Wes has had a language explosion lately. His vocabulary is just increasing by the day! We couldn't be more proud of him for the hard work he's putting in. In the last couple weeks he's said car, out, cake (for pancake), cookie, again, cracker, and water. Although they are prompted words, it doesn't matter to us. It means he gets it. He gets that he needs to use words to communicate what he wants and get exactly that. It's the first start to spontaneous speech. He will eventually realize that the words he repeats mean the things we are giving him. For example, when he wanted something more to drink, he would hand me his cup and run to the kitchen. I would say the word more, and he would repeat it. In return, he got more to drink. Well lately, he has been handing me his cup and spontaneously saying more. I don't have to ask him anymore!
We are working on more direction following as well. Wes has almost mastered putting his dirty clothes in his hamper before going into the tub. Before, he would throw them into the hallway. He can't be blamed for that. Tim thought it was funny and cute. Yes, it was cute, but not right. So in turn he taught him to put them in his hamper. Wes responds so well to Tim with commands. The new direction is to push his chair in after he's finished at the table. He has been doing great. He still needs reminding and sometimes help, but he's been doing it every time. Next is to throw his empty plate in the trash. We use paper plates because I don't have time to spend in front of the sink washing dishes and we don't have a dishwasher. Well we do and it's me. Anyway, that's our next goal.
Every time he accomplishes something or does something new, it renews my hope that we will make it through this. Slowly, some of my old hopes and dreams for him come creeping back, such as being an independent man, holding down a job, and taking care of himself. It's still a long road, and those things may never happen, but I can still hope can't I?
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3 comments:
Im so happy for you Jess (&Tim). Im so glad to hear Wes is showing significant improvement. Things will continur to get better from here, I just know it! Would Wes understand a reward system - such as stickers on a chart with specific pictures of what he has accomplished? Just Curious. Check out my blog when you get a chance and call me so we can firm up our plans.
Love Kel
He would surely respond to a reward if it was food. I might find something I know he will eat and use is specially for when he says a new word. I don't think the sticker thing would work because he doesn't really acknowledge them. He rips them off his shirt if we put one on him.
It was a good idea though, thanks!
Does he still like the puffs? Remember when our boys would devour them....? Does Casey eat them yet? I definately think it is worth a shot doing a reward system. Do you have an automatic bubble blower? Does Wes like bubbles?
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