Dyspraxic Journey

Dyspraxic Journey

A mom's ramblings about her son's journey through the world of dyspraxia and genetic differences

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The kiddos started school and I am the one having the hard time, is it just me?

I was really looking forward to CB’s pre-k and HB’s mother’s day out program starting up so the kiddos would get back into their new routine. The summer chaos had settled in and there was no question that a routine would be great for all of us. CB had a lot of therapy changes and some additions so I was anticipating how it would all go. All of the new changes seemed like wonderful enhancements to CB’ learning and development. And you know what, the new routine and programs have been fantastic for CB. He is progressing well and has been playing with HB better than ever. So, the big question is, why is this tough for me? All this positivity should be beaming directly into my being and helping me to shine, as well. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.

Part of the matter boils down to me not taking better care of myself and another part is what to do with some added no kid time? I haven’t put any focus on either of these. I therefore have not eaten great in between shuffling the kiddos everywhere and have filled my free time w/frivolous things. I just finding myself not wanting to do anything when I have a free moment. You always hear about classes, articles, presentations, and on and on about how parents and especially parents with children with special needs need to make sure to take care of themselves and to make it a priority. Honestly, when you are in the thick of it and are feeling weighed down. The thought of taking care of yourself and making it a priority just sounds like work and more stress.

The realization that more needs to be done to take care of myself should help motivate me to get back on at least a somewhat regular exercise schedule and to make lunch meal prep for me, as well, a necessity. I think I just need to fill my cup up a bit more so I will have more to offer. It is probably not a bad idea to start periodically thinking about how I will want to fill my time next year when CB is in kinder and HB is in a mother’s day out program 3 days a week. That has also seemed stressful, but I think it is mostly related to perspective. I just need a new plan :).

CORRECTION STATED BELOW – So, we got further confirmation that CB in fact does have a peanut allergy. The IGE allergy testing he had done a few months back indicated he could have a peanut allergy as the numbers were slightly elevated. We have stayed mostly away from peanuts since the test. Well, last weekend, while out of town at the beach, CB ate a bunless burger with fries, pickles, some raw onions, and some bites of tomato. We knew the burger and fries were cooked in peanut oil, which seemed weird but we thought we would try it. Partway through the meal, I noticed CB’s cheeks were bright red and he had what looked like a big pimple forming on his chin just below his mouth. His lips also looked like they might be a little swollen. Since he had been at the beach, I wasn’t 100% sure if the cheeks were turning red b/c of the food or the sun. I really thought the redness was more apparent and didn’t remember the blemish. We set the food aside and gave him some food we had packed as back-up. We thought this could be related to the vinegar in the pickles b/c he is sometimes getting swollen lips from those, from the peanut oil, or from some other ingredient we didn’t even know about. Two nights ago, during dinner, CB had some thai spring rolls in peanut sauce. He got that same enlarged pimple/blemish. Guess we will keep that off the food list for now.

Diet/Nutrition Update: CB also started GSE (grape seed extract) a few days ago to help treat the yeast in his belly and a new probiotic w/30 billion active cultures (Ultimate Flora Extra Care Probiotic Supplement). We are also periodically giving him some dairy with no noticeable changes.

9/23/2015 UPDATE/CORRECTION: Yah, CB’s allergic reactions appeared to be peanut related, but they were reactions to the already known allergy, soy. The peanut sauce for the spring rolls had soy sauce in it. I can’t believe we weren’t thinking about that when we got it. The restaurant that said they cooked their burgers and fries in peanut oil were incorrect. I called them back and they double-checked the oil. It was vegetable oil with soybeans in it. It is so hard to really know what you are eating when you eat out. The cooks didn’t even know what they were using and then just guessed and guessed wrong.  I was so concerned we were going to have to start carrying around an epi pen and start having to worry about peanut exposure, as well, whew. It is nice to have one less thing to worry about for now.

