This morning, Turbo stated again that he did not want to go to the Star Center, because each time it makes him tired. GOOD! THAT IS GREAT NEWS! That means that he is internalizing what is happening! It is hard work, but this hard work will be helpful to our entire family in the long run.
Today, Turbo was Astro Boy. Ms. Renee set up targets on our "aliens", while Turbo swung in the swing. The posture: Prone. This helps with his posture so that when it is necessary to sit still or work on table top work for school, he has worked on those muscles to become stronger. This swing allowed him to spin and spin and spin (vestibular) all while encouraging him to use quick ocular movement to find the alien targets to shoot the Nerf gun bullets at. He did this for quite some time and enjoyed every minute of it. See for yourself.
At first, he wanted to straddle the swing, but quickly realized that it wasn't going to work with the task he was given.
Afterwards, it was off to the astronaut training room. Again, he spun on the board/disc and then had to follow the light with his eyes without moving his head. At first, he was doing really well. His line of moving sight was smooth and intact. But, then suddenly, he asked to stop because his body felt sick. We interpreted that he was dizzy. He should be from all that spinning in the Astro Boy game, and then turning around and spinning some more. YEAH! He not only was able to get dizzy, but to articulate that he was dizzy.
With this new revelation on the table, the plan had to be changed and quickly. They set up an obstacle course again for him to maneuver through and then into the ball pit. He did this a couple of times, but then somebody else asked if they could use the zip line and ball pit. That wasn't a problem, so we just moved on.
Our next games was MEMORY. Remember that game? Yet, this game was MEMORY with a twist. He was to straddle a tube while Ms. Renee held on to him and quickly flashed him a memory card. He was to then find the match while leaning over. This helped with is trunk strength as he reached over to grab the match.
Then, he layed inside the tube but had to roll back and forth while seeing the card that she flashed and then continuing to roll to the other side of the mat to retrieve the match. This worked on vestibular, proprioceptive and trunk/core strengthening.
When our session was complete, she gave him an I CAN chart specific to applying chap stick. If he can apply chap stick when asked for 10 times in a row, the he receives a prize. I'm sure he won't have any problem with this task seeing how a toy is involved. For some, a way to their heart is through their stomach...to get to Turbo's heart...toys. What are ya gonna do.
To wrap up our time together, Turbo watched a movie while Ms. Renee and I chatted. We began with our goals for Turbo and how those were coming along. He is progressing nicely, but there are some areas where we need some extra work on. I realize that these therapy sessions are taking 110% of my time (yeah, do the math), so implementing all of these strategies, or at least weeding out those that don't work for our family, will come later. I get frustrated that they don't work instantly, but her job isn't to FIX Turbo but to fill up our toolbox to help him. This is going to be an evolving task.
On situation in specific is his TV watching time. Although he watching and listens the TV, he doesn't SIT and watch the TV. He is usually bouncing off the furniture, the walls, spinning in circles, jumping off the bar, dancing or mimicking what he sees on the shows or constantly touching Tank (poor guy). She convinced me that he may be the type of boy that needs to move while watching TV. Although I don't like the idea, I can agree with her.
Recommendations:
1.) Make a fidget basket that holds many tools for him to use while watching TV. His TheraBand, weighted frog, chewie, puddy, blanket, etc. Things that he can use to move or fidget with that will help to dissolve the desire to move FAST (RED).
2.) Provide him an exercise ball to sit and lightly bounce on. (We used this before, but he would toss it around the house. Now that Tank is older, he may want to play with it to. I can see MANY potential problems, but we may try it later).
3.) I thought of this one: Have him watch his shows in his tent to drown out competing visual/audio stimulation while using our portable DVD player.
We also talked a lot about his posture and ability to sit still. Although he may desperately want to sit still, he really, really struggles with it. She suggested taping a few phonebooks together (why did I just have to throw mine out the other day?) to provide him a foot rest. Because when his feet are dangling and have the ability to kick, his balance it thrown off and his attention is diverted to something else on the table or in the room that takes him mind off of the task at hand: eating or schoolwork. She also suggested getting a wedge for him to sit on while at the table. It provides enough cushion for him to sit on while still providing the proper support for him to sit at the table, all while being able to move/fidget as needed. This combined with a TheraBand strapped to the legs of the chair, (this is so he can "punt" while eating and kicking his legs, but provides deep pressure input) allows success for him to sit still long enough to complete whatever it is at the table that is needing to be completed.
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