Therapy at home

This is the original swing I bought from Walmart for son. I've ended up doing double duty with it. There is spandex tied in a knot to two huge caribeener clips on the right. I have giant clips (like clothespins) on the rail so it won't wander over into the space of the spinning pod on the left. The pod on the left is what we bought at Ikea but since both of my boys are on opposite ends of the sensory spectrum, it works great for us. My older one who needs to front to back rocking motion can swing back and forth like a regular swing on the spandex or stretch the spandex out and lay long-ways and then use the green strap to help get himself up. My younger son can use the Ikea pod and twist himself up all crazy and then let it go and unwind. My younger one can then switch over the the fabric and practice trying to swing in regular swing by leaning front/back and learning to pump his legs.

I also have these wonderful drawing sheets that I bought at Target last year. I laminate almost everything and these types of drawing sheets are no different. Rather than writing on the actual paper though, we clip up the picture on the top of the chalk board and my son either uses small pieces of chalk and draws on the chalkboard or sometimes he'll request a sheet of paper. Here he has used a piece of construction paper and also used pink chalk to write with.

I get so busy with things that I needed a way to try and make sure my son was doing enough therapy during the week to help make lasting changes. Doing therapy once a week for 45 minutes isn't enough for a true change I wanted to make sure you can do his "homework" from his therapist. I bought this wipe off chart at the Dollar Tree and it says 'Job Chart' on the top of it with blanks on the left and the days of the week at column headings. Based on recommendations from his therapist, he has a list of 6 things he can do and he chooses 4 a day (he has do everything at least twice a week and we don't do therapy on sundays). Supermans (on his belly, arms and legs straight out) and sit-ups are to help strengthen his core which is really week. He's now up to 10 sit-ups but we started with 5. 1 paper is actually a variety of things he can do. I have papers that have the big circles on them and you use bingo markers to color in the circles. I have cutting papers (some I printed from things I found on-line) and some are from this great book that his therapist showed me from Kumon titled, "My Book of Easy Crafts." I ordered it on Amazon for less than $8 and it has 40 different activities in it. They all require cutting and most also require folding or gluing. The really neat thing is that they all involve some type of action as well. For example, my boys just cut out these frogs (there were 2 on a page) and then you need to make a few folds to turn them into frogs that jump when you push your finger down on the back of the paper. There's a cat that when you pull its head up and feet down, the hands clap. My kids have yet to throw one away (which I don't mind since they actually still play with them). A paper activity can also be practice writing letters in boxes as well.

Lacing, putty, hammer, or pinch can include a variety of activities. I have lacing cards that I found at the Dollar Tree. Another lacing activity I started was taking cardboard marking and then cutting small slits every 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch around a piece (this one is a rectangle but we have squares, circles, triangles, and crosses of different shapes) and then he gets to pick a color string (I use embroidery string) and he has to make sure every slot has string in it. It is very challenging for him because he has to stabilize the piece of cardboard with one hand and he has to really use his fingers to pull the string into the slot. In this picture I put purple tape in the center of the cardboard to give it more stability but now I either put tape all around the cardboard (except where the slits are) or do not do it all depending on how long I want it to last. I have putty which I purchased for about $8 on-line and I hide treasures (small buttons and beds) and he has to find a certain number of treasures (usually 10-15) and recently we started keeping track of how long it takes him to find those items. He now is starting to compete with his 'records' which he finds fun. It works out great for me because I don't have to encourage him to find 3, 4, or 5 more because he's excited to do it and is trying to beat his time. I found this little hammer at walmart for $5. It fits in his hand and is a little heavy put it's great for him to use. My husband put a few pretty sturdy nails in a piece of wood and we make a mark on the nail and he has to sink that part down into the wood and then he's done. Pinching activities include having a large bin of clothespins of different colors and then doing various games with him (using index cards that have numbers on them and putting the correct number around the index card, seeing how many he can pin on his shirt at one time, or making a paper path by letting him slightly overlap two colors of paper and then putting a clothespin on to keep the paper together and he does that for 10-12 feet and loves to see his color path).

