Late Entry into Thirty Days of Play Challenge

We're late joining up but I'm excited to join Hands On: As We Grow and The Imagination Tree in the 30 Days to Hands On Play Challenge. You can read about it here and here. Every day, they take turns providing a play idea for us to try. We are going to put aside 15 minutes a day of dedicated, non-interrupted play.

At our house, we do "special time" at least once or twice a day but those are times when I promise to allow no interruptions and I allow Jack to lead the way in play. This will be a separate time of play where I will attempt to lead the way with a play idea.

I don't want to go all legalistic on us by going back and doing all the play ideas that have already been presented this month so I'm going to do the day 1 challenge of saying what I hope to accomplish in the challenge and tomorrow we'll dive in with the challenge for day 17.

From http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2011/11/30-days-to-hands-on-play-challenge.html:

Day 1:

Today's activity

Spend a little bit of time thinking about this challenge. What do you hope to gain?

Think about your child (or children) What do they really love doing? What are they good at? Their special interests? This will be really helpful as the challenge unfolds.

My answer:
I have a very simple short goal: to expand our play. We get stuck in a lot of doing the same things. Jack and I both tend to like things staying the same BUT we need some fresh new things to try to improve Jack's development and mine.

Jack loves to move, move, and move some more--run, jump, bounce, skip, ride anything with wheels. As Jack's speech continues to emerge, he likes to play with sounds, words, and phrases. He is most joy-filled when he has my full attention and we are playing together. He tends to be a "sensory seeker". He enjoys swinging, being squeezed tightly and spinning (himself, balls, pinwheels, wheels, and gears and anything else he can get to spin). He does not do much make believe or fantasy play except playing with Elmo.

I'm excited! Wish us luck and say a prayer as we work on expanding our play repertoire. I probably won't post everyday but will more likely do a recap every now and then of how things are going with the different challenges.

Here's my partners in play:

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day 2011! I hope all of you are having a wonderful Mother's Day!

Jack and David made me the most beautiful card:

 My ever poetic and romantic husband also manged to find this card which surprisingly expressed just what he wanted to say:

 And I received this wonderful surprise from my mother-in-law:

Psalm 37:4 says Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (http://bible.us/Ps37.4.NIV) I cannot remember a time when I did not wish to be a mother. As a child, I remember thinking about what kind of mother I wanted to grow up to be. I truly believe that God put that desire in my heart and he fulfilled that desire over and above how wonderful I imagined it could be. He gave me this sweet guy

He made Jack persistent and from his persistence I have learned to have so much hope! He made Jack attention-consuming so that I would not multi-task my way through his life and miss the wonderfulness of each moment. He made Jack sweet and loving to provide me with even more of his love. I could go on and on.....

But God has also richly blessed me with a desire that I did not even fully realize that I had. In fact, he both gave and fulfilled the desire without me taking much notice of it. Did you see the card from my mother-in-law? It's the kind of card that a mother would give a daughter. It's the kind of card shared between two people filled with love for one another. There's nothing like a mother's love and I've privileged and blessed to receive that kind of love from my husband's mother. She's really not even his anymore :) She's mine!

Introducing "Cane"

Jack has a new constant companion. No, no, Irish has not been replaced. Where Jack goes, Irish usually goes too but now you'll be seeing Jack, Irish, and "Cane". I read somewhere that it's good for a child who uses a cane to name it. As typical with Jack, he names things what they are [He's got a plush puppy named Woof woof, a barking plush dog named Barking Dog, etc.]. So his cane is Cane.

A cane? Why does Jack have a cane? He's not blind! No, he is not completely blind. I think my recent Life at Dusk post gives a fair analogy of what Jack's sight is like. The cane is for Jack like glasses are for a near-sighted child, it helps him to better understand what he sees. It helps him to better navigate the world around him.

But Jack already wears glasses! Yes, he does. The glasses protect his eyes. Jack's visual impairment is caused by optic nerve atrophy and cortical visual impairment. The problem is not the image that comes into his eyes. His eyes themselves actually do a great job and only need a slight amount of correction. So the glasses don't really help his vision in a functional way.

Here are a few more articles that might help you to better understand Jack's cane use.

Why Do You Want to Make that Child Blind?

