Under construction!!!
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Progress!
I feel like there has been a great deal of progress with my Natasha Bear recently. She is in the process of learning what “more” is in ASL - I had to do it hand-over-hand first, but now she’s getting the idea and looking at me when she does it after I ask her and show her the sign. This is a good thing!
She also tried to mimic Moni, her speech therapist, on Friday -she didn’t make the exact sounds but she did try. And that’s also a big deal!
I am excited that she’s doing all of this - Tom and I want her to communicate with us so badly. And the constant crying and whatnot is getting hard to take. It’s one thing if she knows what you’re saying, but it’s another when you don’t think or don’t know if she knows.
Please, please, please! Even if it’s tiny baby steps… Just progress!
– Post From My iPhone
Preschool Evaluation Report
For those of you interested, here is what the preschool evaluation report stated with regards to Natasha. She has been accepted in District 20 Preschool and, when she turns 3, she will be attending 4 days a week, 3 hours a day. We will have to see what days she’ll be there and adjust our occupational therapy sessions accordingly. I’m just hoping that Lynnea has some room that we can have either on the day that Natasha doesn’t go to preschool or in the afternoons. We shall see
I’ve called Dr. Loerzel, Natasha’s pediatrician, for a prescription for the autism clinic evaluation, so we shall see about that. I’ll probably call back this upcoming Wednesday (I know he’s in the office on Wednesdays) and see what he’s done if I haven’t heard from them yet.
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Health:
The district school nurse has assessed this student’s visual screening results, as well as the health history provided by the parents. Mother reports developmental delays: verbal communication and some sconcerning behaviors/ Nor reported health concerns that would affect Natasha in the academic environment. Parents are advised to keep the school informed of any changes in their students’ health needs.
Hearing:
Mrs. Wolfe reported that she had a hearing evaluation a few months ago with results showing normal hearing. Today’s results show normal hearing sensitivity for at least one ear. Natasha would not tolerate anything touching her ears today so tympanometry could not be tested and a hearing screening was done in soundfield.
Cogintive/educational:
Natasha’s mother reported that Natasha has the ability to sustain attention for 30-minutes for preferred tasks, particularly if she’s perserverating on an object. If she is not engaged in a preferred task, her attention is fleeting. Her mother also reported that she has not observed any dramatic play skills and none were observed during the evaluation. Natasha enjoys toys/objects that make noise and will seek these objects. When Natasha became more familiar with one of the team members, using a music toy and no language, she was able to get Natasha to imitate banging and shaking. Natasha did recognize that a certain toy belonged to one of the team members and did hand it back to her.
Social-emotional:
Natasha demonstrated very little eye contact (if any) during the assessment. Her mother described her attention as fleeting. She was not able to demonstrate any joint attention and shows little interest in imitating others. Natasha’s mother reported that she does not like to be held to given affection, but will on occasion give a hug. Natasha’s focus is on objects and not people.
Motor:
Natasha demonstrates functional gross motor skills for the academic setting. She is able to walk up and down stairs on her own, climb up a slide and run on her own.
Fine Motor Skills:
Natasha is able to pick up small objects using a fine pincer grasp. Her grasp with other objects is mature. She is able to pull apart toys and use her index finger to push buttons. Play with toys mostly consists of picking up the toy, maybe banging together and carrying around with her. She often does repetitive play and spinning parts of the toy. She often licks or mouths the toy she has. She did scribble with a marker, but the lid had to be taken off for her and attention was very short. She does enjoy sensory kinds of activities such as bean play and prickle balls. Mom states she enjoys messy activities.
Speech-Language:
Natasha communicates by taking mom’s hand (or anyone’s hand) and putting it on the item she wants (i.e. refrigerator to indicate she is hungry). She will throw away items when mom asks her to. She occasionally looks at Mom when her name is called. She is not yet using any true words or signs. She will say “mamama”, “dadada”, “nanana”, “geega” independently, however is not yet imitating verbally. She occasionally imitates physical actions. Mom reported that Natasha is beginning to learn to point to pictures to communicate what she wants, however, she is not independently using pictures to communicate. She does protest inconsistently when a desired item is taken away. She is not yet looking at a person during play activities, she is looking at the object. She did stop doing an action when Mom told her “no” in a loud voice. According to the Colorado Severity Rating Scale, Natasha scores a 4 for language skills, as she is not yet successfully communicating her needs and wants except by taking a hand to what she wants. It is recommended that Natasha receive speech therapy services in the preschool classroom to improve her communication skills.
