May 14, 2009

I've just got a short update because it's nearing the end of school and things are crazy around here. We have our re-evaluation in 2 days. I'm a little worried because we have lapsed with our program. S doesn't really respond to bribes or incentives, so it's been difficult to get her motivated. The good news is that doors are still being opened and connections are being made. S uses mommy and daddy all of the time now. She also uses the names of her sisters. Yesterday at OT, daddy was holding her while I went to another room. She asked, "Where's mommy?" Today, after her sisters went to school and her daddy went to work, she asked where one of her sisters were by name. I explained that she went to school and then she asked, "Where is everyone?" Her sentence structure is continuing to improve. She pedaled a bicycle last week, which the OT said was a 3 year old skill. She is doing a lot of singing, she doesn't know many of the words, but instantly recognizes the tune. Yesterday, I got some big hugs. On Mother's Day, when I put her to bed, she gave me the equivalent of a kiss. She made the sound out loud, Mwaaaa! That's the sound she says when she blows a kiss. She's letting go a little bit at a time. I'm actually really happy that she is progressing this way, I feel it's genuine and what she is comfortable with. I'd rather it come slowly than for her to go through the motions but feel absolutely nothing. One of the goals we have for her is to feel empathy. She doesn't really realize when she hurts someone and doesn't give much reaction to others being hurt. Today, she was eating Cheerios and I asked her to give me one. She answered no, which was okay, but I wondered why she said no. She usually has no problem sharing, either with me or another child. I asked her again, and she didn't say no, but she didn't give me one either. So I told her I was sad and was going to cry because she wouldn't give me one. She studied my reaction for several seconds and much to my surprise, she ran over and fed me one! After that, she kept feeding me Cheerios.

I honestly don't know what goals to set for her for our re-evaluation. There were so many thing that were completely absent that I wanted to see and she has exceeded all of my goals. We need to expand on the one's we've gained, but I just don't have the same type goals to set. I'll post after our evaluation. I've been told that this blog has been shared with people who are considering NR. I'm so happy you are reading along and I hope this is encouraging to you. I started out a sceptic and turned into a believer. When the opportunity came up to be evaluated, I needed to make a quick decision or lose out. I read as much as I could before we went, but didn't have enough info going into it. That's the main reason I was a sceptic. The remarkable thing I've found is that I can't find anyone who said it didn't work for them. The hardest part is sticking to it and finding new ways to stay motivated. From what I've read on the neuro group, my daughter is one of the youngest doing it, and I think that is the best time to do it. Right now, even with our lapses, she's young enough that this could just be a part of her life. Even if it takes twice the amount of time, it is incorporated into her life so that it will feel very natural and a part of her everyday life. If you are following along, please leave me a comment. You can keep the comments private if you don't want everyone to read it. It always helps to know others are counting on you, it will keep us motivated.