STEP TOWARD EQUALITY: CANE TRAVEL TRAINING FOR THE YOUNG BLIND CHILD

Blind Enough for A Cane?

We introduced the cane late last week. David really got Jack's attention by taking the cane and walking around in our tiled bathroom. David didn't say a word but Jack heard that cane tapping and ran after David to see what was going on. Here's a shot of that first evening.

David's next step as Jack's orientation and mobility instructor was to take Jack on an outdoor walk. Jack is already familiar with our home so he prefers not to use the cane in the home. David knew that we needed Jack to see that the cane actually benefitted him.

David is carrying a bamboo walking stick to simulate a cane and showing Jack how to keep the cane in front of him.

It wasn't long before Jack got the idea.

Of course, he's a little boy and he wanted to have a little fun like his Uncle Noah.

Here's a short video taken during this first cane outing.

After walking around on the sidewalk for a while we decided to try locating and going up and down curbs. Jack is very used to having to stop and shuffle walk until he finds the edge of the curb with his feet. Here's David trying to help him realize the cane can help him find the curb so he can continue his normal pace.

Jack discoved on his own that the cane helped him to "see" that the white lines in the parking lot were flat and not elevated. He was fascinated by this and ran his cane over and over the area.

Here's Jack proudly posing with his cane. He told me "Achoo [it's how we used to get him to smile for pictures] take a picture."

Learning how to manage the cane in the grass.

Tap tap tap on the wall

Using the cane to explore the park

Fun fun fun

He's still a little boy so sometimes he has to be reminded that the cane goes on the ground not waved around in the air.

Still perfecting the technique for uneven ground

Crossing a bridge over the creek

Hey Daddy, come sit with us on the creek bank!

Click for more Wordless Wednesday, Wordful Wednesday, and Special Exposure Wednesday posts.

Where the Beep Beep Went Wrong

You might want to review last week's Where the Beep Beep Went Right. And then the intro....

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

You might remember this and this and this

from last year's Beeping Easter Egg Hunt. I was NOT making the same mistakes this year! If he did not want to hunt Easter eggs or pose with his basket, that was fine. We would just enjoy being outside and he could run along the yellow tape to his heart's content.

*As a quick aside, anybody notice that my kiddo has had another growth spurt?*

So that's it...I did everything right and we had an awesome time with no issues at all that day! Yeah, right!

Not long after he began running around in the grass, Jack started asking me to carry him. I tried and tried and tried to tell him to walk but oh no he wanted Mama to carry him. I thought maybe it was because the sun was too bright and I forgot his sunglass clip ons. When the sun is very very bright he tends to get clingy or he gets rooted to one spot or the shade. I relented and carried him around a bit until we happened upon the trampoline and he declared, "Shoes off, jump, jump!" as he frantically pushed at his sandals.

He slowly worked his way up to a standing position on the trampoline as I snapped pictures

.

That's when I noticed how big (relative to how small they were) his feet are getting. I checked out his toes and sure enough his little piggies were rubbing against the inside of those sandals. No wonder he did not want to walk!

A fairly short time after we started jumping (relative to the amount of time we usually spend jumping on a trampoline every time we get a chance), someone announced that the tactile puppet show was about to start. I'd had my heart set on Jack experiencing the tactile puppet show. I gave him the 10 minute countdown and we went inside where he immediately began fussing about going back outside.

It was a bit loud with the live music and people just coming in for the puppet show. I told Jack that this was new and fun. I told him that I wanted him to give it a try before he decided that he did not like it.

A musician brought a drum over and Jack began banging away in about 15 seconds of pure joy but then it clicked...I guess he thought I tricked him. He began getting all upset again and the musician just did not know what to do. Frankly, I didn't either. I was playing all this by ear. I told the musician to go ahead and move on to the next participant since I did not think Jack wanted to play anymore. I tried for another eternity five minutes or so to get Jack to calm down and feel the puppets but he just wasn't having it.

A sympathetic mom offered that her son also gets overwhelmed in large noisy crowds like that one. While I thought that some of it was tantrum (about wanting to be outside), I had to agree that the environment was a bit overwhelming. I took him just outside the door in hopes that he would calm down enough to return. He did calm down but he wasn't going back and that's when we headed for the swings and he was happy again.

