He learned it!

Every time he misbehaves, I always try to control my temper since I am utterly short-tempered. My way of telling him that what he's doing is not appealing is by saying "NO" in a high pitch voice. At times he doesn't pay attention as if nothing had transpired. Little by little he began to understand the concept of "scolding. I make him say "SORRY" for every misbehavior which he willingly does. What seemed to be the fruit of my hard work is when I heard him say "SORRY" without me telling him to say it. He's really learning the rope.

ON POTTY TRAINING

At age 3, Johan's potty training is underway which is a bit late compared to the kids his age. The training kicked off March of 2012. I am fully aware that this is quite a challenge for everyone at home. He showed restrained behavior when he's being asked to go to the bathroom to pee at first. To add up, he hates using his potty. After a month, he still doesn't get the idea of going to the potty whenever nature calls. To  help him learn this, we stop using diapers in the morning. He's only in diapers during bedtime. I bring him to the bathroom every now and then to pee. After six months of training, he learned how to put his shorts down before peeing and flush the toilet after. I still need to bring him to the bathroom to pee though. His occupational therapist suggested that he should be asked to say "Mommy wee-wee" when he's getting in the bathroom. That way, he would get the hang of telling the guardians about the urge.

OT NOTES - Aug 4, 2012

OT NOTES

• Johan was cooperative for the whole theraphy session yet needed prompts to look at the teacher and focus on the tasks given.
• Attention span was sustained for 10 minutes.
• He was able to identify shapes and colors given moderate verbal prompts.
• He was able to clip clothespin given moderate verbal prompts.
• He was able to tweeze beads.
• He was able to manipulate buttons and snaps given maximum prompts.
• He was able to shoot chips on the bank. Prompts were provided to continue he got distracted and looked around the room.
• He was able to open the water container given moderate HOHA.
• Fleeting eye contact was observed.
• Attention span and impulse control were observed.
• Needs to perform pointing.

NOTE: Evaluation is still in the process.

SPEECH THERAPHY HALTED

Johan's Speech Therapy was temporarily halted due to his uncooperative behavior. He would only sit for 15 minutes and would not participate anymore. As per his doctor's, Dr. Cielo Manihan, and his speech therapist advice, we shifted his therapy from Speech to Occupational. According to his doctor, he has to learn how to behave when he's with other people. He may be behaving well in front of us,. his parents, but behaved differently when he's surrounded by others. Another thing to consider is his motor skills. At 3, he couldn't blow the candle enough to put off the blaze. He can't feed himself with the use of spoon and fork. Clearly, motor skills have to be developed specially that next year he is expected to be schooling already. As such, having occupational therapy for the mean time is the best option.

FIRST SPEECH THERAPHY

Johan stopped doing OT last December because we had to move to Cavite. We thought we could have a fresh start in a larger abode that we rented. To make a long story short, we moved back to Paranaque after considering some factors.

And we jumpstarted Johan's Speech theraphy session / speech evaluation today. Considering my financial capacity, it's kind of pricey. I spent 2500.00 for it, which was higher than the professional fee we paid for his developmental doctor. We got the earliest ST session at 8:00 AM. He has to attend two sessions a week. It's not so convenient for me but we grabbed it anywy since we didn't have any other choice. Waking up early in the morning is a tall order for me as well as for the little one. But on the other hand, it would be good because if we got the later session, he would be distracted by other kids. Hence,  it might hurdle his focus.

His teacher was so fascinated by how much he improved compared to before when he had Occupational Theraphy. He was completely cooperative during the session which I'm thankful about. He was able to tell the colors of some objects. He did very well in his puzzle test which is plausible.

TEACHER NAME: JL
SCHEDULE: Tuesday and Saturday 8 AM
MEDIUM: English
COST: 600.00 per 1 hour session
GOAL: To help the child speak in sentences and to be able to communicate his needs
THERAPHY CENTER: Ridgeway Learning Center, BF Homes, Paranaque

ABOUT JOHAN:
At 2 years and 10 months, he knows the alphabet, colors, shapes and numerous words. He can express his needs in simple words by saying "mommy ater (for water)", "mommy oreo"," mommy juice", etc. He is interested in anything with wheels (cars, trains, trucks, buses, etc). His latest fascination are buses. He's very sociable. He enjoys the company of other kids. He was never seen hurting other kids. He only eats lumpiang shanghai, chicken nuggest, chocolate porridge, fried potato, luncheon meat, fried chicken but not all the time, spaghetti but not all the time, instant pancit canton (I just add half of the seasonings in the pack so it won't taste salty). His snacks mainly consist of biscuits, juice or chocolate drink. He doesn't like trying out new foods, He only tries something new if he sees a kid eating it.

SCHOOL BOY

A LOT of good things had transpired. I'm a LOT a happier now. My little guy has been picking up a LOT of new words. He's LOT chatty now. There's never dull moment with him. He asks a LOT of questions. Although the road towards language fluency is yet to be determined, I'm more confident now that  he will definitely  learn the rope in no time.

He attending school now. His program is called partial-mainstreaming. He's included in a group of kids for circle and socialization time. He is then pulled out for one-on-one discussion. His performance is evaluated everyday.

Attention span still needs to be built up. Concentrating on his talks seems to be a tall order for him. But he usually follows after maximum prompts both  in school and at home. He learns adjectives such as rough, smooth, big, tall, clean, dirty, full, empty. He's been taught how to trace letters and phonetics.

A CHATTERBOX

If he didn't have a communication disorder, he would have been a chatterbox. A few days ago, he learned the word "CHOR" (which means picture). He'd seen tons of videos of him from my mobile phone but he didn't seem to know how it's done. And now that he picked up the concept of  PICTURE TAKING, he's been crazy about it. He would urge me to take a photo of him doing random things.

With constant and unwavering teaching, Johan finally learned to express his needs. He is 3 years and 9 months now, his language should have been fully developed by now but we're still on a waiting game.