Wed, 5 Aug 2009

Very bad haze today. Didn't go to the park this morning. Instead, he was in his Neurosuit this morning for about an hour doing indoor activities.

Widening his stride

As he tends to trot when he runs, I'm trying to widen his stride. I've tried a few things but it's not working...yet. Actually, I think sometimes, it does look a wee bit better but not consistently done...patience...must not give up.

- I'd hold his hand & walk with him slowly, showing him how to take big strides.

- I'd place pieces of his foam alphabets on the floor with a small gap in between & have him step over the gap. He'll follow once or twice, but resort to running the course instead.

- When at the shops and there are different coloured tiles or patterned tiles on the floor, I'd try to get him to step with only one foot on those different tiles.

- when I still had the step-up boxes (they've been returned to therapist), we'd do the same thing.

- I try not to paste masking tape on the floor (therapist suggested this) to make squares for him to step into cos it'll be so hard to remove the glue.

Movement while in his neurosuit

It must be really hard for him to move in the suit.

- If he fell, he tends to be "stuck" and is unable to (yet) or hasn't learnt how to get back up. The suit itself is a bit heavy. He feels heavier if I were to carry him while he is suited up compared to without.

- Walking up stairs or stepping up onto a box is a lot harder in the suit. He could easily do it without the suit. But in the first 2 days this week, he couldn't lift his leg up to the step while in the suit! Now, he can, but very slowly, with his right leg. Left leg needs help sometimes. I guess after some months in the suit, he'll have strong muscles! The therapist reported that her son & another boy had bulked up a bit after 3 months of suit therapy.

- It tires him out much faster, not just due to the weight of the suit, but also the resistance provided by the bungee cords. He breaks out into a sweat faster too. So this morning, we had the air-cond on at home (but it's also cos we closed all windows to minimise the haze from entering) and he seemed more comfortable.

- Putting him in the suit does initially trigger his gag reflex. It's odd that a person might gag when tired, but he does. As recently as a few months ago, he would gag easily when running at the neighbourhood park. Now that he's built up his endurance, he doesn't except when initially put into the suit & after some time of running around in the suit.

Wooden blocks

While he was still in his suit, we played with the blocks on the trampoline, using it like a low table this time. He had time to play freely. But I also got him to stretch to reach for the pieces - stretching his right arm far to the right and also far to the left crossing the midline etc.

LeapFrog (reading)

We tried out the Leap Frog for the 1st time. It's great that that's another avenue to teach him reading! He was quite intrigued with the voice coming out. He was a bit hesistant when asked by the voice to point to the letters during the 'game mode'. He could "read" the simple 3 letter words in the picture if we sounded out the phonic sound of the letter as I point to the alphabet. E.g. box = "berh"-"ohh"-"kersk". And he'd say "box".

Speech

I wanted to pump air into a flat stroller wheel & told him so. He then said: mama's wheel...mama's tyre flat like a pancake. That's a lot of syllables in one go. He learnt the phrase "flat like a pancake" several months ago. But a few days ago, the helper said that his poo poo (in his diaper) is flat like a pancake & it really tickled him. He couldnt stop laughing for a long time!

MidValley

I had to post a parcel, so went to MidValley as parking was easier (compared to the neighbourhood post office) and could pop into Jusco for groceries too. He wasn't happy to just sit and wait while I filled in the form, so my helper "read" the papers with him.

I'm beginning to wonder if he's purposely running funny by pretending there are bumps on the floor (kids go through phases where they do funny things) or whether there's something I really need to check out, e.g. whether there is a problem with his muscles. He doesnt go "bumping" all the time, but it's often enough in a day for me to start wondering otherwise & it's been going on for a few months now. But the therapists didnt point out any problems & he still has range of motion. My friend's son about a year older doesnt jump the normal way. He jumps the way my son "bumps" about. If he walks slowly, his gait appears normal. So, will just continue monitoring I guess.

At Jusco, he could follow my verbal instruction to turn right/turn left at the aisles, which is great! He was walking in front of me so there were no physical cues given to him.

He was also interested to read out the letters of the signs around him, while I was waiting my turn at the cashier. So I really have to get moving on reworking some of my material to teach him reading (I think the font size is a bit too small for him). So much to do, so little time.

Concept of Left/Right

I tried testing his understanding of left & right before & it's often correct but not always. I exposed him to the right/left concept probably about a year ago, doing things like:

- I occasionally remind him to use his left hand while playing with toys (blocks, picture cards etc). He has a very dominant right hand.

- while walking up or down the stairs, I will say left/right while he steps using that foot.

- in the shower, I say which part of the body that I'm soaping (e.g.it's left leg turn now to be soaped), which also helped in him learning the names of the parts of his body.

- having him look left/right/left again before crossing the road while holding my hand (also part of road safety awareness).