September 15, 2015 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Worries, Fears, & Ramblings, , , , 0 Read more >

Test results from Organic Acids Test (OAT)

So, after 7 months, CB finally peed in the cup needed for the Organic Acids Test. We actually ended up taping the plastic bag Great Plains Lab provided in the middle of the night. Come early morning, he had a slightly wet diaper but nothing in the bag…argh. So I reattached the bag and CB slept a couple of hours longer. The bag ended up not collecting urine, however, to our surprise, CB wanted to pee as soon as he woke up. He even peed in the cup – yay!! Small achievements :).

Well, we got the results back and it is not surprising that the report indicates excessive yeast and bacteria in his gut. You can view the results at OAT Results. Additionally, he may be low on serotonin and need L-carnitine supplementation. Based off the results and info we already knew, we plan to implement the following supplement schedule.

Morning

  • Multivitamin
  • GSE or garlic extract
  • NOW L-Carnitine (start with 500mg a day) (UPDATE: didn’t start this till 10/5 and started with 250 mg)
  • Fish oil
  • D-3

Afternoon

  • Probiotic

Nightime

  • Oil of Oregano

Daily

  • Limit sugar/carb intake (UPDATE 10/7: begin limiting oxalates)
  • Drink lots of water

We have to consider whether we want to add 5-HTP supplements, but I read it can cause seizures and gut problems. 5-HTP was recommended due to his lower serotonin levels and high High quinolinic acid / 5-HIAA ratio.  That doesn’t seem like a reasonable risk. Will definitely need to research more.

Some good news is that CB seems to be able to ride a tricycle pretty regularly now. He just sometimes needs help with initiation. I just now need him to be successful at home :).

We are still seeing tons of verbal growth from CB. He sometimes emits responses with up to 7 words. His STs are also happy with his progress. At this point, CB will get 4 days of private ST and 1 day of group ST through the school system. He also gets OT 1 day, PT 1 day, swims another day, and has karate on the weekend. He started a private pre-k last week and attends for 15 hours a week. I believe he is with the 3 year olds right now academically but he is progressing and really enjoying himself. I am really happy with the schedule we have lined up this year, even though we are driving all over the place Monday-Thursday :). We know this is just the plan for this year and I have a feeling he is going to grow tremendously in all areas. Both his OT and PT are big proponents of reflex therapy and they know each other. They plan to collaborate. We also implemented a therapy journal and so far I think it is very helpful.

It feels good to be in a positive place :)! With our kiddos and I guess life itself, we take it moment by moment. When we have these moments of comfort, it feels so good to just relish in them and appreciate where we all are. The future is unknown and all we can do is put the wheels in motion now to help our children be better prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally for what life deals them.

 

 

September 3, 2015 Growth and Progress, Tests & Evaluations, , , , , , , , 0 Read more >

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

We are home at last!! Our travels began back in early July, when Olem and I had the opportunity to attend the Childhood Apraxia of Speech conference in San Antonio. I can’t even express how comforting and wonderful it was to meet many other parents with children facing similar challenges as CB. I feel I learned so much just from the parents and the experiences they shared. We also had numerous take-aways from the conference speakers. I have a therapy journal started for each of CB’s therapy providers and preschool teachers to post their session and class notes within daily. I think this will help keep all the therapists on the same page and help Olem and I to better target our at-home practice. No clue why I didn’t start one sooner. One of the speakers also provided a large list of speech apps to incorporate at home. She also demonstrated several of those apps during the session and provided tips about how to specifically utilize those apps. I am still working through the apps to determine which ones will work best, but I feel I have a much more solid starting place to work from. I have been quite reluctant to allow Olem to play with my phone or our iPad much, but I think if I provide the right apps at the right time, it can be quite beneficial for him. We also decided to increase CB’s private ST sessions to 4x a week. Even though it will be with 2 different STs, I think this will be the perfect amt for him right now.

