Wednesday, August 29, 2012

school...

camden started toddler class yesterday (which is a preschool prep course)...it's just once a week for one and a half hours but it is suppose to help them get into the routine of having a routine at school.  we shall see how the next four months go...
he had a good first day...
 
he tried to get out of activities by giving out hugs, and then refusing to let go and sit down haha...i am not really surprised.  i am pretty proud of the little man though overall and i think the class will be great for him, since most of the kids in there just seemed a little speech delayed...so cam is definitely the under dog, but i am sure he will rise to the challenge.
 
aside from school we are also starting a little gym class tonight...my hope is that toddler class, music class and little gym will help cam start to follow routine and directions better...he seems to engage in activities more when other kids are engaged in the same activity...so we are going with it!
 
on a side note...what do you do for your kid when therapy just isn't working anymore. ok, i'll be honest, camden has never really done well with "therapy"...cam does best when you follow his lead.  i have always watched for camden to get an interest in something and then tried to foster it, since if you try to push an activity on him, he shuts down.  he doesn't like any sort of pressure...and if he knows you want to get something out of him, he will do everything he can to make sure it doesn't happen.  frustrating...to say the least.  he never really has performed well for therapists...which has always worried me, especially now that preschool is just around the corner, he just doesn't have an interest in doing things that other people want him to do, unless you make him think it's his idea.  stubborn...YES! in fact today his speech therapist told me that out of the thousands of kids she has worked with my guy is one of the, if not the strongest willed of them all. he pretty much completely shuts down for her, and all communication goes out the window, because he knows that's what she wants from him.  and she is not the first...he has done this with all of his other therapists with one exception, his early intervention coordinator...who has been with him since he was six weeks old....and won't be around once he graduates out of early intervention in four months. i love cam, and he is doing so great in so many ways...but my biggest fear is that he will get to school and shut down and refuse to try anything...they will then think he isn't capable of doing things that he is capable of and he won't progress.
 
my husband thinks he is two and that i am expecting him to act like a five year old...and i know there is a lot of truth to that. would i be so worried about him if he did this and was a typically developing toddler? i don't know...what two year old performs? what two year old isn't strong willed? what two year old doesn't throw a tantrum...and in all honesty, with the exception of a hair pull and a hit thrown out on occasion during a tantrum he is really well behaved for the most part (for a two year old). i just worry, i want to help him reach his full potential and sometimes i am just not sure what road is best for him, or if there is a road paved yet at all...
 
so those of you with a stubborn little one...what have you done to help foster learning? what have you done to help them get engaged in activities that they need to learn but are difficult for them...? today i am in all honesty at a loss.
 

4 comments:

  1. I found that some therapists relate to your kid and some don't - plain and simple. We went through 3 different PT's. Only one could get Max to do anything. He cried, but still did it. As for the new class, it took Max about 2 weeks to adjust to the new routine (structured play class with DDI) and not cry when we pulled into the parking lot. Can't wait for preschool to start next week. He loved it those last few weeks of the year when he transitioned in April. The routine helped him a lot. He began signing more, etc.
    Also, I keep having to remind myself, cognitively, Max is about 15 months, NOT 3 1/2. Camden may be older cognitively, Max seems to be 'extra' delayed. But really, I don't see 15 months old following directions, etc. So I have to remember that he is really still just a baby. I hate to admit it, but I am soooooo sick of him being a baby (who is physically the size of a 4 yr old and can run like the dickens!). I'm ready for a 3 1/2 yr old ;)

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  2. He sounds just like Brycen! Everything has to be his idea. As far as things we do to help him get engaged in certain activities...we start small. Our latest thing has been getting him to do chores without actually telling him he needs to clean up his mess. If we say, "Clean up your toys" he freaks out. So we have to make a game out of it. That's the same with putting laundry away. We'll keep taking the game approach till he follows direction and does what we tell him. I get frustrated too and think about if he's ever going to be able to sit and learn things like and when he should. But for now, I do have to remember that he's two and start with the small things. He and Camden have very similar personalities so I totally understand how you feel!

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  3. Having had 2 go through early intervention and speech therapy, I totally relate. Mia did better for the therapists at school than she did at home. Isaac has been totally different, though. I got frustrated a lot with the in-home therapy stuff because it just felt like I was doing the same things I normally did with him and he wasn't learning anything. He took a long time to warm up to therapists, too. He progressed a little, but it felt painfully slow. The preschool has made the huge difference. I think the fact that I'm not around helps a lot. He doesn't have me around and the peer pressure that comes from being in that setting with the other kids is really good. He only went for a month before summer started, but his vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds. His comprehension has gotten much better, too. He's still stubborn and strong-willed, but he is improving. The preschool is what made all the difference for Mia, too. I think the "therapy" is good. Even if they don't do what the therapist wants, they are still processing that information. But for both my kids they made their real progress in the preschool. Hope that helps!

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  4. What works best for us when teaching our dd is just to keep Inputting & not asking for any output. If we try to test in any way she will not cooperate input input input & she eventually shows us that she can learn very quickly.

    Dr Jim macdonald of communicating partners has some great ideas on getting kids talking without pressuring them to perform. He also has a yahoo group.

    Hope this helps:)

    Laura
    downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com

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