Sunday, May 10, 2009

3/30- 5/7

Monday, 3/30/09

At speech therapy today, Livie said “puda” for pudding several times, “mora” when she wanted to eat more and used her gravel voice to try to say “ I want”. She also signed bathroom when we first arrived and said very softly “bathrm” saying it with the sign for the first time.

Wednesday, 4/1/09

When I took her to the bathroom today I asked her if she was finished or if she needed more time to sit and she said “dn”. I took her off the toilet and said okay you’re all done.

Friday, 4/3/09

She had a very good speech therapy session. She used a lot of her gravel voice to try and say things that are more difficult for her. She seems to have more control when she uses this voice. In her gravel voice she said “I wa koookee”. She was really working hard to get the “k” today.

She was saying lots of Dadee when Bill was around and she wants attention from him.

Sunday, 4/5/09

She had an accident today, and I told her she was wet & under her breath she said “wet”. She has been practicing the “w” sound. She has been using the “w” sound mostly in the gravel voice. Lots of “wa wa wa wa”.

Tuesday, 4/7/09

At bedtime Livie was tired and I was getting her ready for bed. I asked her if she had to go to the bathroom and she said “noo noo”. I then said lets try just for a minute and she said “noo noo noo” again. She sat on the toilet for about 30 seconds later she urinated. I told her how proud I was of her and she looked at me and said “beeed” in a gravel voice. We went to her room and she got into bed. I said night, night and she responded “nigh, nigh”. When I left the room she was practicing with “w” saying “waa waa waa waa”. She has been following lots of directions without visual prompts. She really seems to know what’s going on around her. For example, she ran into the bathroom and shut the door. I yelled from another room to open that door and she did! In the past every direction I gave to her she had to be looking at me for her to understand. Now I give her directions all the time just as if she were a typical kid and for the most part she follows them.

Thursday, 4/9/09

She was very upset on our way to speech therapy today. She cried all the way there in the car. Surprisingly when she is upset like that she usually says the most words. She walked into the therapy room and looked straight ahead at the window and said “da window”. She yelled “all done” many times. Her voice was very strong and loud today with lots of B’s . She said “dink” for drink, “kookee” for cookie and said “more” many times. There was a time when the “p” sound came out for everything, but that has gotten much better lately. She is not using “p” all the time now.

Friday, 4/10/09

Livie wanted juice and I gave it to her. She finished it and I asked if she wanted more juice. She signed juice and said “more”.

She was playing with Bill in the living room after work and was very happy to see him. She was laughing and babbling at him and he was being very silly with her. She took her hand and placed it on his cheek while smiling and said “DaDa I lov oo” Now she said those words so fast it almost didn’t sound like a sentence, but both he and I were there and we looked at each other at the same time and couldn’t believe she said that. That whole time he was playing with her she was babbling in what sounded like sentences that only she could understand.

Na De Da – While playing with Day
DeDe – laughing
Daaa a yayaya De ah ya ya this sounded like a sentence that only she understood

Tuesday, 4/14/09

Livie was on vacation from school this week. We were getting ready for her bath and I said the water is too cold. She looked at me and said “cold”. In the evening she was playing with Mommy and having a great time. She looked at me and smiled and said “I luv oo”. This didn’t really surprise me because I tell her all the time that I love her. She also said “book” 2 times clearly while looking through her Dora book.

**I believe that she was embarrassed that she had an accident in her pants two times today. After the second accident, I took her into the bathroom and told her that she should know to use the toilet. I had her touch her underpants several times and say this is wet. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her arm and pouted with her lower lip. I made her look at me, and I asked her to try harder next time and that I knew she could do it. That night I told Bill that I wasn’t sure but I thought she was embarrassed and upset to have disappointed me.**

Wednesday, 4/15/09

Livie went 2 or 3 times today to the bathroom independently and was very proud of herself. This confirmed for me that she was upset yesterday by her accidents.

Thursday, 4/16/09

Livie was sitting on the toilet for about 2 minutes with nothing happening and I asked if she was done. She didn’t sign finished or attempt to move. I told her that I could wait longer if she needed more time. After about another minute she urinated and beamed with pride. Then she signed finished and said “done”.