One of the biggest benefits of the conference was that it simply lit the fire under our tail ends to motivate us to take definitive action on some of the things we have been teeter tottering on. I think the conference gave me the tools and confidence to make the decisions without having so much uncertainty and/or indecision behind the choices. I made a checklist of actionable items from the conference and have been checking them off over the last 1.5 months. There are still more to go, but I feel confident I will get them done. This reminds me though that I need to go back and look at the provided USB again to reflect and internalize a few more of the ideas/discussions presented.

As soon as the conference ended, the kiddos, the grandparents , Olem and I headed up north to their house for a few days. We then continued traveling up to Michigan for a home swap, and later to Ireland for 5 days, back to the g-parents home for a little while and returned around August 16th. The kiddos were with us roadtripping for everything except for the conference and Ireland trip. They handled the travel quite well, although towards the end, I think it was getting a bit hard for CB. It was harder to get him regulated and he was more impulsive during the last week. The trip was unforgettable though and CB surprisingly did not regress verbally or physically. This is our second home swap and both trips were huge refreshers. On one hand, we have such a great time experiencing the new place and on the other, we appreciate being back home, as well. We definitely plan to do this again next summer, and are even considering a European home swap. I think next year, we will limit the travel to 1 month. With Olem’s ability to work from anywhere since he works from home, this makes it possible to go on a big family trip without the typical expense and with limited vacation time needed for Olem.

 

August 20, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings 0 Read more >

Health Update – Perianal Streptococcal Dermatitis

So, it turns out the red ring around CB’s rectum was not due to a yeast infection. We still believe the infection formed from the chigger bite on CB’s penis. We think he scratched it and got it infected and then passed that infection to his bottom. For the past almost 2 weeks, the ring has been present, his rectum became increasingly itchy, his pee and poop accidents became a daily to 2x a day thing, his diapers were completely full or overflowing at night, and he mentioned having a headache a few times. We took him to urgent care since we are out-of-state right now and had him tested for strep. Yep, that is what he has. It is perianal streptococcal dermatitis. Since CB reacted to amoxicillin with a rash covering his entire body after taking it to treat an ear infection when we was <2, we asked the Dr to prescribe something else. She prescribed him azithromycin. It is day 4 of taking the medication and the ring and itchiness are definitely improving. He also had no accidents today and the slight rash on his bottom that has been present since January seems to be improving. We also got confirmation that HB also has strep and started him on azithromycin, as well. In addition to having the rash after taking amoxicillin, CB also developed a yeast infection. CB is taking probiotics so this should help combat a yeast infection from starting from starting the antibiotics. I have also started giving CB & HB goat’s milk yogurt to just help ensure the yeast infection does not form.  We have introduced dairy on occasion over the last 2-2.5 months. So far, CB hasn’t shown a reaction. The exposure has been very limited though. Hopefully, giving him the yogurt to fight off a potential yeast infection will not backfire and cause another issue.

The other interesting thing is that we were trying to get a comprehensive parasitology x3 stool test from CB to send to the lab to determine yeast, parasite, and bacteria levels within CB’s gut. We requested this test before this whole thing started. Oh well, we will wait till CB’s system is better and then take the stool test and finally complete the OAT (organic acids test) urine test. The lab is sending us some urine bags so we can collect the urine samples during the night while CB has a diaper on. It has been impossible to get CB to pee first thing in the morning, which is the requirement for the OAT test.

July 30, 2015 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Tests & Evaluations, , , , 0 Read more >

Dyspraxic/Apraxic Inconsistencies

One of the common characteristics of someone with Dyspraxia/Apraxia is the continual inconsistencies that exist in many to most parts of their lives. With CB, this is not only apparent with his speech production, but his word retrieval, short & long term memory, processing speed, fine & gross motor skills, tracking speed, ability to sense the need to pee prior to actually peeing, and other areas. When all cylinders are firing and CB is on the top of his game, many people might not even notice CB’s differences, other than his limited speech. When things are off, then everything is just plain hard for CB, all the wrong words come out, getting his body to move in the desired way is quite difficult, CB will get stuck in repetitive patterns (like just saying “No” over and over and over.) and CB will even be very reluctant to do things he has “mostly mastered” in the past. For most days, CB has many struggles and the easiest thing can seem so hard for him. For example, CB has been putting his own underwear on for 7 months and still asks us to help on most days.