So where's the therapy in all this? Well there was the new experience, the jumping, the running around, the listening to instructions (sort of) but mostly there's the review....overall Jack had fun. I know the parts that he enjoyed the best. In review, I can tell you where I went wrong--too small shoes, no sunglass clip ons, not really giving him clear information about the puppet show and how there would be lots of noise and lots of people. Each time, we try something new it prepares us both for the next time we have that experience and if I take the time to review what went right and what went wrong, then I can do a better job the next time. I'll never anticipate everything. I'll never get everything right. It's part of the parenting journey. And now I'm a little further along on the journey. Each experience better prepares for the next especially if we take the time to think over just what happened.

Next time an event doesn't go like you planned, I encourage you to take a little time and review.

Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:

Boring Life
Spring Break
Code Words
For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.

Now it's your turn to participate. This is where we share our ideas and stories with one another. We're all in this together. Let's laugh together, motivate one another, and stimulate each others ideas. If you have a blog, create your own "life is therapy" post and leave your link in the comments. If you don't have a blog just leave a comment with your life is therapy story.

Where the Beep Beep went Right

The Series will return....we're still trying to get caught up around here and that includes returning to a regular posting schedule. If you've got a Life is Therapy story, please feel free to either leave a link or leave your story in the comments.

We went to the Beeping Easter Egg Hunt again this year.
This year, I was smart. I had my expectations in line. I knew what his favorite parts would be.....

the HAMBURGERS,

just being out of doors,

jumping on the trampoline,

and swinging.

Come back later and I'll fill you in on what I got wrong...

Easter Tradition?

Anybody remember last year's ignoring of the Easter basket? Well this year, Jack actually met the Easter Bunny! Mr. E. Bunny himself went to Jack's school and shook Jack's hand. Ms. Sunny reported that Jack thought the Easter Bunny was one funny guy.

We were thrilled! Since Jack enjoyed meeting Mr. Bunny, we thought it would be a little more concrete for him this year. I talked to Jack about how the Easter Bunny was going to bring him a basket with some surprises. And with a few ideas from some friends, there were great items in the basket. They were sure to please. I just *knew* that this year was going to be different.

To help build the anticipation, I really hyped up the Easter Bunny and the basket on Saturday. Then Saturday evening, I got Jack to help me decorate a very tactile high contrast Easter egg.

It's a foam "egg" on black construction paper. Jack added the bright foam shapes stickers.

I told Jack that we were decorating the egg and leaving it in the basket to let the Easter Bunny know that we celebrate Easter and he was welcome to stop by our house. I even got Jack to help me put the basket in place. My plan was going great!

Sunday morning we woke up to find the egg moved to the art wall and the basket filled.

Dancing, singing, light up rabbit, Spinner rabbit, water balloons, bubble spinner, spinning tops, chocolate Easter bunny, miscellaneous candy, cheese puffs, and popcorn.

And here is a transcript of our conversation:

Marie: Let's see what the Easter Bunny brought you!

Jack: Take a bath!

M: You want to take a bath now?

J: Yes. Irish!

M: Okay, let's go find Irish.

J: Searching. Irish.

M: Searching. (Spots Irish). In the bag.

J: (vision not so good this AM--fluctuates due to cortical visual impairment) Irish?

M: In the bag.

J: Irish?

M: (thumps Irish to make noise) Here's Irish!

J: Irish! (Grabs Irish)

M: (squeezes singing, dancing, light up bunny's hand hoping to generate Easter basket interest) Look!

J: Turn it off.

M: Turn it off?

J: Yes.

M: (turns bunny off)

J: Take a bath (heads to bathroom)

*sigh* Jack was not this conversational last year. He speaks so much more and so much more clearly this year. We have much to be grateful for. But I have to be honest....I really really really wanted him to get excited about that basket this year!

To see other's Magic Marker Monday posts and to link up yourself, click here.

Where is All Access Pass to Jack?

PEEK A BOO!

Sorry I've been scarce around these parts. We have had some very busy days in our household. I hope to get back to more regular posting soon but I wanted to reassure all of you that Jack is not sick or having surgery or anything. He is busy growing and being a little boy and amazing us with how mature he is becoming.

