Logan's Therapy

Logan is 3, he should be saying a lot.  He doesnt.  He is vocal, do not get me wrong on that, and he most certainly has his own ways of communicating, but verbal communication is most certainly not a great skill of his :)  

In April of 2012 (a few months before he turned 2) we decided to get him in speech therapy.  I spoke quite late and we just kept thinking maybe he would too, but I also was in speech therapy throughout elementary school and still have some sounds I really have to focus on to not mess up, so I got a referral to get him started.  Many people told me to wait, Lisa (and her co-workers) told me not to, Lisa likes to remind me of this often (just figured I would put it in here otherwise she would remind me again!)  So we found a therapist that came to the house on my day off to meet with Logan, after awhile we had her meet with him at daycare.  We were on a high deductible plan, it was getting expensive, and while she was nice and he really liked her, it was a lot of money and we didnt see any progress really.  He was still making animal noises (which he had been doing before) but still wasnt saying any words.  He still didnt say ma, or da, or really any word.  He did start to say ball for a bit but has since stopped (still doesnt say it).  Anyway, Lisa had told me about a government program called Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) and told me to check it out since she knew I was getting frustrated and it was getting pricy and this was a great option that was based on income.  So I called them, they had to come do an evaluation (he had to qualify to be part of the program), they tested his communication skills, gross and fine motor skills, basically everything and surprisingly (massive sarcasm here) he did qualify.  His verbal skills were super low (since they are nonexistent) and was behind on a few other skills but also significantly ahead on some others.

In August 2012 we started with ECI.  His therapist, Emily, was great and he just loved her.  She would come to the house 3 times a month to meet with him but also give lots of tips of things to do when she was gone.  She also tried to help with his eating problem (he doesnt eat anything good for him at all).  When I would say Emily was coming he would sit in his play room and look out the window waiting for her car.  He was slow to make progress but he did eventually.  If anything it was saving us tons of money.  We had started paying $70 a visit, then it went up to $140 a visit, then with ECI it went to $115 a month (regardless of the number of visits), to $85 a month (when I lost my job) to $20 a month once we had Amelia and our family size increased.  Plus at the end we were having about 5 visits a month, so that was great!!!  

Once he started getting close to his 3rd birthday Emily started helping us get new options since you can only stay in ECI until you are 3.  She got us hooked up with the school district and he once again qualified for a program that I think will be amazing for him. It a 5 day a week 3 hour a day preschool program at his local elementary school.  The program is called PPCD (preschool program for children with disabilities) and since its from the school district it is 100% free!!  He will be in a small class with other children with disabilities or developmental delays, I do not know who he will be with at this point, they still need to get a teacher for the class he will attend, but I think it will be great.  He will get a meal there (so hopefully he will eat it, he used to eat at daycare so I am hopeful), and he will have 5 hours a week of 1 on 1 with a speech therapist and the other 10 hours focusing on speech and some other skills he is a bit behind on (some motor skills, self care skills, and social skills).

By the end of his time with ECI he was meeting with Emily (focusing on speech with help on eating), Becky (focusing on fine and gross motor skills to possibly help speech) and he meet with an OT (occupational therapist) to discuss some concerns we had about sensory issues.  The subject of autism came up quite a bit, as he has some issues with things that go along with it, but he also does many things that are not typical in austistic children.  The OT agreed that he has some sensory processing problems and gave me some tips of way to cope with it.  She was familiar with the PPCP program and said that when he starts in the fall (he had to wait since school let out for summer 2 days after his birthday) that she thinks the program will be great for him.

our thank you card and cookies for Emily, she got him a Thomas the Train birthday balloon!

So thats where we are at, he is still making progress (and with his current love of the alphabet has been making huge strides with sounds these past two weeks) so we are just playing up the ABCs as much as we can in hopes it will keep the new sounds coming.

I know one day I will forget all this, so I am going to sum up his sounds and issues below (plus you might be wondering yourself):

Eating:

- this is all he eats and how often he will actually eat it when presented with it, he doesnt eat anything that gets his hands dirty and tries to not use a fork or spoon (though he does know how)

• hot dogs - 20%
• cheese - 75%
• m&ms - 100%
• peanuts - 80%
• cheese-its - 90%
• goldfish - 100%
• red licorice - 100%
• fruit snacks - 100%
• french fries - 80%

- he used to eat the following foods (in the past 2 years) but no longer does

• rice
• beans (black and baked)
• fruit (all berries, cantaloupe)
•  fruit bars (like nutri-grain)
• jelly beans

Yes, he somehow survives off this food, he does drink a pediasure every day and loves to drink whole chocolate milk (still on whole since he could use the fat), all sorts of juice (which we water down), and water from Ian's camelback!