I have some tendencies on the dyspraxic side including issues with word retrieval, processing information at a slower pace, walking into things, tripping over nothing, and performing tasks at a slower pace. When I am tired or stressed, it is basically impossible for me to say every word in every sentence correct. I will just skip over the word I can’t think of or get stuck where I just say the wrong word each time even after being corrected a time or two. I feel that it is almost impossible for me to speak 100% correct at those times and just hope for understanding from those around me. Now I am just trying to imagine what it would be like if this feeling of impossibility existed within me for everyday tasks on a consistent basis. What would others feel towards me? How would I feel about myself? How would I feel about trying new things? Would I feel that people feel sorry for me? Would I feel less than others? I think I need to remind myself of this often when I am not being as understanding as I should with CB. I also need to continually ask “What would help me to feel more positive about myself?” and to try to always find ways to help CB in this area.

For CB, one interesting change is that his vowel sounds have been quite consistent for the past 6 months or so. This same issue still exists for some consonant sounds, but it seems like the more he practices the more consistent he is becoming with his consonant sounds, as well. It is interesting b/c I am wondering how does something move from the inconsistent to the consistent and stay consistent for the dyspraxic person? Does enough practice make the neural pathways for certain sounds, movements, words, etc. so defined that they become a consistent part of the dyspraxic’s mastered capabilities? Can I hope that CB will not always struggle with so many parts of his life? I know it is realistic for him to be able to perform many everyday tasks without thought, but will most things actually become “easy” for him? Will he always struggle with certain fine motor tasks like writing or being able to follow the lesson in class or easily communicating to even his closest friends or physically keeping up with his friends?

So I am currently struggling with the knowledge that CB needs PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and with the knowledge that CB also still just needs to be a kid. How do you ensure to get enough of everything in but always still allow for CB to have his childhood? I know I am not doing enough at home right now, especially since it is summer. However, I hope to create more of a balance. I need more strategies for having play actually be PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE but hidden so CB is not aware. My next steps are to get more iPad apps that are targeted towards speech production and concepts that CB needs to work on. So, I know I don’t have the answers, but asking these questions helps put me on the path to getting the info I need to take the next step.

Side Note about Health: CB has what I think is a yeast infection. He got a chigger bite (at least this is what we think) on his penis. About a week later, he developed the ring around his anus. In the past, this ring has indicated a yeast infection. I have been treating the yeast infection for the last 5 days with no progress. I have treated it with coconut oil, some Eden’s salve, and applied some hydrocortisone to help with the itching. Hopefully, we will see some progress or I will have to take him in to the Dr. We are out of state right now, so I have been hesitant.

July 23, 2015 Growth and Progress, , 0 Read more >

Preschool Update

Just when I think we have settled on something, I start questioning things again. Olem and I toured another preschool about 25 minutes away from the house. This preschool caters to developmentally typical kids and to kids with special needs. I didn’t expect to love it. I thought “I have heard good things about this school but it is quite far away. Olem and I have to love this school b/c it is quite a drive.” To my surprise, we both love it for so many reasons. The biggies are 1) Olem & I feel we can be actively involved in CB’s education, 2) They provide flexible scheduling so CB can attend 4 days and be off on Fridays. Olem & I also determine how many and what hours CB attends, 3) They track each of CB’s skills and chart/monitor them regularly so we will have a much better idea of CB’s progress and current skills, 4) They incorporate more outside playtime and prioritize it, 5) They are reasonably priced, 6) The classes are a mix of boys and girls, 7) The primary teacher has so much energy and exudes positivity, 8) Parents can drop-in and observe anytime, 9) CB interacted well with the other kids and very well with the teacher during his first trial day, 10) The teacher has time built in to work with kids 1-on-1 to work on skills were they need extra guidance, and 11) The teachers are trained in ABA therapy and know how to positively change behavior. (We hope this will help CB with his confidence and perspective. He currently tells us about the negative things that happen at school. We hope he will start telling us more about the positive things that happen. If his focus does not change, maybe the ABA trained teacher can help us understand why he focuses on these things :).)