Haircuts have always been a big chore for Jack. Back when he is around one and a half, David and I decided that haircuts were a Jack and Daddy activity. Jack would flail his extremities and his head so that he looked like he was caught up in a tornado while getting his hair cut.

David has been taking Jack to Ms. Barbara, the barber, since that time. Ms. Barbara has always been patient and understanding. In fact, she and her cohorts at the barber shop kept telling us that they have seen much worse.

Then there was yesterday. Jack walked into the barber shop without fuss. He walked up to Ms. Barbara and said "Hey!" After she said, "Hey Jack", he said "Sit in the chair." Ms. Barbara set up the chair for Jack to sit alone and to everyone's amazement, Jack climbed up, sat down and sat still for his haircut. Ms. Barbara said, "Who is this? Where did Jack go?"

Code Words

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

What are code words? Code words are those "magic" little phrases that are the substitute for a long drawn out explanation. For example, I have a little boy who loves to stand up on a basketball, stand in a rolling office chair, jump up and down in the bathtub, flip on the bed....you know...if it's unsafe he is all about it. A phrase that is often heard at our house is "Jack! Stay safe." "Jack! Stay safe" means "Jack, do not stand up in that office chair. That chair can topple over and you will crack your head open on the filing cabinets. Get down now!" AND it means "Jack, do not use Irish as a step stool to lean over the upstairs railing. You could topple over the side!" It also means "Jack, do not even think about going out into the street without me." AND "Jack, do not touch the stove." The phrase reminds Jack to stop and think about what he is doing. It focuses his attention (for a moment anyway) and makes him remember what we've told him.

How do you develop "code words"? Choose a very simple phrase that succintly sums up what you want to say. Our "Jack. Stay safe." arose from constantly telling him that we wanted to keep him safe. Eventually we narrowed it down to "Jack. Stay safe."

Next, you form the associations with the words. Every time you encounter a new situation where the phrase applies, you say the phrase, ("Jack. Stay safe."), confirm that you have the child's attention, and then give a simple yet longer explanation. For instance, Jack's latest trick is jumping on the bed. When he first tried to show me this nifty trick, I said "Jack! Stay safe.", helped him to the floor, and said "Jump on the floor." He climbed up on the bed again later and I repeated, "Jack! Stay safe. Jump on the floor." Soon enough, the association was created and if I saw him stand on the bed I would say only "Jack stay safe" and he would sit down on or crawl off the bed.

The great thing about code words is they are portable from person to person. We told the school our "Jack. Stay safe." phrase and they are using it there too.

His teacher taught us a phrase she uses to get a child to give her his full attention. "Look at my face."

We also use "Pay attention" to let Jack know that we need him to really focus on what we are saying.

Jack has evidently learned these code words really well. Last weekend, he said, "Pay attention" and gently turned my face toward his. It worked. I took notice and began paying attention.
Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:
Just Snuggle
Get Your Boredom Going
Spring Break
For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.

Now it's your turn to participate. This is where we share our ideas and stories with one another. We're all in this together. Let's laugh together, motivate one another, and stimulate each others ideas. If you have a blog, create your own "life is therapy" post and leave a link in the comments. If you don't have a blog just leave a comment with your life is therapy story.

Safety FAIL

You know how we are super uber safety conscious 'round here?

umm......

Please remember that the "chest" clip is what keeps your child from flying out of his 5 point harness and it belongs in the super safe zone about level with the arm pits. And moms, if the family is in a hurry and Dad helps Junior into the car, check the car seat before you snap your cute picture of riding off to visit friends.

For more Friday FAILs, click here.

There's More to Our Story

It has been a tiring, stressful week in the All Access Pass to Jack household. We thank you so much for your prayers and support. Jack did not vomit again last night and he settled into a restful sleep a little after midnight. He did not wake up crying any after that.

Apparently, Jack's recent stomach virus has temporarily (we hope) slowed down his ability to move food through his stomach resulting in nighttime vomiting. And he has a viral sinus infection and another ear infection.

This morning, he was a little irritable but he's usually that way when he has a new ear infection. He was fine after a little motrin. He went to school today. Ms. Sunny reports that he spent most of the day laughing. Ms. Denise was happy to report that he identified mini oreos as the black cookies.