Slow rolly poly is a move that I need to take some pictures of to be able to post. Essentially he starts off in a crab position with his bottom off the ground. He then has to flip over to a bear (just on hands and feet) and then back to crab without letting any body parts touch except his feet and hands. We call the entire movement rolly poly but after he started to get the hang of it he wanted to go really fast and cheat so then we had to break it back down that he has to do crab, bear, crab, bear, etc. He goes down the living room one direction and then has to come back facing the same way so he works rotating his trunk both directions.

Thumb touches fingers is just what is sounds like. He has a very hard with the mobility in his fingers (just look at the picture of him holding the cardboard lacing and how his fingers are all tight and contracted) so this was very challenging for him at first. He just has to touch each finger to the tip of the thumb but he has round his fingers out. 

8/10 - The Sensory Swing

High on my priority list has been to get some type of swing for smarty pants to help with his sensory issues and be part of his sensory diet. We originally hung up the spandex fabric that I have for a swing in our doorway to the bathroom on our pull-up bar. It works fine for swinging front to back which is what smarty pants likes to do. Crazy boy really enjoyed spinning but that is too tight of a space and I'm scared he is going to hit the wall. 

My hubby and I brainstormed over what else we could do and what options we had. With hubby gone (and unable to build anything), I wanted something that was less than the $250-300 that I could spend buying something on-line that would work inside. So I figured it out when I saw this swing at our local walmart. I bought it, put it together (the pieces that I wanted) in about 30 min (with a 3 and 5 yr old "helping") and then had the boys up and swinging. I was going to get swing that didn't have a support bar across the bottom but when I actually swang on it, I felt like this one was much sturdier and worth the potential accident seeing how I plan on supervising the swinging. I bought a pool noodle to put over the support bar that is towards the back of the swing and used all the seat cushions that came with it as "crash pads" at the bottom. I bought what I call the "pod" at IKEA a few weeks ago for less than $40. I hooked it up the boys loved it. 

I love this because it's inside and the weather and time of day does not interfere with us using it. I had to experiment with the height of the spandex to allow enough room for one of them to fit in it and their bottom not touch the ground but also low enough for smarty pants to be able to get in it and swing regular. The boys love taking turns and pushing it each other. We had to establish some guidelines of how "hard" to push and then when someone says "stop," that means to stop right away. Since both boys were in agreement, they were rules that were not a problem. I actually attached the large clips to the sides where holes were already made in the metal for the actual swing to go. I just tied the fabric in a giant knot and made sure it was secure. 

Twisting is a bit hard to do with the fabric clips that far away but can easily be done with the help of an adult. 

Below is smarty pants swinging by himself.

As for the IKEA pod, that is working out great as well. We put a bean bag in the bottom of it (it has a separate zippered space for some type of cushioning). Because the swing frame is somewhat low (compared to anchoring the pod from the ceiling which is what IKEA had developed it for), I just a knot in the top of the fabric and hang it on one of the huge clips that we have. As for the pod, it is easy for them to push themselves because they can push on the pool-noodle covered bar which works out great when they want to be alone or need a time-out kind of swinging. They also really enjoyed it because it was like a mini zip line and they could slide up and down the length of the swing. I have a pair of large clips that I bought at Home Depot for 99 cents each and have now put those up on the frame when they are in the pod if I am not wanting them to be able to zip up and down. 

I am getting another piece of spandex material and am making a tunnel out of it. I will be also be hanging that and it will be great for them to climb through the tunnel starting at one of the swing and going to the other.    

The more we play with the swing, the more things my son finds to do. He has found he likes to stand up in the pod and swing back and forth. We have also now hung a rope up around the frame and he can pull himself up from the fabric. We are loving this swing and finding so many different ways to use it. I'm so thankful that I can find a way for him to get some of the sensory experiences he needs here at home.

