Little bits of progress

This is a round up of the little bits of progress that I've noted in my son over the past 2 weeks or so.

1. Cranial Sacral Therapy

His CST therapist was away for the month of August. He resumed his therapy last week, on Wed & Thurs. On Wednesday he noted that his left leg was a bit tight so she did myofascia release on him. She noted it was better on Thurs.

During the evening walks on Wed & Thurs, I noted that he spoke quite audibly (in terms of volume & clarity). I've noted this happening before where sometimes in the same evening after his CST, he either has better standing posture (straigther back) or clearer speech.

I also noted that he sat more often in a cross legged manner rather than his usual 'W' sitting over this past weekend - it's an improvement.

She said that although the stability of his hips have improved (compared to a year ago) it still needs to be more stable in order for his jaw to correspondingly be more stable, to see further improvements in his speech.

2. Reading

He surprised me by being able to 'read' these words that I showed him in a book of his: bed, hat, can. He didnt need me to say out the phonic sounds of each letter. He too didnt need to say out the phonic sound of each letter. He merely said the name of the letters, then said out the word.

3. Speech

He continues to speak in short phrases, occasionally a long phrase/sentence comes out. He still babbles which I imagine it to be him practising his speech muscles. I'm trying to remember to model sentences for him to repeat. I do it as and when the situation arises (as opposed to creating new activities for him) so, I do tend to forget sometimes.

He's had a few meltdowns with me because I absolutely could not figure out what he was saying. Not many, just perhaps one a day, for 3 days in the last week or so. Happens when he's hungry & tired. I imagine it'll be difficult when he goes to kindergarten where teachers & friends minght not understand most of his speech. Perhaps having me as his shadow aide is therefore required due to his speech impairment & not just motor impairment.

I've been "singing" the short vowel sounds partly for him to be familiar with them & for me to learn how to say them accurately. His speech therapist says that short vowel / long vowel sounds are difficult for us Malaysians cos we speak English differently from the Westerners. So I've to learn it before I can teach him properly. After 2 days of making it into a catchy jingle, he can say the short vowel 'a' sound more accurately (but not perfectly). Previously he says the sound of 'a' with Malay pronounciation (e.g. 'a' as in the word 'baca').

4. Fine motor

He is able to turn the small lock on the door knob, from a vertical position to horizontal, and twist the knob & pull to open the door of our bedroom. A few months ago, he was already able to do so with the toilet doorknob which is not as tight as the bedroom's.

He still struggles to peel off most types of stickers but noticed that there have been some occasions he did manage to peel off on his own. I'm showing him a new way to peel which will require lots of practice on his part. I've lots of sticker books so that'll keep the interest up.

He is able to stick stickers but not totally within the designated circle, as parts of the sticker would be out of the area. Also, he tends to stick it tilted, not straight/vertical. I'm not sure if these are part of normal development or if it indicates a problem with his vision.

Last week during a CST session, he surprised me by being able to place a finger puppet on his finger, all by himself. It indicates better control of his fingers & co-ordination of both hands.

He also surprised me by placing his toy car's tyres on a finger of both hands. I did not see how he did it - whether he used one hand to insert the tyre onto a finger (in which case, I'm impressed cos his left hand is much weaker than his right), or whether he poked his finger into the tyre, then raised the finger up so the tyre slides down, which might be more likely (which is good too cos fine motor skills & hand-eye coordination are needed).