4/17/09 – 5/7-09

Livie has continued to make great progress. She has been using all the sounds of the alphabet in her babble. She has been using her gravel voice to try and attempt to say more words. Since starting therapy with you she has gained only a few words, but her receptive language has taken off. She follows conversational speech now. I no longer have to slowly talk to her. As long as I have her attention she understands me. This has made such a difference for her. More people including myself are talking directly to her instead of just talking around her.

Livie has not had an accident in her pants since that night in April. However, when she is out she needs to have a way to let people know she has to use the bathroom. I have been telling her with verbal reminders and her sign for bathroom when we are out that she needs to let the person she is with know when she has to use the bathroom. Her teacher at school called me and told me that she was doing great except when she was on the playground. I asked her teacher if they tried to use verbal reminders before they go on the playground and they had not used them. I told her this is what I do when I am out with her and she agreed to try. She no longer has accidents on the playground now. I find myself now treating her more like a typical child. I will make her look at me and tell her if you continue to do whatever she is doing I will not let you play there anymore. It seems to be working!

I got a note home from her speech teacher at school last week that Livie has learned a new skill that they didn’t really think she would be able to do. They have 3 picture cards on the table and they ask her the function of an object. She needs to give them the card that fits and sign the correct answer. An example would be “what do you write with” and she would have to select the crayon or pencil and sign “write”. I am very pleased and surprised that she is doing this. Her awareness in herself and in language have jumped 10 fold. She is now looking at herself in the mirror and pointing to body parts. She is also looking at herself in different positions. She was never interested in the mirror before.

Olivia won an art contest nationally. Many schools submitted pictures and only about 20 to 25 children were chosen in the country. She will receive her award on 5/15/09 in CT.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Mar 1- 6

Feb 28- Sat mood was good at the session, she said 'pin' for spin several times. Sat night she said 'eat' to eat supper several times

Mar 1 Sun- good mood in the session again, very physically active first half, said 'pin' again

Mar 6- Fri at speech, she said up, play, please, pud for pudding, t for ting, b for ball, in the cat on the way home, she said t, t, and Linda opened up the bag and gave her a ting, she seem with herself having been able to communicate to her mommy without eye contact. 1 on 1 with ABA, she was very engauging with eye contact, her processing time has greatly increased and had a wonderful session.
Therapist commented: That she had worked with her for three + years and knows her very well, after the session, she said " Olivia is amazing her right now, past few months she has changed, picking up skills quickly and retaining them, visual determination from selecting an answer from 3 pictures/items to 6 and 8. She'd lose skills in the past; now she's not regressing/forgetting things. Eye contact and responsiveness is phenominal. Her pace has quickens, before she was slow to respond going through her Verbal Behavior programs; now she moves through rapidly. She's just so 'with it'. She had been concerned with her progress now she is pleased with Olivia's direction"

This week her mood has been good. We have consistantly gotten words like 'bye', bath, up, 'pin' for spin. She's also increasing her new sounds 'W' being the primary. She is more willing to use sounds, she is really trying to use her sounds. She is now using the sound 'p' to mean yes. Receptively, she is becoming very exciting, following language better than she has been before.

Friday, February 27, 2009

FEBRUARY 2009

Sat 21st-28th no NY therapy this week.

27th- She's been using her 'gravelly' voice. using that low growl voice to say things she's not sure of. She saw a package of wipes in the Bathroom. Linda said " Wipes?" She said "I want it" in that voice. In speech today, she was pretty consistant with her sounds matching what she wants. Her at home ABA was also v ery good tody, she's very on-target receptively and also used the gravelly 'Want it'. She also said movie at this session. She also moved her tongue with her fingers to try and do the 'LLL' sound. More verbal and terying harder to get the sound.

Thursday at speech, they were trying to whole word 'candy'. Livie got out 'aandy' and the therapist pushed her and she got out a rough 'KKKKK-andy'

Otherwise she has been consistantly getting up too early over the past week or so. 4-5:30 has been the average time. Mood has agitated slightly and difficulty falling asleep. Could be any number of things including teeth, pain, reflux etc.

