after school speech #19

Last Wednesday, SJ had his weekly tutoring session.  They had a good session.  SJ told her about his sleepover at Jack's house.  She did a visual aid to show him how many times he took turns during their conversation.  When she showed him how many times he wasn't allowing her to talk, he had a better idea of what she was trying to teach him.

Next, they worked on Inferring Relational Definitions.  He had 10 sentences that had clues to help him figure out what the words mean.  He did fairly well with this activity.  He got 6 correct independently, 2 correct with prompts and 2 he simply didn't know.  One of the ones he had trouble with is the following sentence.  

My aunt told me to get the needle and thread so she could mend the hole in my pants.  Mend means _________

She explained that mending means to fix it, so she said the answer is sew.

She also worked on Using Adjectives with him. He was given a word bank and he had to choose the best adjective from the word bank. Here is one of the word banks and the nouns.

gentle, stuffy, sad, biggest

the biggest box

a gentle breeze

a sad movie

a stuffy nose

He did have a little trouble with gentle.  She had to explain what that adjective meant. Overall, she said he did this activity pretty easily.

after school tutoring #14 & 15

Last Monday and yesterday, SJ had his weekly tutoring sessions with Mrs. Banks. They continued to read more chapters from Niagara Falls or Does It?  

They read 3 chapters last Monday and answered comprehension questions on the chapters.  

Yesterday was SJ's 12th birthday.  Mrs. Banks asked me if I still wanted her to tutor him.  I said that would be fine.  We weren't doing anything special on his birthday.

He was slightly disgruntled that he was "still having tutoring" on his birthday.  I told him that he would be fine.  It is not like he isn't enjoying the book.  

She came at her normal time and I could hear SJ laughing as they read 3 more chapters. Then, they answered comprehension questions on those chapters. 

Right before she left, she asked him to predict what would be happening next.  She wrote down his prediction, so he can see if he guessed correctly next week.  

Eventhough tutoring is not the most fun thing to do on your birthday, he was still having a lot of laughs.

a sleepover birthday invite

Two Saturdays ago, SJ was invited to a classmate's 12th birthday party.  SJ was super excited about the invitation.  We were having a St. Patrick's Day party that same evening, but we told him he could go to Jack's party.

The day of the party he made himself a "to do list".  It was very important to him to get all these things done before the party.  Here is his list.

I dropped him off at Jack's house at 6:30.  I said I small prayer and hoped he would fit in.  I put our phone numbers in his backpack (just in case).  We never got a phone call, so I assumed that was a good thing.

My husband picked him up the next day at 11:30.  He was extremely tired, but he was chatting to my husband about the party.  Jack had a lot of fun things at the party.  He had a pinball machine, an arcade game and several video game systems. 

When SJ got home, he went straight to the play room to watch tv on the futon.  He stayed up there for most of the day.  He fell asleep a few times.  

I was just thrilled that he was invited, blended in and enjoyed his friend's party. That is what we strive for him socially.

a visit to the specialist

A few Mondays ago, SJ finally made it to see his Neurodevelopmental and Developmental Behavioral Specialist.  (We had gone two weeks earlier, but I was there on the wrong day.) I was looking forward to this appointment.  I was anxious to see how he was doing since we were watching the gluten/casein much closer.

Mostly, he seemed pleased with our progress. However, he said he thought SJ may be cheating and sneaking some gluten or casein foods.  

Previously, his gluten level had been a 53.  He was down to a 28.  I was thrilled with that number, but the specialist said he should be below a 10.  I don't know what else we can eliminate, but I must be missing gluten somewhere.  

His casein level was much better.  He had been a 29 and SJ was now around 12.  The only time he is getting dairy is when he eats school pizza or grilled cheese from Chili's.  

He acknowledged that we were doing a good job, but he urged us to just try a little harder.  He even kindly gave me a gluten free/casein free cookbook.

He went over SJ's grades and how he was doing socially in school.  He seemed pleased with both of those two aspects.  We said goodbye to him and scheduled our next appointment for December.  Hopefully, his gluten and casein numbers will be even lower next time.

after school speech #18

Last Wednesday was SJ's weekly speech session.  She said he worked nicely for her. She continued to work on identifying words from definitions.  He did fairly well with this activity. He had 15 definitions to identify.  He only needed prompted on 3 of the 15.  One of the ones he needed prompted with was the following.

A fastener for clothing with two rows of metal teeth.

She had to give him a visual cue on that one. Then, they worked on changing sentences to have an opposite meaning. There were 24 sentences. She needed to prompt him on 7 of them. An example of one of the seven is the sentence below.  

What time does Jane's plane leave?

He said pass, which is incorrect.  She explained that leave also means depart.  He should have answered with arrive.

The last thing they worked on was comparing. SJ had to listen to three things and then say what they have in common.  There were 18 items.  He only had difficulty with 2 of them. One of those two was the following.

Puppy, kitten, lamb

He answered farm animals.  True, they can all live on a farm, but they are actually animal babies.  

She told me she also reminded him to take turns when he is talking to people.  Sometimes (well most times) he is a conversation hog.  This is an ongoing skill.

after school tutoring #14

This past Monday was a tutoring day.  Mrs. Banks continued having SJ read a few more chapters of Niagara Falls or Does it?   SJ willingly participated in reading the book.

He usually wants to read a chapter or a page at a time, but he had a different idea that day.  He told Mrs. Banks that they should take turns reading chapters instead.  