Vocabulary:

• ma (mom)
• da (dad)
• ah (stands for either amelia or for baby, we arent 100% sure yet)
• mo ah (stands for either nora or more baby, again, we are still trying to figure it out)
• dink (drink)
• mo (more)
• go
• bird (always goes along with him flapping his arms like wings)
• ousi (outside)
• bye
• a woo (marcie moo, lisa's dog - either trying to say moo or its his attempt at woof)
• right there (cant begin to type it how it sounds, you wouldnt understand it if you heard it, but I do and its consistent)
• vroom (the car sound)
• lots of animal sounds (moo, neigh, baa, roar, sound of a pig snorting, quack, monkey noises)
• letters sounds (again, these are all new) - a, b, c, d, e, f, i, l, m, n, o, p, s, t, u, v, x, y, z (so as you can see most of them, the ones he doesnt say he knows the letter and knows the order, he just doesnt produce the sound)

he loves his letters, but not so much the U as you see its still in the box.  the missing letters were taken upstairs to our bed with him the night before :)

 he probably says a few more than this but these are the ones he says more often, if i think of more ill add them later

Sensory Processing Issues:

• hates to get his hands dirty, refuses to finger paint, get paint on his hands (he must wipe it off), might let some get on but after a good 20 or 30 minutes of playing, doesnt like food residue, crumbs, soap, etc on his hands.  However, he LOVES to play in the water and doesnt mind if dirt gets on his hands, although he will wash it off as soon as he can (which is fast since his water table is always out and full)
• doesnt mind when his diaper is wet or dirty, this is one that is surprising since he doesnt like otherwise being dirty.  but HATES getting his diaper changed, he kicks and bucks and swiggles horribly
• really dislikes getting his face wet, i know no child likes it, but he reacts a bit worse than most
• HATES HATES HATES getting his hair cut, again, I know no child likes this, but he is horrible.  We have to buckle him into a chair and have 2 adults holding him down as he is screaming bloody murder and trying to break free as lisa cuts his hair.  I took him to get it done but he was so bad, so we just got some clippers and Lisa (god bless her soul) cuts it as Shawn and I hold him down (god bless shawn's soul too).  after we are ready with candy and then he gets to play in the tub, so he forgets pretty quickly
• most days refuses to let me brush his teeth, he will let me if he is in the tub or in the shower with me, but no longer if is he just standing at the sink, its a complete melt down.  he likes to brush his own teeth (really just chomp the brush), and when he lets me I dont get much time
• he is always biting down, luckily he doesnt bite hard enough to hurt his tongue, but always biting.  he DESTROYS straws, even hard plastic ones! 
• I also think he sometimes doesnt realize the force he is using when he touches people or animals.  sometimes he is super gentle and other times he hits very hard.  Maybe he does, maybe he is just mean :)
• he has very specific routines (too many to list) and if you dont follow them be prepared for a full breakdown.  again, i thought it was typical toddler stuff but the OT agreed that his reactions are just a tad bit worse than they should be and that with how often Ian has tried to piss him off by not doing what he wants, he still reacts and hasnt adapted 
• REFUSES to wear a jacket or hat or shoes other than slip on ones.  Thank goodness its not cold here that long or that bad because he would not put on a jacket, hat or gloves all winter and luckily he seems to tan and not burn because he will not wear a hat in the summer either.
• is very afraid of new places and situations, you often times have to drag him through doors or pick him up because he wont move past them.  he also is not a social butterfly and tends to shy away from most kids but since the dont understand why he isnt talking to them (cant tell you how many kids have asked me at the park what is wrong with him!) and I am sure to him they are very loud, it makes sense. (maybe not a sensory thing, but one of his many quirks)

loves to play in the sinks, he pours water from one cup to the next

 

using his new found love of letters, i got some letter cookie cutters and we are using them with playdough.  that is another item he will not touch until it is in a perfect ball or in the shape of the letter, but we keep working on it.

But he is a smart little boy and can do many things.  He is always trying to figure out something new, is always making noises (just gibberish ones) and is a joy (even with him many tantrums and now constant whining sounds).  We will keep working on these and I think once the program starts he will make great strides!!!