My sensory kids love water. For Clemmie, she always did and it doesn't matter if it is the deep end of the pool. For Theo, he likes it if the water is shallow and non threatening. I remembered when Theo was a baby, he was terrified of water. And he gradually grew out of it, but he still prefers to have short bath time or shower. Unlike Clemmie, her bath time lasts for at lease an hour or more.
A hot Sunday at 85F in Santa Monica. I took out our blow up water slide and mini pool and gave it a good scrub. This will be the last time we will be using it in the month of May. My whole family is moving to Hong Kong. The kids will miss having a backyard! I will miss it, too.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Good vibration and dark places
Theo went to his first meeting with Judy today. We only have a month left to get a diagnosis. Judy definitely see Theo needing fine motor skills tuning in order to gear his brain and hands to help him write. Kindergarten is coming soon and it is the right time to pursue this challenge. Judy said he could visualize what he wants to draw or write but his brain couldn't coordinate with his hand to create what he visualize. Theo is left handed which makes it a challenge for me to show him how to hold a pencil correctly.
I found out something new about my son, he likes dark enclosed space which I find refreshing. At night in the bedroom, he demands that at least one light is on at all times. I am not talking about night light but a main light in the corner of the room. Judy's guess is that he is afraid of something at night.
I guess open space vs close space makes for comfort or discomfort.
We skipped the trapeze with Clemmie because I want to be on the safe side and so does Judy after what happened at the zoo. And we found that she likes vibrating things such as the turtle pillow and a vibrator or a massager. Things to add to her sensory diet.
I found her a vibrating teddy bear.
I found out something new about my son, he likes dark enclosed space which I find refreshing. At night in the bedroom, he demands that at least one light is on at all times. I am not talking about night light but a main light in the corner of the room. Judy's guess is that he is afraid of something at night.
I guess open space vs close space makes for comfort or discomfort.
We skipped the trapeze with Clemmie because I want to be on the safe side and so does Judy after what happened at the zoo. And we found that she likes vibrating things such as the turtle pillow and a vibrator or a massager. Things to add to her sensory diet.
I found her a vibrating teddy bear.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Zoo and ER in one day
It was a lovely Easter Sunday at the LA Zoo. Who knew in one second the day would go south. What happened? I was holding Clemmie by the hand and all of a sudden she decided to go soft and basically drop her whole weight as I was still holding her by her right hand and that caused the dislocation of her radial. She does that quite often (known as hypotonic in SPD term, floppy body, like a wet noodle) which I was able to set her down to the ground slowly, but this time we were walking up hill and she took me by surprise. I heard a big loud pop, but she was not crying or anything. Since she couldn't even lift her arm after an hour, I had to take her to the ER.
The doc saw her and basically popped her radial head back in place in a split second and she did voiced ouch, but nothing more and in 10 minutes her arm was back in full range motion again. This is very common for children under age 4 and it is called Nursemaid's Elbow. The doc recommended to use a leash instead if I don't want a repeat episode again.
From Wikipedia:
Nursemaid's Elbow is a dislocation of the elbow joint caused by a sudden pull on the extended pronated arm, such as by an adult tugging on an uncooperative child. The technical term for the injury is radial head subluxation.
The doc saw her and basically popped her radial head back in place in a split second and she did voiced ouch, but nothing more and in 10 minutes her arm was back in full range motion again. This is very common for children under age 4 and it is called Nursemaid's Elbow. The doc recommended to use a leash instead if I don't want a repeat episode again.
From Wikipedia:
Nursemaid's Elbow is a dislocation of the elbow joint caused by a sudden pull on the extended pronated arm, such as by an adult tugging on an uncooperative child. The technical term for the injury is radial head subluxation.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Bouncing is good!
Yesterday night, I finally blew up the Rody Max horse made by Gymnic. My kids love the horse and this morning they fought over it. So I am going to get another one. Great exercise and they are going to be cowboys.
There are two mini Rodys at the sensory gym and Clemmie loves playing with them. But because she is a big girl at age 3 I got her the Max size for age 6 and up! The mini ones are from age 3.
There are two mini Rodys at the sensory gym and Clemmie loves playing with them. But because she is a big girl at age 3 I got her the Max size for age 6 and up! The mini ones are from age 3.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
First missed session
My baby girl missed her Monday OT session this week and she was all over the place. I can tell a big difference with her behavior.
My mom noticed that she became calmer after almost two months. She started her OT session in March. And she goes to her session twice a week after her first evaluation.
She went to her ST Tuesday morning. Cathy (the speech therapist) couldn't contain her. She was hopping around and didn't really sit still. Her body needs to move and couldn't control her bladder neither and had an accident in the car.
She needs her deep pressure massages and all the range of motions from swinging off a trapeze to sliding down a slide and bouncing on a ball. Those motions help calm her senses and make her brain connects to her body.
This morning she has her two left feet again, all of a sudden with nothing obstructing her path, she fell down on her knees. Ouch with bruises.
She used to have so many little bruises all over her legs either caused by accidents from loosing her sense of balance or by purpose she would jump off the couch and lands her knees on hard wood floor to feel the pressure. Just breaks my heart to see her all banged up like someone abused her.
