I know it’s not perfect, the medication J is on. But it’s doing something. It’s helping to quiet the activity in his brain…sometimes. It’s helping him to find more words, helping the words to find their place within a sentence, to communicate. I talk about watching our children’s achievements, however small, but sometimes these achievements…
Category Archives: Skill Development
Is that too much to ask?
This week my husband’s grandmother passed away. She was 93 year old, never took more than a multi-vitamin in her life. She did however, several years back, begin her journey with Alzheimer’s Disease. It was a long journey, spending 10 years in a nursing home. She had 5 children, 12 grandchildren…and so many great grand…
It Will Come
“It will come.” Three simple words meant as encouragement. Meant to give hope. They don’t. In fact, often they are received as a dismissal. As a means of telling me it’s not a big deal. Because I know this phrase is not meant in the way I perceive it, I simply smile and say, “I…
Learning her ABC’s
This winter, Precious was seen by a new occupational therapist (OT) after going almost 18 months without seeing one. She had four different OT’s during the first four years of life and they focused on self-care skills like teaching her to put on her shoes, do up her zippers, feed herself and use the toilet….
Just Fine
“We’re going to meet teacher Susan*, Sweetie. Mommy needs you to show her what you know. Do your very best okay?” “Okay?” So many people had told me to stop worrying, “She’s fine…Why are you doing this?” that I walked into the assessment feeling a bit paranoid. It didn’t help that we arrived on the…
Science Fair
Tomorrow is our school’s science fair. With my career background (Ph.D. in organic chemistry) I love encouraging anything with science. It is a nostalgia piece for me anyway. When and where I was a kid you were not supposed to do a science project until 5th grade. However, when I hit 4th grade and saw…
If We Build It…
Tying in with last week’s playground challenge, I thought I’d take a moment to tell you about a project I’ve been involved with since last September. This is a “to be continued…” post since the project is not complete yet, but I wanted to get started on the story. A friend of ours is an…
Friendships: The Lunch Bunch
The beginning of a friendship is innocent and fun. But as time goes on and we let down our guard we have to learn to accept others, faults and all or choose to move on. For a person with Down syndrome or other special needs, it is sometimes difficult to even begin the process. Others…
Can I Help You?
In the middle of another hectic week we finally had a chance to hang out after school and play on the playground. This is one of my few opportunities to see how my daughter is navigating through the social challenge that the asphalt schoolyard can bring to a kid on the autism spectrum. After a…
I was desperate for sleep
Define Sleep: A natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body, in which the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially lost, so that there is a decrease in bodily movement and responsiveness to external stimuli. During sleep the brain in humans and other mammals undergoes a characteristic cycle of brain-wave…