Jesse is a fifth grade student. She is diagnosed with a profound version of autism and is not included in the mainstream classroom. She makes sounds and so far, I have heard her say, “ya, na, and bye.” Her mother said often she often says’ “ya’ while shaking her head no and vice versa. She may have more language than I know at this point but I do know that communication is a major issue. My primary goal in working with Souns with Jesse is to make communication between her, her parents and her teachers more clear so that others know what she needs and what she is thinking.
10/27/2011
I just
worked with Jesse. She repeated o right away and began chewing on the
letter, much like a baby would I suppose. Her mother tried to stop her. I told
her to let her. Her mother explained that all her therapists have quit. :( She
also said when working on speech it was 25 minutes and very drill-like. I told
her this was intended only as exploration and play and we want to keep it fun.
I also introduced the m & s but that was about it. She did
not repeat those, although she did differentiate them. I suspect she will
repeat them eventually. I'm keeping the time at 5 minutes a day.
That was about the extent of time that I think will not frustrate her or turn
her off. She seemed interested in the symbols and also touched me quite a bit
while I was there. (She has not responded to me in this way before.)
10/28/2011
Jesse
took the o right away saying o. I also brought out the s
and the t She did not repeat the s but did the t. I passed
them back and forth with her several times and she clearly proved she knew the
distinction between each of the three letters and the sounds. Both of her
parents sat there in awe. Bob, her father, said that what she just did was a
lot. They are both very hopeful and so am I! Jesse is engaged and
interacting very well touching the Souns symbols.
10/29/2011
Jesse was
not feeling well today. Her allergies were acting up and her mother said that
she does not give her the allergy medicine on the weekends like she does during
the week. I put out the round blue mat for her to join me on. Up until today we
had worked mainly with her on the couch. I think the couch is her safe harbor
for when she sat with me on the floor she became very animated with her arms.
She seemed to want to say something but nothing was coming out. I
suggested that she move back to the couch and she settled down once she was
there again. She did take the letters and feel them. She also said the o
and the t very well. She ignored the s and the t and did not respond to
handing them back. Her mother commented that s is the first letter in her name
and she is forced in school to say it which is why she may be resisting it. I
told her I was still happy to see her say two of the sounds and we would try
again tomorrow. She obviously did not feel well.
10/30/2011
Jesse
felt much better. She sat with me for the first time. She clearly said o. Also,
I heard the /mm/ sound repeated in between a few other sounds. She also proudly
said the t. Once again, she did not attempt the s at all. I also got out the
two sets of sounds pieces a, m, s, and t. She did not hand them back, but
I was thrilled that I heard three sounds from Jesse.
I am
still learning what Jesse does know. She clearly said, “ya” to me when I asked
her a question. She also did say “bye.” She does have a few words. I
would love to see her able to communicate her needs and thoughts better with
her mother. That would make this all worthwhile.
11/3/2011
Today Jesse came right
up to sit in the circle with me and gave me what I would consider a kiss on the
cheek. I’m pretty confident it was a welcoming gesture. We began with the o, m
,s and t. She has shown and continues to show evidence that she can say them
all. I am going to add a new notation to the record sheet for Jesse. She can
say the sound. She can choose the sound. That way, I can keep track a little
better of what she knows. Often, she repeats things, but I want to make sure
all of the connections of which sound, to what letter are happening before
moving on too much further. Again, she sad the t, the m and the a. But I
still have not heard an s. She was reluctant to pick up to
differentiate today so I had Isabella come over to “hand Jesse the m.” Then, I
would ask Jesse for it. So, Isabella did the modeling.
Tomorrow, I’m going to
try to write on the hands. Isabella and Ofelia haven’t had their hands written
on yet, so I think it will be a great thing for all of them to explore
together. Jesse’s mom said she thought she’d let me.
11/3/2011
I wrote the letters on
my hands and on Jesse’s hands. Isabella didn’t want hers written on and Ofelia
was busy eating a cookie. So, Jesse and I began to explore with our hands,
comparing them to the letters and touching one another’s hands. I was a little
disappointed at first because I felt like I was doing so much, leading the way.
After about 5 minutes, Jesse went Then, I differentiated my notes and was
showing her mother how I know Jesse knows how to say the o,m, and t. She also
knows the difference between the o,s and t. However, she wasn’t picking the m
out although she could repeat it. She did say three letters, but still no s.
