OK so this morning was our first organized play group (”playgroup”?) through Blue’s Early Intervention center. Last night, Blue’s Dad asked me to text him afterwards. “On a scale of A-Z, just send me one letter, to rate how he did.” After some discussion about whether or not A-Z was too broad a scale, we agreed that we would grade the experience somewhere between A, B, C, D and F. (more…)
July 14, 2008
First Play Group
Posted by danceswithpineapples under Early Intervention, Parenting | Tags: Play group |No Comments
July 14, 2008
Tactile input processed subconsciously?
Posted by danceswithpineapples under Research, Science, Sensory Processing Disorder | Tags: SPD, Scientific, Research |No Comments
Science Daily reports that recent research done by the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group indicates that the brain processes tactile input subconsciously. It suggests that when sensory input is received, the first thing the brain tries to do is discern the spatial coordinates of the input:
“The main finding of the study is that it has enabled us to confirm that tactile sensations are initially located unconsciously in anatomical coordinates, but they reach our awareness only when the brain has formed an image of their origin in the spatial coordinates, external to the body,” The coexistence of different spatial reference frames in the brain has been known for some time. So has the fact that confusions between them may result in some cases, such as when we invert the usual anatomical position of some body parts (e.g. when crossing our arms over the body midline). “The brain sorts out problems of this kind rapidly, in a matter of tenths of a second. To do so, however, it has to integrate information arriving in formats that are quite disparate”, Sotoa-Faraco added. “Our research has helped us understand how this process works and how the brain manages spatial realignment when faced with conflict”, he concluded.
This has fascinating implications. The article goes on to describe the tests they used. I wonder what the results would have been if the individuals tested had Sensory Processing Disorder? Could it be that in people with SPD, this process of unconscious recognition doesn’t happen? Given the immediate “fight or flight” reaction to stimuli experienced by those with SPD, one wonders if this could be the case. Something could be going wrong in the the brain’s ability to locate the stimuli.
Something to ponder.
July 11, 2008
Blue was trying to learn a new word tonight, it’s the name of a common household object. He knew he wasn’t getting it quite right, so he kept trying. Can you guess what he was trying to say?
Canker
Kookhanker
Goathanker
And the answer is: (more…)
July 11, 2008
We made it through our first week with the new schedule, the new intensive early intervention service hours, the late bedtimes, the night wakings, etc. It went about as well as it could, better than it could have. (more…)
July 9, 2008
EI is My Life
Posted by danceswithpineapples under Uncategorized | Tags: Early Intervention, Scheduling |No Comments
Okay, so we’re two days into the new schedule with Intensive Early Intervention services plus our regular early intervention services. For those of you playing at home, that’s a total of 14-15 hours per week so far. And we haven’t added the playgroup yet.
July 9, 2008
[Originally wrote this last Thursday, 7/3/08]
Okay, so I know I should be happy that the intensive early intervention program starts next week. And I should be happy Blue’s going to get two hours, five days a week, because we should make good progress with that, right? And I should be thankful that this extra help is available to us, paid in full.
But since the service coordinator called me Friday with our schedule - our new schedule - I’ve been alternating between dread, fear, and just plain old garden variety depression. (more…)
July 9, 2008
On the other side now
Posted by danceswithpineapples under Parenting | Tags: Acceptance, Pride |No Comments
It’s a strange place I’m in. This morning we went to the mall (to see our favorite elevator, of course) and we see all the other mothers with their little kids. We go to the toddler playground. All the other kids run around with each other, bump into each other going down the slide, six of them cram themselves in a play rowboat, three little chatty girls strike poses on a play rocket ship. And Blue is off in the corner watching all this, saying “oh no, oh no!” quietly to himself.
July 3, 2008
Before we had an autism diagnosis, it seemed the only important thing was, “is it, or isn’t it?” Is Blue autistic, or is he not? While I still had the ability to hold out hope that he wasn’t, I didn’t bother asking questions like, if he IS autistic, how autistic is he? It took me a few weeks since the diagnosis to get here, but now I find myself reading blogs written by adult autistics, each on varying points in the spectrum, and find myself wondering, “Will he be like this guy, or that one?” ”Will he grow up and just be a quirky engineer some day?” or “Will he have to be on medication?” and “Will he be able to be self-sufficient?” (more…)
June 27, 2008
Is there a sillier looking fruit than a pineapple? Bananas, maybe, but they squish if you hold them too hard. And when you’re really dancing, dancing like your life depended on it, dancing with a white-knuckled death grip, pineapples stand up to the abuse. They are a most sturdy fruit, and you need that when you’re desperate.
What could possibly make a person desperate enough to dance around with a sturdy, silly fruit? If you don’t know, then you don’t have one. A child that is, but not just any child. It takes a particular kind of child to reduce two mature, mild-mannered and philosophical parents into frenzied fools dancing with fruit.
My little boy Blue is one such child. It’s not possible to describe him in one blog post. You will have to stick around for the journey to get the whole picture. Unless you know a kid like him, you will have a hard time believing Blue is not a figment of an overworked imagination.
If you know a child like him, then you get it, you understand, and you will believe everything you read here because you KNOW it’s not possible to make this stuff up.
June 27, 2008
The most important thing is…
Posted by danceswithpineapples under Bragging, Out of the Blue, ParentingNo Comments
Blue learned how to talk by memorizing and repeating things he heard often. He went from single words like Dada, Papa, Kitty, Cheese, and Mama (in that order, sad to say) to one day saying phrases - no, sentences - like “Where did he go?” It wasn’t long before he started repeating lines from his favorite shows. We didn’t pick up on this until he’d learned enough lines to string them together to repeat whole scenes, something he was doing by about 27 months of age. We didn’t know at the time there is a term for this. It’s called Scripting. Just another one of those things we thought was an adorable talent that turned out to be a “symptom”. (more…)