Unless something changes, CB will not attend PPCD next school year and will attend Petunia Preschool instead.

July 2, 2015 Education, 0 Read more >

Therapy Evaluations & Fish Oil Dosage Change

This week was packed with evaluations of CB’s progress in speech and physical therapy. He had 3 different ST evaluation reports completed and 1 physical therapy report. The great news is that he has made huge leaps with his expressive language and only falls a few months behind. This test focused on CB’s comprehension of the questions asked and CB being able to verbally express his comprehension. For most questions, it didn’t matter if he replied with 1-2 word answers and his ST allowed for extra time, minimal guidance, and some substitutions due to his apraxia. He is still about 5-6 months delayed on receptive language skills. The third test was an articulation test and it placed CB at just under 2 years behind. The good news is that this was the first time the test could have even been given. 6 months ago he could not have made it through the test or been able to accurately try to make each sound. His ST also said that he made developmentally correct errors. Basically, that even though he is quite behind, the errors are the expected errors and sound substitutions given his current sound repertoire.

I should step back and mention that the first test administered was the articulation test. Even though I was glad his ST was able to administer the test, hearing the results caused me to feel extremely weighted down, unsure, and like I had a hole in my core.  All the worries started surfacing, “Will my son always be behind?”, “Is he gradually getting further and further behind?”, “Even though he seems to be responding really well to his ST, are we going to have to make changes?”, “If we have to make therapy changes, what are they?”, “Is all this therapy not helping him?”, “Am I failing him?”, “Is that first no tact, seemingly uncaring caregiver right that CB will always be behind and we are not providing enough for him?”, “This feeling hurts so bad and I feel so lost. What do I do?”… Olem and I had to go through some stuff and fortunately vocalized our worries late one night to each other. I think we both felt light again and more like ourselves. We felt like no matter what, we can handle this. Fortunately, we got the results of the other 2 ST tests today and I feel like I am floating on air. I feel hopeful!!!!

For CB’s physical therapy evaluation, he showed some improvement with some of his retained primitive reflexes (like the moro reflex) but started showing signs of retained primitive reflexes that did not seem present prior (like the fear paralysis reflex). CB’s connection with his current PT is just so-so. It is super convenient though b/c she comes to our house for the therapy and she is one of the limited few in our area with experience working with retained primitive reflexes. If we drop a therapy, I think it will be this one. Working with the retained primitive reflexes can be so beneficial though for a kiddo with Dyspraxia.

We lowered CB’s fish oil dosage about a month ago, and upped it back up last week. Just like the past, CB went CRAZY for the several days following the dosage change. Basically, CB would fixate on something and could not let it go. Primarily, it was related to sharing and stealing other kiddo’s toys. He would then scream, kick, hit, and throw a huge tantrum every time he wanted something he could not have. Last Sunday, HB had his first play date at our house with just one of his friends and his parents. In the 3 hours they were at our house, CB threw at least 6-7 kicking/screaming tantrums. Almost all if not all were around HB’s friend having a toy and CB deciding he wanted it. It was soooo hard. At the pool a few days prior, CB had a full-blown tantrum. When CB acts like this, I feel like everyone is judging me. I feel like the other parents think I am a bad parent, my child is totally spoiled, I can’t handle my child, and sometimes look at my child wondering what is wrong with him. I HATE this feeling. I HATE those glances and seeing those seemingly judging faces. During those moments, I wish I had special powers to hide CB and I in a force-field protective bubble. In this bubble, no one can see or hear us, and we can just be ourselves.