Transition/Life Skills:
Natasha is not potty-trained. Natasha no longer uses a pacifier. Natasha will do some self-soothing by placing objects in her mouth. She is not very picky with eating and mom reports she likes to eat a lot. Textures do not seem to be a problem. With clothes, Natasha will put her arms and legs in, and will take them out. She is removing her socks and shoes.
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I will update this with her IEP (Individualized Education Program) later.
D20 Preschool Evaluation
Today, Natasha was evaluated the the Academy District 20 Preschool Office to see if she qualifies for special education preschool when she’s three years old. And we all decided that she did and I’ll be registering her as a student later this summer.
I have many, many reservations about sending Natasha to public school. My own experiences weren’t that great - I don’t even want to talk about high school - but at the point Natasha is at right now, I really think it’s best for her. The preschool would be twice a week for three hours in the morning and they will provide her with speech therapy during this time as well. The advantages of sending her to a preschool are not only will she have lots more interaction with other kids her age, but she’ll also be around adults with far more training and knowledge regarding autism and developmental delays than I do.
Honestly, I think that this preschool idea is a good one. I was kinda skeptical at first because I want her to be around all kinds of children and, of course, my distrust of the public school system. After talking with everyone, I feel a great deal better. They want to ensure that Natasha does well and they have even offered to speak to her speech therapist and her occupational therapist if I want them too.
There was one person there named Jean who I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to for a couple minute before she left. She was the autism counselor (or actually I really have forgotten her position, only that she works very closely with a lot of autistic kiddos). She gave me a few suggestions and talking to her was definitely a relieving experience. She said that Natasha definitely had some characteristics of autism, but that they could all be worked on to correct them or to develop skills that need to be developed.
The big issue at this evaluation was Natasha’s inability for joint attention. Joint attention is when two people look at an object, referencing each other looking at that object. They share the situation - by looking at each other and acknowledging that they are both doing the same thing or are looking at the same thing. This seems to be the most important skill that we could possibly develop in Natasha. It is the skill that allows her to reference us as “people” rather than “tools.” While she will reach for our hands to do something, it does very much feel as though she is using us as a tool rather than asking us to do something for her.
Strangely enough, my thoughts were: the very thing my father wants to do with her is the skill that she needs to develop. At Christmas, we were at my father’s and I couldn’t find Natasha. She and my father were in the living room playing, Dad trying to get her attention.
Ultimately, Dad, that’s EXACTLY what we try to do too!
The evaluation went very well - Natasha was the star of the show and I was her press agent. I got a few ideas from the people as they talked to me and asked me questions: besides Natasha and I, there were EIGHT other people present. Yeah, it was about as crazy as the last time she was evaluated for Early Education services through District 11. Everyone was nice and they all commented about how cute Natasha was
We had:
- A speech therapist
- An occupational therapist
- Child psychologist
- Autism clinician
- Audiologist
- School nurse (to chek her vision)
- A TRE (The Resource Exchance) representative
- A preschool teacher
And I’m sure there were a couple more: I just don’t remember their posititions.
Natasha held up fairly well throughout the whole thing, but then she tends to not care about strangers.
Ramblings.
Sometimes it feels like I’m all alone in trying to raise Natasha.
She doesn’t listen to me when I know she knows what I’m saying.
She will pay attention to the television when we have breakfast and lunch so I put on Sesame Street, but I’m beginning to think that Sesame Street isn’t what I really want her to watch. I don’t care for it much anymore and I wish that it was like it was when I was younger.
She does love her baths and I love giving her her baths - I just wish that my hubby would do it every once in a while. I know that he’s tired when he gets home, however I’m tired when he gets home too :) Natasha’s baths are so much fun because I’ve started blowing bubbles for her in a cup and she’ll pop them once I stop. I’m trying to get her to blow as well, but she doesn’t want to.
Tomorrow we’re taking her to the Zoe Sky Ranch in Larkspur, CO. From 9am to noon, they allow kids with disabilities - actually, ALL KINDS of kids - to come and play with their horses. Natasha’s never seen a horse and I’d like to get her out in the sun for a while. Plus Tom and I both like horses too.
Sometimes it feels like I’m reaching for anything and everything to try to pull Natasha out of her shell. I think that she’s making progress - I just hope she continues to do so.
While I could swear that Natasha stopped growing like normal after her two flu shots, I still would like to give her her vaccines. But I am really afraid to do so. What if they cause her to regress again? I know that the bastard who came out with the study saying that the MMR causes autism FALSIFIED HIS RESEARCH, but… what if… what if it’s something else? Maybe…
(sigh) No one said this would be easy.