5/15 - A Lawn Maze & Both boys at Therapy

We are living up the last few days of our grass mazes right now. Here are pictures that were taken almost 2 weeks ago so you can imagine how high/good the grass and mazes are right now. The boys (and I) have had so much fun running around in them. We plan to mow it all down tomorrow and then let it grow again over the next 2 weeks and then make more mazes for Aiden's birthday party.

After some outdoor time in the maze, we came inside and did some sensory painting. I mixed shaving cream with some tempera paint. I got out cookie trays for the boys to play on and then I found some cars to play with as well. At first they just played with the cars and making paths on the cookie sheet for them. After a bit, I added the colored shaving cream. Aiden did play which was great although he did not get any shaving cream on his hands. Eli had fun and didn't mind getting "dirty" as long as he could rinse them off and then dry them off. They had a great time. I'm determined to eventually have Aiden touch the shaving cream but we will work up to that I guess.

We were grateful to have the opportunity for Eli to go to Aiden's therapy last week. Eli has never been to Aiden's therapy here in Alabama and I really wanted him to see what it was like. They were both super excited for about 1.5 weeks leading up to the day. It was so important to them that I woke-up at 5:30am (eastern time) to drive 6.5 hr and met Brad straight at the location of therapy in Montgomery. There was no way I was going to miss this (and potentially cancel the appointment if I wasn't back in time). 

We got there and right away, Eli just wanted to run around and play. He quickly learned that is not how things work at therapy. Mrs. Rusty set up an obstacle course for them. I took it for granted that Eli has not experienced some things like a ball pit. Part of the obstacle course was standing in a ball pit and Eli was quite scared that he was just going to drown in all the balls. 

Eli got tired of doing the obstacle course and wanted to "play." I wasn't sure what he meant by that but I feel like I have watched Mrs. Rusty enough to know I could figure out how to make whatever he wanted to "play" with as part of something to do with therapy. We did lots of different things. He really liked the reacher thing (see directly below this text, top row). He grabbed those crabs and put them up on the platform and then put them down and then back up. He kept switching between his right and left hand. I was surprised he had the strength to do it but he was more accurate with his left hand than his right hand. 

Overall, Eli had a blast. He definitely learned that therapy is not doing just fun things and that he has to do things he doesn't like to. I think this helps because Eli realizes Aiden doesn't get to go and play all during his therapy time. 

4/29 - Fun at home

I love to do crafty fun educational stuff at home when I have the time and energy. This is an idea that I found from Pinetrest. We call is Sight Word Parking. I call out a word and then Aiden parks a car on that spot. I made it for Aiden but then realized that Eli wanted to play on it to. I then decided to go back and add a second row. For him, he looks at the bottom characters (either a letter, number, or shape/color).

It's a great way to have spend time with the boys and have fun together.

I've also gotten a little obsessed with black lights lately. I'm planning a blacklight party and have been experimenting with different things. My main objective is to combine something the boys like (black lights) with something that Aiden doesn't care for - sensory stuff. After lots of research and a little shopping, here is one of the things we have done. I put neon paint and water in a mini spray bottle and then let the boys have fun in the bathtub. They could paint the walls or themselves. I turned on 2 backlights and they had a blast. They painted the walls, Eli painted himself, and they both painted cars in the bath tub.  

I've also colored some rice that glows and have come up with a bunch of other stuff that I'll do a post on soon. Here is something else I found: water beads. They are actually these tiny little pellet things and then they get huge when you add water to them. We've had lots of fun playing with them. Aiden actually even helped me "catch" some in he bathtub and Eli has loved pouring them from one container to another. I was very surprised Aiden would handle these because they are all slippery when they are wet. 

It was Papa's birthday last week and the boys made a card for him. They also made something for Nana but I haven't mailed it yet (sorry Nana).

Aiden had a good therapy session last week. Look at this picture below - he's leaping/jumping!!! I'm so proud of him and happy for him.