Fortunately, I think CB is now on the other side and is now showing the positive effects of the fish oil change. Today, CB seemed to be expressing himself very well. He also seemed more cuddly and mentally quick. He loves watching Daniel Tiger and he even responded to several of the questions in the Daniel Tiger show this afternoon. HB will regularly respond, but CB typically just watches. Before watching Daniel Tiger, we played with play doh and pretend for about 30 minutes. All of this was dictated by CB. CB pretended the house was on fire and we had to save his bears in the living room and then we had to save the cars and other things around the house :). He then proceeded to be a police office and a cowboy. HB remained super HB and helped the entire time. Working through the retained reflexes exercises today was even easy.

Side Note: HB has been in summer language camp for the last 3.5 weeks. He seems to be enjoying it. It was around the same time that he started having more accidents. He has been having 1-2 accidents every day to every other day lately. Sometimes, the teacher or I have showed him that he had an accident. He did not mention it to us.

July 2, 2015 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Therapy, 0 Read more >

The Catharsis and Growth That Comes From Writing

This blog basically started due to the need to express myself and put some of my thoughts out into the universe. I have never been a writer and as I am sure you can tell, writing does not come naturally for me. Finding the right words and keeping my train of thought succinct is a struggle for me. I can say that this has been very cathartic and good for my spirit, heart, and mind. There is something so powerful about writing something down. It is like the thoughts become real and you have to face the thoughts. I am not always proud of what I say or think but by writing exactly how I feel, I think I am able to digest the information, change and grow. My feelings are that I have grown closer to my son by writing this blog. By reading my earliest entries, I am reminded of how I felt at the beginning of this blog. This helps remind me to keep the connection with my son open, available, and heart-felt. Now, I can’t say I am always on and that this connection is always super strong. I do feel though that our bond is stronger. I know I am not the perfect mother but I work on recognizing and improving my deficiencies. I still want to be a better mom and continually strive to be the mom CB deserves.

June 12, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings 0 Read more >

Feeling Positive

Life is always an interesting and somewhat unpredictable journey. Today, I am feeling positive and excited about what tomorrow holds for me, CB, and our family. I think I am still floating from a really good yoga session earlier and this wonderful iced latte, but I am not going to question it. Oh, and I just realized Portishead is playing in the background. This music feel me with nostalgia and warm feelings. I spent many a day in college sitting in coffee shops soaking up the positive vibes of Portishead’s tunes.

So, I think CB and I are connecting really well these days. He cuddles with me more and wants me included in more of his activities. I think I have been in a better place to handle situations more gracefully and calmly. I have this natural inclination to say “no” to things. It is something I have struggled with in my professional and personal life. For me, I think it serves me well b/c it makes me think about things before I do them and helps me to think analytically. However, in my interactions with others, it comes off like I am finding the negative in the situation, dissing the other person’s idea, or being a Debbie Downer. I am trying to fight my initial urge and say “yes” to more things and to let more things go.

Olem and I had one of those “Things that make you go hmmm…” moments this week with CB. Before I get to this moment, I will provide some background on CB that got us to that point. So if CB is engaged in just about anything and we want his attention, he will most of the time not respond to us until about the 3rd-5th time we say his name. I know part of this is related to the fact he processes information slower than most kiddos his age. At times it is also apparent that he has his mind set on something and will not be deterred until he completes his desired task. It is very frustrating b/c we cannot always get to him and physically touch him to get his immediate attention, and we need him to stop or respond to us soon to protect himself or others. He also will re-enact whatever undesirable behavior we want him to stop doing. For example, if we ask CB to not hit his brother. He will then proceed to hit his brother again. If I say, don’t throw that car. He will throw the car and potentially all those around him. OK, now that you have the background, Olem and I, played a game with CB kind of like simon says. We would say things like “Roll your car towards your dad.” or “Don’t touch your head.” or “Clap your hands” or “Don’t look at me.” You get the idea. In every scenario, CB did the action regardless of whether it had the word “Don’t” in front of it. Now, if we asked CB what we said, he would take a moment and correctly tell us that we told him not to do the action. We therefore know that he knows what is being requested of him, but it seems like his automatic response is to do the action mentioned regardless of the context around it. After a little while, he thought it was silly to do what we said not to do. I get that. After all, we use reverse psychology often to get him or his brother to do something. We could tell initially though that he was trying to play the game properly. So, this is something else for me to research and to see how we can help CB in these situations.