At least twice this week when Linda went into her room she stopped what she was doing and said 'mama'. She has acquired and kept the words Bath and Bye.

Feb 14-21. Major accomplishments: not in the best of mmods for therapy. In sppech, she did not want to drink her pudding, and therapist insisted. Livie said 'Ahh don't wan to!" longest sentence ever! She also did not want to do the horn and said "I wan my mama!" also said 'all done' and 'bye' several times.

we need to update pevious weeks when we find our notes...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Jan 24- Jan 31

1-24-09 - Saturday- No real wows at the session, a couple of "spins". Again on the way home from our Dr. Schneider appointment her Dora DVD went off and she said “Dooora, Dooora” loudly.


Pothole repair crews again out, 95 minutes there. Took Richmond Rd through Staten Island home, and it only cost us 5-10 minutes 90 minutes home

Later at home Livie was sad and her sister Aly was holding her. She looked back at me and said “Mo Me”. Her sister was so excited and said she just said Mommy!!!!! Did you hear that?

Just before bed I put a pull up on her. I was pulling on the pull up and pinching it to make sure it was dry before bed and Livie turned and looked at me and said “MoMe na na na” . My daughter and I looked at each other and said she just said “Mommy No”. She obviously didn’t like what I was doing.

This week I have noticed a lot more babble during play with a new sounds and louder voice. She has been using the “w” and the “s”. We have been getting “bath” at night when it is time for her bath 5 out of 7 nights and we are seeing “bye” used much more frequently. We have tried to 2 years to get her to say “bye” when she waves. She is still using a lot of the “p” sound but will change it . The emergence of Mommy is very exciting for me and also the use of No.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Jan 17-24

Jan 17 Sat- she was quieter and not is such a great mood this day, it was a pretty uneventful session, she was agitated and had a semi-meltdown just after the session.

Trip was hampered by Pothole repair crews: 100 minutes each way.

Jan 18 Sun- We had an interesting incident in the car on the way to the session. She was agitated about halfway through the trip. Linda was trying to get her to relax and tried to give her a lollipop, NAH, cookie got a similar nah. We went though a few Nahs before we got to the thing she wanted, a chocolate chewy tube.

During session she said 'spin' several times to get a spin in the chair. She also said the word 'squeeze' when I was squeezing her. She also has been using the 's' sound fairly consistantly during sessions. She also called daddee when she wanted me to come along.

On the way home, she inadvertantly turned off her Dora episode. She called Duraduradura and Linda didn't quite grasp that she was asking that it get put back on until I pointed it out.

She also responded to the question, do you want to take a bath, with a clear 'bath'.

Another perfect round trip at 80 minute each way.

1-19-09 - Monday- In the morning I was cutting up a melon and I asked Livie if she wanted some melon. I heard her behind me, and when I turned around she was quietly saying “me, me ,me. A few minutes later, I heard her babbling “ma, ma, me me softly.

Later on in the day Livie asked for juice by signing it. When I brought her the juice, she signed juice and said “dooce”.

Livie had speech therapy on Monday. The speech therapist told me that Livie is more vocal lately. She said several different words during the session. She was also babbling the “wa” sound. The “wa” sound is a new sound for Livie.

1-22-09 - Thursday- We were in the car on our way home and I heard Liv practicing in the back seat “maa mee, maa mee”. I was very happy because whenever Livie would call me it was always MA MA.

Later on that night I noticed that Livie had what looked like a bubble blister above her upper rite side tooth. She was cranky this week and now I feel this is the reason.

1-23-09 - Friday- Livie has an appointment with the dentist on Thursday morning. The dentist wants to start Livie on an antibiotic because they feel that it is an infection.

