We left the
Sunday after Thanksgiving for Kevin’s sixth visit with the Family Hope Center
in Philadelphia. Kevin made 3 chart
changes in sensory development and 11 qualitative changes on the Integrative
and Developmental Progression Chart, with 4 qualitative changes in his emotional
and social development. Here are some examples of the changes we have seen in
his development this period.
I was feeling
restless in the fall and my instinct told me that Kevin was ready to have more
opportunity to be with other typical kids as small breaks from his program a
couple times a week. A sign language
class was being offered for kids and their parents once a week. This is not really a situation for Kevin to
learn new signs, but it is a good opportunity for him to be with other people
and kids and observe them using signs in a fun way using songs and books. I also began taking him to story time at the
local library. He loves it! I have no
problem with his behavior when I take him to these new places and getting him
to join the class. He practically runs
into the library and he knows to wait for the bell to ring and then go into the
room and sit down on the floor. He
listens to the stories and he loves watching the kids sing songs between the
stories. He stands up with them during
the songs and I try to help him with some of the movements to the songs if he
is able. I think it is really good for him to watch and observe the other well
kids doing things that one day I hope Kevin will do too. We have also tried a couple other local
library story times, and I was surprised how adaptable Kevin has been to all of
this. One of the other benefits is that Kevin has more opportunity to not only
be around other kids but also babies, and Kevin loves babies! He can’t wait for his new cousin, Baby Hudak
to be born in the new year, and we are working diligently on learning the sign
for baby.
This part
about Kevin observing and wanting to be like the other kids is probably my most
favorite improvement in Kevin this period.
In fact while attending church, it was Kevin’s idea recently to join us
kneeling instead of sitting in the pew.
This made me very proud.
There has
also been a big improvement in being around animals. He is not fearful of being near them. He will give dogs (even strange dogs) treats
out of his hand. And for the first time
last week he touched a dog. He had even
been fearful of cats, and recently we were buying bison meat at a local farm
and there were two cats in the barn and Kevin was actually laughing and chasing
the cats around.
I cannot
stress enough, how enjoyable it has been to take Kevin out. It has improved so much since our very first visit
to FHC (at that time there was lots of hitting and biting). Now we are not limited to the places that we
can go with Kevin. And it used to be
when we took him to a store, I had to get what I needed quick and he could not
see the exit door before it was time to leave or else he would insist on
leaving. He is also very polite with
people that are friendly towards him, often times initiating a handshake.
Don’t forget
to check out the blog, if you would like to read more about our visit that
includes Kevin’s New Program for Fall/Winter 2012/13 where I describe some of
our new programs including some innovative and creative ideas for his physical
program and some developmental highlights from his language and learning
program. My two favorite blog stories
from the last six months was the apple story in “Dear Mustard Seed Market” and
the “Amazing Birthday Swimming Surprise” and of course lots of photos of our happy
boy. Be sure to look through the Blog
Archive listed on the side panel to find past posts or scroll down to the
bottom of the blog and click on Older Posts to find all the recent additions to
the blog. www.hudakfamily.blogspot.com
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