Oh, I love this warm weather we are lately experiencing. Getting to send the kiddos outside to run around and play has been good for all of us.

June 4, 2015 Worries, Fears, & Ramblings, 0 Read more >

Public Preschool OR Private Language-Focused School

CB is 4 years old…

Olem (my partner, husband and trusty-confidant) and I have been deliberating for months over where CB will attend preschool for the fall. Currently, CB goes to preschool at the local public preschool for children with disabilities M-F from 7:45am-10:45am. For the 4 year old program for next year, the schedule changes to 7:45am-2:00pm M-F. This felt like a big adjustment from the current preschool schedule. On top of that, CB still needs to attend his private therapies and selected sports activities and potentially take naps. We toured a language-focused school in the area and highly considered sending CB there for the next year. Besides the big schedule adjustment, we weren’t sure CB’s teacher would be the best fit for him. His teacher will most likely be the same one next year and we weren’t sure her personality meshed with our son’s. We were also concerned his personality was being stifled. After evaluating the other school and really comparing both options, we determined that his current school is the best fit for the following reasons:

  • His executive function has improved greatly while attending the public preschool
  • CB is the most aggressive of his classmates so the fear of being bullied or learning negative physical behaviors is less of a concern (assuming his class remains fairly similar)
  • CB’s class is diverse (on many levels)
  • CB is thriving and appears to enjoy going to school
  • The classroom is quiet which helps CB to focus and not be distracted by other sounds
  • CB performs best in a structured environment and the program is very structured
  • The preschool introduces the concepts CB will need to master in kinder. CB needs to perform tasks over and over before he learns them. Getting the extra practice is very important for CB.
  • We plan to keep CB in public school if we can so CB is learning early what to expect.
  • CB receives 2 speech therapy sessions provided by the school a week
  • The program incorporates the handwriting without tears principles, which we think the multi-sensory method will be easier for CB to learn his letters.
  • Although, the class is more rigid than we prefer (especially for a 3 or 4 year old), we realized that CB needs more rigidity than we prefer.
  • Even though CB’s teacher is more firm than we prefer, CB is doing very well in the class.
  • We hope this will boost his confidence b/c he will have a good foundation for starting kinder the following year.
  • We can always transfer him to the private language school if the public preschool system is not working out.

Homeschooling is not a serious consideration. CB performs well for his teachers and therapists but fights Olem & I tooth and nail at home when we recommend an activity he is unsure he wants to do.

Glowing Glances: Last Tuesday, we visited a pediatric therapy play gym CB has played at 2x before. They have all sorts of equipment used by physical therapists, including a ball pit, rock climbing wall, kid-size building blocks, 7 different types of swings, and much more. CB tried all 7 different types of swings comfortably and enjoyed them :). On one of the swings where you stand on the triangular base and hold on to the ropes, CB was jumping while the swing was moving in circles. I can’t believe it!!

UPDATE 6/17/15: We are still hesitant about the public preschool due to the requirement for him to go M-F 7:45-2:00. We plan to try to use the dual enrollment option to have CB attend public preschool M-TH 7:45-2:00, with the exception of getting out a little early on Mondays for private speech therapy. On Fridays, I plan to home school him. This will provide more time for playdates with his typically developing friends, outdoor play, time with his younger brother who greatly influences him, and time that I can spend with him :).  Our state law “made the decision to allow 3- and 4-year-olds to be dually enrolled to give them more opportunities to interact with their typically developing peers”. The students can be enrolled in public/private school or public/home school.

May 21, 2015 Education, , , 0 Read more >