Christian is at camp Grandma and Pop-Pop in St. Louis. It's so nice to hear the excitement in his voice as he shares visiting the Arch and other great adventures.
FERAPY...it's a good word...Corey's word for the special one and half hour of OT/PT he gets each week in recent months. After feeling a bit at our wit's end after the upheaval of our move, we contacted some FASD resource people to ask what our next steps should be. We decided that working on an OT/PT evaluation to see how much some sensory and balance/coordination issues Corey was having would be helpful. It turned out that we had a rehab center even in our smaller town that was just two blocks from where we live. It really has been helpful for us in many ways. They have taught me a bit more about having a "sensory diet" for Corey each 2 hours where we help him regulate himself by bouncing on a ball, swinging, playing in dry beans or with playdough etc. I think one of the unseen benefits for me is seeing Corey with eyes of compassion..they were able to smile and give him one on one attention while watching them helped me begin to see my child with compassion as well as hopefulness for what he could be. I found the more I started wanting to learn how to help him handle his anger and other issues, the more I became on his side. I am also learning what kinds of things really set Corey off and how we can help him learn to do a better job handling textures, sounds, and other difficult things for him. While this doesn't cure or fix the problems, it at least has given me compassion, a desire to try new things to help him, and a new understanding for how to redirect him and not take his actions personally.
One of the most amazing tools we have is an $8.00 investment from the Walmart exercise aisle! It's a 55 cm ball that we use a few minutes each day and when Corey gets very angry about something to help him calm down. I was truly amazed the first day we used it during schooltime and I was able to actually teach Corey a few new things while he was bouncing on this ball. He learned to spell his name using a song and the ball. The other day he got very angry and started throwing things. I calmly asked if he wanted to get on the ball and he did for a while. Then he was able to talk more about what happened and how the toy had irritated him and we went over the 2 choices he could make: ask for help or play with something else.
I have to admit honestly that I always read about therapy and really didn't think it would be something we would ever be ABLE to do nor would we choose to do it but God made a way. Our goal right now is for us to learn a few things that help Corey so that we can do them at home and then pray about how long we will continue with official therapy. We really desire to have a home life that supports him rather than to go from doctor to doctor because that fits our family's style more. We pray over and wait for God to show us where we should go next in our process with him and we are so thankful for this opportunity to add to our toolbox with him. Our next stop is to get an official diagnosis on paper of FASD by a geneticist (which took a lot of tracking down to find someone in our area who understood FASD and to get an appointment) because we feel like this will be helpful for our future with Corey (even though we have no doubt this is what it is based on his background history).
As for me...FERAPY is spelled C-H-A-I and reading my Bible, and unlike Corey, I have to do my FERAPY every day to survive :)
:-) Ferapy! Love that. At our house we call it "class" and we refer to the various therapists as "teachers." I don't remember now why we started doing that. At any rate, we have one of those giant balls from Wal-Mart, too, and it's helpful. We also have a plastic toddler slide that our kids climb up (the wrong side) and then jump off, and we have a mini-trampoline. I LOVE the trampoline. I hold the kids' hands and count dramatically or comically while they jump: "ONE two three four TWO two three four THREE two three four." They'll jump at least 40 times because they want me to get all the way to TEN. And of course I praise them for how high and fast they jump, and sometimes they want to do it again. We also ordered one of those cloth tunnels that is held open by a spring wire -- I can't think of how to describe it, and now we are preparing the kids to think about an obstacle course in the living room involving the slide, trampoline, big ball, tunnel, piano bench, and couch. I don't know if they're ready for it, yet, but I think we can work it. All of these "tools" add up in cost, so we don't purchase these items very often, but we try to purchase one thing every three or four months, and slowly the tools have added up. Blessings on your ferapy!
ReplyDeleteEvery move has meant a new therapist for Isabel but over the years it has allowed us to meet so many wonderful, caring people and with her CP has been such a blessing and help to us. We've learned along with her! I'm so glad God is providing in these special ways for you and for Corey.
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