Great speech therapy session. During the session Livie said “koo kee, cup, pud a, put ing, karr (for car) and din (for Ting).” Pudding with the “ing” at the end is a first for Livie. The “K” sound can be hard for her but they seem to be coming out more now. Also during the session the therapist asked which cookie she wanted the “chocolate or the vanilla cookie” ? Livie looked at the therapist and said “koo kee” and then said “wi”. The therapist thought she was trying to say white. Lots of babble during the play part of the session. Her babble has changed recently. It is much louder than before and now she is using lots of different sounds and changing them quickly. Before she would stay on a sound for a while and then change.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Jan 10 - Jan 16

Jan 10 Sat- Missed appointment due to snow



Jan 11 Sun- 12:00 appointment, near perfect travel 80 minutes each way. Linda was the therapist and got some S's for Snake and F's for Frog and W for Water. She also mimic-ed Linda's pretend play in the water; she was diving the frog, Liv dove the toy...

Jan 12-16- We had just a few incidents of note. Friday, the speech therapist said that she was not giving the letter K sound for any of the things she wanted like cookie and cup, she doesn't get the item. She gave the the therapist a knowing look and grabbed the bag of pretzels and said "Paa", she knew she had her dead to right, because she had to giv e it to her, she also requested 'Pu' for pudding. After that, she went over to the play table and said Ka for car.
Her ABA therapist also commented that her receptive language has been progressing very quickly. Her signs are also being picked up quickly.
She has regressed in her potty abilities over the past two weeks. It's hard to determine if the therapies have anything to do with it.
She has also begun to hear the 'ish' sound in play. She has been hearing the word fish a lot lately and this ish sound is not something she has said normally.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Jan 1 through Jan 9

There was a therapy session at 12:00 on New Years Day. Livie was in good spirits going into therapy. I was chosen to start off working with her and played with her in the water. Linda pointed out to me that I need practice because, while I have knowledge of the therapies and the methods, I have very little practical experience with actually working it. I found myself stumbling to think quickly and keep it fun.

Nevertheless, I did get a T out of her for turtle while working in the sink with her. We next went out to the waiting room to work on the therapy ball, then on to taking her on the elevator and stairs. After coming back, she went into the diaper bag and pulled out the gum bottle, Linda asked "Do you want Gum?". The doctor and Linda missed it, but I heard a faily loud 'gum' just as she was given the piece. We went back into the office and she watched a letter video. We got several letters out of her during that session. She got bored and began walking around, Linda led her toward the sind and asked "Do you want to play in the water?" Just after that, we got that 'scary' low pitched growl in a clear WAAAAwaaa. After playing in the water for another minute, Linda asked and signed "do you want to go to the bathroom?" We got a low volume 'baaath' in response.
Good ride, 80 minutes each way

I am getting consistant 'P's for many types of requests over the past few days. I'm still worried that this is becoming her generic request response to asking for verbal responses.
Jan 2 Livie was in the bathroom alone and Linda caught her practicing the Cha Cha sound (SmooCHa).

The January 3rd session went pretty much uneventfully, with me doing the therapy and Linda discussing various strategies with the Dr. She did spend a lot of time opening and closing drawers in the session. It got me to thinking that she might do better with 'cause and effect' type acvtivities. She did subsequently enjoy pouring water into everyone's cup which was lacking in the fist part of the session. We had a short session due to traffic
110 minutes there; 95 minutes back.

Week of Jan 4-10
This week the main theme with Livie has been wakefullness. She has gotten up in the middle of the night three timeds and has woken up consistantly between 6 and 6:45 every morning (usually, I wake her up at around 7:10). She also said "Nie nie" (night night) three times this week.

Jan 4 Sun- Livie was in the bathtub with Gracie and was actually trying to get her attention! She was getting in her face and laughing...

Jan 6 Tues- Livie wanted pudding from the top shelf and trying to get Linda to get it for her. Linda played the 'dumb parent' and said "I don't know what you want". Livie pointed on her own and said "Puh-din". Pointing is not a normal unless hand-over hand, and puh-din is usually only in the controlled environs of speech.

Jan 7 Wed- in OT she was making sounds during play, not on command, somewhat unusual. During speech, she was not responding to the mands for the K for cookie, however after, during play, she was repeating K for car...

Jan 8 Thur- in home ABA Livie was crying because she wanted Linda to stop talking to the therapist. The therapist told Liv just to say "Mommy go". Liv responded back "Mama aa baa Dee".

Jan 9 Fri- Speech therapist commented that Livie had ended a word with a consenant (moM). She almost always ends her words with a vowel...