Jack has had several rough nights from the vomiting that have left his parents completely exhausted. Children, however, bounce back from exhaustion a lot quicker. We were too tired to think of anything else wanted Jack to see what other children do when they are not at school so we let him watch a few You Tube videos. He has recently developed a fascination for little Ali so we watched her You Tube videos a few times. He was fond of her rendition of the ABC's but the Alabama Tutorial really got him moving.

 

It's 10 pm and Jack seems to be resting well and has not vomited. We are praying for a restful night's sleep. Good night!

Home Made Sinus Remedies

Even before Jack's stomach flu began, he's been having increased secretions and difficulty breathing at night due to that ever changing barometric pressure. Our family doc suggested Breathe Right Strips. I told him that I figured the concept would work but reminded him that Jack (who was not present) had an unusual nose and the Breathe Right Strips just didn't do their thing on him. "No problem," he said. He put his fingers on my face and showed the effect I was trying to create and said, "Just use band-aids." David laughed at me when I did this but it worked!

My bloggy friend Sheila also sent me these great tips from her Wellness Blog. I'm going to try these too (on me and Jack).

Click for more Wordless Wednesday, Wordful Wednesday, and Special Exposure Wednesday posts.

Don't forget to check out this week's Life is Therapy where we take a break for snuggling and last week's Life is Therapy where I tell you why boring is good.

Sometimes we both cry....

I hope that my wise, sweet husband and amazing father to Jack is right. Jack was just really tired tonight. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure that he is right.

Jack cried that he wanted to watch more you tube videos but it was bath time and I cajoled him to the bathroom with the offer of a piggy back ride. But we got there and it all fell apart. He wanted to take a bath. He wanted Irish. He did not want to take a bath. He wanted to take a bath. He was all done. He took his socks off but cried about getting out of his shirt. He did not want to use the bathroom. He did not want to put on his PJs. He wanted Mama. He wanted Mama to go away. He wanted to sit on Mama’s lap. He wanted Mama to go away.

My mind whirled. What do I do? He will live if he doesn’t get a bath tonight but wait! If I let him skip this bath will it teach him that he can throw a fit and get out of doing things? Is this a fit? Is something wrong? Is he stressed? What does he want? I wish I could understand everything he says. What does he want? Does it matter what he wants? He needs to get to bed. He’s so upset. How will he get to sleep? Is something bothering him?

I finally got him calmed down and got him into bed. He drifted off to sleep and the evening routine of keeping him breathing while asleep began. Then Dave brought the mail and there’s a letter from the school. It’s time to figure out if he should go to kindergarten next year. It’s time to plan his goals for next year.

Jack’s oxygen levels began to drop. We propped him up on pillows. He coughed and sputtered from the ever present night-time secretions. He tossed and turned and rolled off the pillows.

My mind whirled. Should we give him Afrin? How many days has it been since his last dose? Why is he having such a hard time these past few nights? Should we go ahead and put the Bipap on? Is he recognizing the color black? Should we take a step back from potty training for a bit? Does he need B12 supplementation? Is he stressed out? What was he saying earlier tonight?

And I cried a hard cry like I have not had in quite a while. And I prayed. I prayed and cried. I am overwhelmed and I do not have the answers. I don’t even have all the questions yet. As I cried and prayed sitting there next to Jack’s bed, I remembered what I believe. I don’t have to have the answers and it is not all dependent upon me. God has a plan for Jack that I cannot begin to fathom. I will not always understand God’s plan and it will not always seem fair to me but that does not make the plan any less good.

TV is NOT the Enemy

Yes, I said it. TV really is not the enemy. But before we get to that--the intro...

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

I know. I know. There are all kinds of studies out there that say that tv viewing is bad for children. I completely agree that plopping your child down in front of the tv (no matter what the program) for loads of unattended time is not good. Watching Baby Einstein videos alone will not make your baby an Einstein.

But TV and video viewing can be a great time for you and your child to interact and learn about things outside your world and even take a different look at everyday things around you. This is true whether your child is 4 or 40. The important part of the equation is you. Join in your child's tv/video viewing. Talk about what you see on the screen. Talk about your values. Talk about how you would have done things differently or the same as the characters. Act out the different character's parts together with your child. TV/video viewing can be a great bonding time.