Of course, Mrs. Banks was okay and very pleased with his suggestion.  Some of the chapters were fairly short, but it was still progress for SJ.  

He was interested in getting to the part of the book that the cover is about.  This is what the cover looks like.

They didn't quite make it to this part of the book, but I am glad that it is making SJ stay interested.  

After they were done reading, they worked on a mystery map glyph.  SJ had to decide on the color of the detective's hat (blue-he lost something before, but he found it), the color of the detective's jacket (black-he thinks mystery books are okay.  He likes the 39 Clues books.), the color of the word mystery (red-he doesn't know a real detective.  He does know a fictious one, Scooby Doo), the color of magnifying glass handle (purple-he enjoys watching mystery cartoons), the color of the magnifying glass lens (blue-he does not like solving riddles or puzzles), the color of the words "it's a" (silver-he would need a notebook and a pencil if he was a detective) and draw a picture under the word "mystery" (he drew his IPod).  See the attached glyph.

greek olympics = major meltdown

Two Thursdays ago, SJ's 6th grade was participating in a social studies Greek Olympics. He was on a team named Megra.  He was very excited for the games.  

His excitement did not last throughout the entire games.  He got upset over losing an event and had a major meltdown.  At the end of the day, I got a lengthy letter from his aide.  Her is what she wrote.

SJ had a horrible morning.  The event that sent him over the edge was the "Corinthian Caterpillar".  They sat in between each other's legs, held ankles and scooted around half of the gym.  The team was doing well until the very end when they got beat. At that moment, he started yelling at his team, crying hysterically and stomping.  I took him to the restroom and let him vent for 5 minutes.  After five minutes, I told him he was done and to get himself together so we could go back in.  He couldn't, so we walked to the pod and I had him write you a letter. He continued crying and apologizing at the same time.  Then he threw me for a loop when he said he was going to teach the other team a lesson.  He said he didn't mean a lesson like in school.  Teach them so they would lose.  When we finally went back into the gym, his team received a bronze ribbon. Again he started crying.  "Why did we get a bronze?  We were faster than them," said SJ.  He was argumentative with everything I said.  I needed to tell Mrs. Banks about what he said and Mr. Brown talked to him.  At 12:15, he sat very quietly with his team in the pod.

Of course, I wasn't too happy to read this note. He handed me the letter his aide had him write. This was his letter.

Dear Mom,

I was doing Greek Olympics. My team was doing great until the other Megra's won.  I was crying that we lost and that is why I am writing a note to you.

Your misunderstood and sad kid,

SJ

PS-I was telling my aide that it is not okay and it is not a game.  It is just some Ancient Greece events and I was sorry for screaming at my aide.

I talked to his aide and told her I would talk to SJ.  I also told her there would be a strong consequence for his behavior.  

I told SJ that his behavior was more similar to a 3 year old than a 12 year old. If he was going to act like a 3 year old, he couldn't do things that 12 year olds do.  I told him he lost all electronics and he would have to write apology notes to his aide, teachers and his team.  

The Greek Olympics continued the next day, so I reminded him how he should behave. I also reminded him that his punishment would be worse if we had a repeat of the behavior.  

He managed his temper much better the next day.  He did get a little sad when his team came in last place, so he cried some (nothing like the day before).  One of his classmates kindly gave him the medal his team had won.  That was so nice of him!  I called his mom to tell her she is raising a fine gentleman and I was so happy SJ had him for a friend.

after school speech #17

On Wednesday, SJ had his weekly speech session.  His therapist said he had a good session.  He chatted with her about our ski trip. After a few minutes of her listening to SJ, she reminded him that they had work to do.

First, they worked on a turn taking activity. There was a worksheet with 14 sentences that he had to read.  He had to check off the box if the sentence told you it was your turn to talk.

He checked off 11 of the 14 sentences.  He only got one of the sentences incorrect.  This was the sentence.

Your partner says, "Um..." or "Uh..."

Next, they worked on a using adjectives worksheet.  SJ was given four nouns (pin, cliff, towel and driver) with a word bank with four adjectives (damp, sharp, careful and rocky).  He had to pick the best adjective for each noun.  He then had to write a sentence for each.  Here are some of the finished sentences.

Don't touch that sharp pin!

Don't fall off a rocky cliff.

I use a damp towel.

I know a careful driver.

Last, they worked on identifying words from definitions.  They only did 5 together and she said he could do the remaining 15 for homework.  The five that he did do with her he had only minimal difficulty with.  Here is an example of one of the definitions.

A tame animal kept for companionship.  He answered with "pet".

after school tutoring #13

This past Monday SJ again had his after school tutoring session.  He hadn't had a session in a few weeks due to school holidays and Mrs. Banks' vacation.

She got right into the Henry Winkler book Niagara Falls or Does It?  SJ is really enjoying this book.  He is identifying with the main character, Hank Zipzer.  I am glad she selected a book that he is happily reading.

After they finished their allotted chapters, they began an Iditarod Glyph.  SJ had to decide what the color of the numbers are (purple-he likes cold weather), the color of musher's hat (blue-he likes to go sledding), the color of musher's clothes (light blue-he lifts weights to become stronger), the color of musher's gloves (red-he thinks a sleeping bag would be the most important item to carry on the sled), the color of the sled (light green-he can't remember the last time he was sick), the color of the dogs' eyes (brown-he wears slippers sometimes) and whether he would want to be a musher (write no under the words mush). See the finished glyph.