I have several sticks of Hyland's bumps n bruises with arnica montana. Those work wonders. The greens and purples fade away.
Tomorrow is her OT session. Yea! She loves playing in the sensory gym with Judy (the occupational therapist).
My mom noticed that she became calmer after almost two months. She started her OT session in March. And she goes to her session twice a week after her first evaluation.
She went to her ST Tuesday morning. Cathy (the speech therapist) couldn't contain her. She was hopping around and didn't really sit still. Her body needs to move and couldn't control her bladder neither and had an accident in the car.
She needs her deep pressure massages and all the range of motions from swinging off a trapeze to sliding down a slide and bouncing on a ball. Those motions help calm her senses and make her brain connects to her body.
This morning she has her two left feet again, all of a sudden with nothing obstructing her path, she fell down on her knees. Ouch with bruises.
She used to have so many little bruises all over her legs either caused by accidents from loosing her sense of balance or by purpose she would jump off the couch and lands her knees on hard wood floor to feel the pressure. Just breaks my heart to see her all banged up like someone abused her.
I have several sticks of Hyland's bumps n bruises with arnica montana. Those work wonders. The greens and purples fade away.
Tomorrow is her OT session. Yea! She loves playing in the sensory gym with Judy (the occupational therapist).
Thursday, April 14, 2011
My Journey
It is tough being a mom nowadays, but it is tougher when all you do is drive your kids around to therapist after therapist, before school or after school throughout the week. And thinking back, if I should have done anything differently or things I should or shouldn't have eaten during pregnancy. All these things start churning in my head. And crying sometimes is the best thing to let it all out of my system.
Two things I learn along the way are never give up and there is always hope.
My son was diagnosis with speech delay when he was 3. I never put much thought to his speech delay until I enrolled him to toddler class at age 2.5 and compared him to other boys in his class. My son was practically not talking.
He started at Bright Horizons in June of 2008. And I voiced my concern to the school director. She said to wait a little to see how he gets along and the talking will start.
We all waited to see if he will bloom in six months, but because he is not communicating like he should compared to an average 3 year old who could string at least 3 words together (eg: I want water), his behavior became a problem from his frustration to make his peers understand him. Instead of words, actions like pushing and hitting became his words to get others attention to let them know that he wants to play with them.
And the other children were afraid of him or afraid that they would get hit.
We even had a child therapist look at him to see if he shows sign of autism because sometimes I feel that he was withdrawn. We also had his hearing checked even though he passed the hearing test when he was a newborn. And everything was ruled out to focus on speech therapy.
My daughter was recently diagnosis with sensory processing disorder. She was also working with a speech therapist after an initial meeting with a child therapist. The teachers came to me first, in regards to her language understanding, I told them she speaks and understands, but understanding not necessary means follow directions. My girl has her own agendas. She spoke early and learn to speak Cantonese and English and French from my husband. She figured out to speak to me in Cantonese or English, my husband in English or French.
When she first started toddlers class I was concern about her behavior. She is not the typical calm child, she is adventurous and she couldn't really sit still for story time and she would run around when we go to a restaurants.
After several sessions of speech therapy, the therapist recommended that she see an occupational therapist. I had no idea what that meant at the time.
My boy and my girl are the opposite of the spectrum. I am also having my son diagnosis next week for SPD relating to his fine motor skill in holding a pencil correctly (he is left handed) I hope occupational therapy will help him to transition into kindergarten when he should be able to write his name.
Two things I learn along the way are never give up and there is always hope.
My son was diagnosis with speech delay when he was 3. I never put much thought to his speech delay until I enrolled him to toddler class at age 2.5 and compared him to other boys in his class. My son was practically not talking.
He started at Bright Horizons in June of 2008. And I voiced my concern to the school director. She said to wait a little to see how he gets along and the talking will start.
We all waited to see if he will bloom in six months, but because he is not communicating like he should compared to an average 3 year old who could string at least 3 words together (eg: I want water), his behavior became a problem from his frustration to make his peers understand him. Instead of words, actions like pushing and hitting became his words to get others attention to let them know that he wants to play with them.
And the other children were afraid of him or afraid that they would get hit.
We even had a child therapist look at him to see if he shows sign of autism because sometimes I feel that he was withdrawn. We also had his hearing checked even though he passed the hearing test when he was a newborn. And everything was ruled out to focus on speech therapy.
My daughter was recently diagnosis with sensory processing disorder. She was also working with a speech therapist after an initial meeting with a child therapist. The teachers came to me first, in regards to her language understanding, I told them she speaks and understands, but understanding not necessary means follow directions. My girl has her own agendas. She spoke early and learn to speak Cantonese and English and French from my husband. She figured out to speak to me in Cantonese or English, my husband in English or French.
When she first started toddlers class I was concern about her behavior. She is not the typical calm child, she is adventurous and she couldn't really sit still for story time and she would run around when we go to a restaurants.
After several sessions of speech therapy, the therapist recommended that she see an occupational therapist. I had no idea what that meant at the time.
My boy and my girl are the opposite of the spectrum. I am also having my son diagnosis next week for SPD relating to his fine motor skill in holding a pencil correctly (he is left handed) I hope occupational therapy will help him to transition into kindergarten when he should be able to write his name.
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