Jack is a late talker. He is still trying to figure out how to tell the rest of us the many thoughts that are floating around in his head. His DVDs have been a great springboard to communication and a better understanding of the words he has been saying. When a triangle is on the screen and Jack says "Try ay kul", the light bulb goes on and suddenly that word he's been saying makes sense!

Children in the early stages of talking often have difficulty holding conversations because they don't know what they are supposed to say. They have to think about what you said, think of the words they need for a response, and then get their muscles working together just right to form the words that are needed. Playing out the storylines from videos are a great way for children to practice turn-taking speech. One of the hardest elements of conversations has been eliminated--coming up with the words. It's predictable. They know what you are gonna say and they know what they are supposed to say. It's a confidence builder and a great way for a child to learn to practice waiting for the other person to take their turn in conversation.

Instead of bemoaning your child's love of that flashing box, try joining them for a bit and see where it takes you.

Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:
Try Something Old
Know When to Stop
The Grocery Store
For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.

Now it's your turn to participate. This is where we share our ideas and stories with one another. We're all in this together. Let's laugh together, motivate one another, and stimulate each others ideas. If you have a blog, create your own "life is therapy" post and link to the specific post in the Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog just leave a comment with your life is therapy story.

The Grocery Store--Life is Therapy

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

I've been rolling around this idea in my head since I wrote about how much Jack loves Publix. Then Erin's cute post just reminded me how much kids get from tasks like grocery shopping that we consider quite mundane.

It's very hard to remember that the entire world is new and different to our kids. It's much easier for them to encounter things they've never seen before. Also, because they grow and get taller and a bit more independent at each visit, they see new things or old things from different angles and it is all amazing.

As Jack gets older and bigger (over the wieght limit for most shopping carts), he is being allowed a little more freedom to roam. I used our friendly neighborhood Publix where most of the staff know us as a good testing area for deciding when he was ready to first walk beside and not sit in the cart. It took a few times of trying it before he was truly ready since he would often try to break free and run.

Once he did show enough self-control to follow my safety instructions, grocery shopping became a wonderful time to practice orientation and mobility and physical therapy. With Jack's visual impairment, he is still adjusting to his lack of depth perception so he had to learn to guage the distance between him and any objects in his path and adjust himself accordingly. It is very easy for Jack to see something he wants to get to and develop tunnel vision (as in he only focuses on whatever it is and takes off toward it ignoring anything in his path). In the grocery store, there are other people and their baskets as well as display racks and sometimes stocking boxes to be avoided. Going up and down the aisles has been great for enhancing impulse control as well as remembering to focus on the immediate area to check for people and other obstacles to navigate.

The grocery store also supplies numerous oppurtunities for practicing speech therapy by labeling the many things available in the store. I usually allow Jack's level of interest to dictate the amount of labeling we do. One day I was getting a little frustrated because it appeared that Jack was just rooted to one spot moving his head up and down. After a deep breath, I watched for a moment and realized that he was actually looking at the vegetables but appeared to be trying to find a good angle to see them. When I slowed down, we had a delightful time, looking at, touching, smelling, and labeling the various fresh vegetables--speech therapy, sensory therapy, vision therapy, occupational therapy.

Since we frequent the same store often, we have really gotten to know the staff and they've gotten to know us so it is not at all uncommon for a staff member to come up for hugs and conversation. This is a great time to practice appropriate social behavior. Each time, Jack is more enthusiastic about interacting with the staff. He's actually much more interactive with other customers too. The familiarity of the people and the location makes things a lot easier.

So next time, you dread thinking of taking your kid to the store, see if you can slow down a bit during your shopping and enjoy the wonder that your child experiences. It will take longer to get through the store but I think the payoffs are awesome!




Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:
What Happens at Home
Something Old
Know When to Stop



For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.

Now it's your turn to participate. This is where we share our ideas and stories with one another. We're all in this together.

Mini Me

*We've all been a bit under the weather here sorry for the lack of posts lately.*

As I was looking through some old pictures I realized that I have a mini me...yeah, I know everybody thinks he looks just like his Daddy but he really is MY mini me.


I present to you the evidence:

He's a multi-tasker

He loves to nap on the beach.

He's a messy eater

but he cleans up as well as he can.

He may not understand all the ins and outs of Alabama football but he's a fan.

See? Mini Me!

Don't forget to check out this week's Life is Therapy.