapist. The IFSP meeting coming up. The hearing test coming up. Then we’ll be scheduling the first steps therapy session(s). That will probably be once a week for an hour which is their typical schedule. I’m going to try to advocate for half hour sessions twice a week though. It’s better for kids with apraxia and I have the citations to prove it. I doubt any speech-path knowledgeable about apraxia would argue the point, but sometimes practicality wins. They serve you in your home. If you factor in driving time, you are asking them to fit in extra time into a busy schedule serving other families too. It can’t hurt to ask though, right? So that will bring us up to three or four therapy appointments a week. Plus two mornings of preschool. We also have two regular playdates. I hate to let those go, but I begin to wonder where we’ll fit it all in. The kids still nap in the afternoon. And don’t they get to just hang out at home any more? Balance… does it even matter? Or is the therapy more important?
Next there was the stage of two toddlers. This was actually quite nice. I liked it here. The days and nights become distinct again. Days start to have regularly scheduled appointments like nursery school two mornings a week. Regular playdates are set. Conversations begin to return with adults aside from your husband and on topics other than the feeding, sleeping, changing, and development of babies.
And now there’s something new. Parent of a child with special needs. I’m barely starting this and I’m realizing that appointment are beginning to be difficult to keep track of. There’s school two mornings a week. Two half hour therapy sessions a week with the private therapist. The IFSP meeting coming up. The hearing test coming up. Then we’ll be scheduling the first steps therapy session(s). That will probably be once a week for an hour which is their typical schedule. I’m going to try to advocate for half hour sessions twice a week though. It’s better for kids with apraxia and I have the citations to prove it. I doubt any speech-path knowledgeable about apraxia would argue the point, but sometimes practicality wins. They serve you in your home. If you factor in driving time, you are asking them to fit in extra time into a busy schedule serving other families too. It can’t hurt to ask though, right? So that will bring us up to three or four therapy appointments a week. Plus two mornings of preschool. We also have two regular playdates. I hate to let those go, but I begin to wonder where we’ll fit it all in. The kids still nap in the afternoon. And don’t they get to just hang out at home any more? Balance… does it even matter? Or is the therapy more important?
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