Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 It is hard to balance with not enough vs too much and letting go of it knowing you might have to fight to get it back. these are quality of life issues to me...we opted for no therapy once got to a certain point (which I am NOT saying is right in your case b/c he sounds completely different from what I am talking about). One thing that works with my son with autism and EXTREME hyperactivity is to do just 15 minute sessions, which is hard if you have to take him out or they come there, but if he is in a day program it helps a whole lot. One thing an OT told me about Gaige to explain how HARD things are for him vs us was this analogy... Its the difference between driving to work every single day...you do it without thinking about it...and driving to work on ICE...doing many of these things is like driving on ice. At one time, Bliss became incooperative with PT and climbing and swinging and stuff. She would scream bloody murder. So we decided to take a break over the holidays. During the holidays (she was about 18 months old), I put a bowl of chocolates on the table and she figured out they were there. Well sure enough...she learned to climb all right!!! And she never went back to PT. We have done a myriad of things with all our kids...all on IEPs/IFSPs for three different diagnoses...so you can imagine! But your family has to come first and what works for you!!! deb...mom to three great adopted kids... (07.04.96-05.26.03) with Mitochondrial Disease, Gaige age 5 with High Functioning Autism & dysfluency and Bliss age 3 with very very mild Cerebral Palsy. www.LifeofLoveProject.orgwww.HeartLiftersGallery.comCrazy Lizzies!! PURSES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 This all makes me wonder - Is Sheldon receiving too many services? Maybe he would do better with more time off. Right now he's receiving 10 services a week, that's every weekday morning. Except for PT, they're all extended, 1 to 1.5 hours. That's a lot. Speech is 3 times a week and spec. ed. is 2 or 3 times a week. PT/OT twice a week. Maybe more isn't necessarily better. How many services are other kids receiving? -- ---------- Stacey Fleming flemings@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Stacey, Is he happy? I think that is what we strive for. Quality not quanity-in everything. When somehting just gets to be too much even if it's just for the week, we cancel. Sometimes it is just the week and we are all tired to we cancel and next week we are okay and we say okay. Every time is different. I think things may change month to month and year to year. If he is doing well I would keep going. I think in some way he will let you know if it is to much. When is done, we know it even though she doens't verbalize it alot. She does just walk away or refuse to cooperate. I refuse to push her. It's just that she is done. She is very stubborn, it is what keeps her alive!!!! Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 A normal attention span is 3 to 5 minutes per year of a child's age. Therefore, a 2-year-old should be able to concentrate on a particular task for at least 6 minutes, and a child entering kindergarten should be able to concentrate for at least 15 minutes. (Note: A child's attention span while watching TV is not an accurate measure of his or her attention span.) I would gather that he is most likely overwhelmed. If he is tired, it probably happens even faster. Delayed kids usually have processing difficulties, so they get overwhelmed even faster- as their brain cannot process as much material as an NT kid in the same amount of time. Once a child is overwhelmed, anything taught/explained, etc. is wasted energy on the teacher's part, and very stressful for the child. Has he grown? If so, have they increased his cocktail amounts? Cindy-GA Too many services? This all makes me wonder - Is Sheldon receiving too many services? Maybe he would do better with more time off. Right now he's receiving 10 services a week, that's every weekday morning. Except for PT, they're all extended, 1 to 1.5 hours. That's a lot. Speech is 3 times a week and spec. ed. is 2 or 3 times a week. PT/OT twice a week. Maybe more isn't necessarily better.How many services are other kids receiving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 I guess that's what's bothering me so much lately - that he's not happy with a couple of his teachers any more. He keeps trying to leave and is getting very upset when they push him to do things. Now these are things that to the rest of us seem so easy - doing one more thing to complete a task or moving pictures around. But some things are just very hard for him. If he's not happy to see them come, it seems like we must be doing something wrong, right? Right now he is only throwing tantrums while his teachers are here. And no, I don't think it's because he always gets what he wants when they're not here. Reading these responses is really helping me work through this decision, it's been a problem for a few weeks now but just hearing from others is making it more clear to me that he's not happy and that's an indication that something is not right. Maybe we need to reduce services and give him more of a break if he tries to leave or indicates that he's done. Stacey, Is he happy? I think that is what we strive for. Quality not quanity-in everything. When somehting just gets to be too much even if it's just for the week, we cancel. Sometimes it is just the week and we are all tired to we cancel and next week we are okay and we say okay. Every time is different. I think things may change month to month and year to year. If he is doing well I would keep going. I think in some way he will let you know if it is to much. When is done, we know it even though she doens't verbalize it alot. She does just walk away or refuse to cooperate. I refuse to push her. It's just that she is done. She is very stubborn, it is what keeps her alive!!!! Dawn Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 We are dealing with this issue right now as well. Maddie has a teacher who comes (usually) 4 mornings a week for 1 hour. She has PT, OT, and ST for one hour each week as well. I noticed last week that she seemed to be shutting down and not engaging in anything with anyone (after a week of grandparents and dad being off from work!) She was seeming to regress- wouldn't identify colors correctly, wouldn't try to do anything for herself. I started to panic, but then really assessed what was going on; It seemed like she was bored, and I figured she probably is, because all of her therapists (except the teacher) use play therapy and it's too much "play" for Maddie (who would rather look at a magazine, color with markers or use glue sticks when she isn't following me around the house.) I've decided to keep Fridays free just to do nothing. (Like with 4 kids we ever do "nothing"!) We'll take a month or more off if we have to. Last year we stopped all services from December to April in order to try to keep the kids well, then the baby was born mid Feb. Guess what- during that time Maddie showed no signs of regression and even learned all of her colors! I have no problem calling the therapists and telling them that we are taking the day/week/etc off if it is in Maddie's best interest, and her therapists know her well enough to understand. I've learned that you can overdo a good thing. While I know that reading, writing and therapy are important, Maddie's quality of life is more important. She may be 30 or 40 years old before she is able to read or write, but my goal is to get her to be 30 or 40 years old (or older!) and if she can write, that’s wonderful, but if she can't, we've still achieved our goal. Follow your instinct- it's usually right. Change your schedule around and see if it makes a difference. HTH Holly Too many services? This all makes me wonder - Is Sheldon receiving too many services? Maybe he would do better with more time off. Right now he's receiving 10 services a week, that's every weekday morning. Except for PT, they're all extended, 1 to 1.5 hours. That's a lot. Speech is 3 times a week and spec. ed. is 2 or 3 times a week. PT/OT twice a week. Maybe more isn't necessarily better.How many services are other kids receiving?-- ----------Stacey Flemingflemings@...Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Grace sees Speech for 1/2 hour weekly, and her OT is right after for another 1/2 hour. Her playgroup is on another day and is for 1 1/2 hours. For her, her attention span at speech and OT are about 20 min, tops. Anything over that is a waste of her, mine and the therapists time. Many people have recomended her to start PT on top of what she is already doing, but I have refused so far. It just seems too much. _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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