First ECI Session

This blog does not contain pictures...Sorry! Joshua had his first ECI session yesterday with Miss Katie. I need to make a correction, because I had said previously that there would be 3 coming out at each session and I was wrong. Katie will be the primary therapist that will come out on a weekly basis to help/teach Joshua. The other 2 therapist will come once a month. Joshua was all about Miss Katie. He loved playing with her. He really lit up when he saw her. She went over the previous week with us and asked about any improvements that have been made, which I was able to say "yes" too. He is back signing again. Which is good. The signing has actually helped a little with mealtime and trying to figure out what he needs. The major signs are "more", "food/eat", "please" and "thank you". He also had started to climb on a few things, which she said was great! After our Q and A session, she started her play therapy. She was showing Joshua how to use his words/signs and movement to achieve his goal. Like for instance: they were throwing the ball back and forth and when Joshua wanted to play again, she would make him sign "more" and she would say, "more ball", after much repetition Joshua would sign "more" and say "ball". She informed Dan and I that we should make everything we do with Joshua animated, since he seems to be a very visual learner. For example, when it comes to sliding on the slide, use one of his stuffed animals to show Joshua how the slide works. Everything we do we must label and show him. It sounds pretty simple and common, but when I say label everything I mean everything. Labeling each step that he is doing and what he wants or sees. For example last night when we went to brush his teeth, this is what it sounded like: Joshua lets brush your teeth, one leg up other leg up on the stool, now we put the toothbrush under water, now the toothpaste. Brush your teeth, now rinse the brush under water. Get a drink from your cup, wipe your mouth with the towel. OK, step one leg down, and the other leg down....All done! So, it isn't as simple or as easy as one might think. You have to break it down and simplify it on top of labeling every action. But, you know if it helps Joshua, then I am all for it. So, Dan and I will be taking our knowledge from Katie and putting it to good use. Miss Katie will be back next Tues. When Miss Katie left yesterday, Joshua blew her kisses and said "bye bye". After the door was shut he patted it and looked at me and made a fussy noise, as if to say "bring her back, I want to play some more". It was cute and made me feel really good that he liked her so much. Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement and prayers for Joshua. We really appreciate it and I think this is a great program that will give Joshua just what he needs! Until the next post...