Here is Mrs. Rusty having him climb up the slide backwards!!

Little Eli. We were waiting for his doctor appointment the other day and he sat in the van with me for a few minutes. He ended up finding a pair of my sunglasses. He's too cute. On a positive note, we thought he injured his foot but it just turns out he bruised it and all the redness and swollen area was from a bunch of bug bites. This poor kid has been falling over a lot lately and he has scabs on both his knees and one elbow; oh yeah, he has bruises all over his legs too.

Eli has been such a great napper but that is starting to change slightly which doesn't surprise us; this is about the same age Aiden started to have trouble napping. He still usually takes a nap but he stays up pretty late at night. He is in his bed by 7:45pm but he often gets up and goes potty and then just rolls around in his bed for an hour or two. Here is how we found him the other night: passed out at the opposite end of his bed. He was actually laying on the book storage chest with his puppy dog blanket. 

And finally, the boys have really started to figure out how to play outside on their own. It's been great. Eli loves the water and seems to want to play in it all the time. It's great for Aiden because it's something he would never do on his own. As you can from the sequence of pictures below, they both started out in clothing. Eli quickly got pretty wet and promptly removed all of his clothing. Aiden kept getting a little wet every now and then he would rather take the wet clothes off then wear them. Eli would stand right under the facet and let Aiden turn it on. Little stinker Eli knows how to push Aiden's buttons. He's learned that he can put his whole hand over the facet and then the water sprays every where (they call is water fireworks) and usually gets Aiden wet. Eli thinks it's too funny but you can also see in the last picture on bottom right, Aiden has fun too. He runs away from the water but he is still having fun.

I love watching them play outside together and see how much fun they have. I have another update to do tomorrow on the blog. Until then ...

2/14 - Activity dice & sensory bags

Rainy days drive me just about as crazy as the boys. I came up with an idea though and searched on-line for a dice template. I finally found one and created these: activity dice. One the one dice I put the standard numbers (1-6) although I wrote the number rather than using the dots to represent the number so it would be easier for my 3-yr old to play. On the other dice, I put a bunch of random physical activities (bear walk, run, steps, twirls, frog jumps, etc). We take turns rolling the dice and then performing the required task. I even made some blank dice and asked the boys what are their favorite animals and/or exercises (we actually have 3-4 different activity dice). It's a great way to be active and have fun together. We have contests and whoever can make it through xx (you fill in the number) gets a sticker, an extra bedtime story, etc.

So I've been searching on the internet for something for Aiden to hold and touch and pick at rather than pick around his mouth, his nails, or strings on his socks. I couldn't find anything. Nothing and I'm pretty good getting around the web. So, I decided to make my own. I did find out that lots of kids (and some adults) like 'fidget toys' as they are called. Something to do and keep your hands busy without making noise and distracting others. Brad and I went shopping together and looked at all kinds of fabrics, textures of fringey stuff, and buttons. We came home and I put together a few sensory bags (that's what I am calling them). I'm still playing around with them but it's a neat idea for the right population. You can see below two different bags that I made. They are about palm size which I think is a little too big to use as I was intending. However, Aiden does like to play with them. The one on the left is made of black curdoray and a snuggle dinosaur print on the other. On one side I put some string/ribbon with little orange balls and then a large pearl button towards the bottom. I also attached an elastic wrap on this one. On the scorpion and green bag, I put the rough side of velcro (that is supposed to be really relaxing for some people to play with) and then some actual leather fringe on the other end.

After flipping the bags over, you can see the other sides. On the dinosaur side, I have a black tassel that Aiden likes to rub on his arm and leg and is pretty relaxing for him. On the green fabric, there is a round button that has texture on it and then I've also put some ribbon that has little loops on it so that each little piece/section can be played with and touched.

I've done a couple more and will take pictures of them soon and post them as well. I am experimenting with filling the bags with various things such as rice, fake grapes, foam squares, jacks. etc. I'm playing with all different kinds of stuff to see what Aiden and other kids like.