However, we’re making progress, no doubt. Then, her mother took interest in the
letters on her hands and said s to Jesse and she said it! We both heard the s
sound. Hurray for Jesse. Her mother was so happy. I don’t know if she’ll say it
for me, but she said it for her mom!
I’d say it was a very
good day.
11/04/2011
Since we’ve been
focusing on the first few letters so intently, I decided to try a little
something different. First, I did introduce the next few sounds, p, e, i and h.
She did say repeat all of them. Then, I brought out a hat with the sounds in
the word hat. I know we haven’t done all the sounds yet, but Jesse is familiar
with symbols in the world, so I thought I’d relate a few sounds to some things.
I said hat several times. She didn’t quite say the word. But, she did pick up
the sounds as requested and put them in the hat. She also did this for the word
pan. I was just going to do the beginning sound, but I guess I got carried
away. She did differentiate them all, though. So, I think she knows a little
more than I think she does. We will continue the sounds order of introduction,
but I was impressed by what she did today. Her dad joined in. (He travels
during the week.) He uses a very authoritative tone with her. She does respond
to him but I don’t think my using the tone would have the same effect.
11/08/2011
Jesse and I worked each
day of the weekend. We practiced throughout the first twelve letters. She is
saying and differentiating many of the sounds. I think, though, I am going to
take Brenda’s advice and slow down and focus for a while on just the first eight
sounds, to watch for mastery with them from Jesse. I so want to build a mode of
communication for her and her mother through literacy. I know if there is
anything that can do it, it’s the program, but I need to be patient.
11/10/11
I need to listen to my
own advice. I just read my last line about being patient. Today, I think I was
so eager to try to figure out what constructs Jesse has, I got ahead of myself.
I took a book with a bunch of /m/ sounds and read it with the m. I wanted to
see what/ if any connections Jesse has between spoken language to written
language. She followed me around the room pointing out /m/’s but didn’t engage.
Then, I had a very important conversation with her mother. I guess I’d say in a
way I’m glad I got off track, because this made me realize the importance of
getting back on track with the simplicity of the program. I explained how I am
trying to figure out what Jesse knows. Her mother then showed me what they
know. She got out some cards with everyday items and asked her to hand them
back. Give me the meat. Give me the glass. etc. She said they give her three
choices, usually she chooses only from two. She said she usually picks what’s
on the right. She also said that she knows how to match and do some tasks like
that. (I’ve done a little bit of that as well.) But, she said what I’ve done
that no one else has was get sounds out of her. I had no idea that she’d never
uttered certain sounds. That’s exactly what’s working. That’s what we’re going
to stay with. The simplicity of the sounds, one at a time. Spoken. Our
goal is to get simple words, in some way, spoken or written with chalk, a
computer or symbols, to let others know basic needs: pain, hot, etc. I
know she’s been rushed to the hospital because she seems to be screaming in
pain but Alba had no idea what do do or what was wrong. She’s also thrown fits
at school outside, her mother says because she was hot but no one knew. So, we have a
goal for sounds with Jesse. And, I need to be patient and go one sound at a
time in the simplest way possible.
11/17/2011
I’ve been working with Jesse
for a few minutes every day. I haven’t journaled every day, but I’ve gotten to
her most days. She was sick for a couple, so we took a few days off. But,
staying with the first 8 letters is really proving to work. I asked her parents
if I could video yesterday while working with her. They said yes. I tried to
first video me working with her. While she does respond well to me while I’m
there, she was not responding well with her father right behind me videotaping.
So, I asked if he would do the lesson with her. She responded soooo well to
him. He learned from an OT to help her keep her back straight while learning.
That is why you may see him tapping her on the back while working. She also said
the s sound better than ever before! I should have kept the video rolling for
the little celebration that took place after she repeated the sounds so well.
12/04/2011
Jesse said /t/ without prompting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I keep going over for just a few minutes and going over the first eight sounds. I haven’t had much to write about except to say that she is saying the first eight sounds. She is distinguishing between the sounds. This is the first time she has offered the sound to me without prompting. I consider this pretty huge.
12/9/2011
I decided to do a little
something in addition to just practicing the eight sounds that we’ve been going
over. I brought over a very large white board with a marker. We practiced the
circular motion as described in the book for beginning writing of lower case
letters.
1/6/2012
We took a two week break
since school was out and I had a cough. We started back earlier this
week. Jesse easily said all eight sounds earlier in the week. She
even said the “o” without prompting!!!!!!! And, today, she said the “h”
without prompting. So, she knows, can say, can distinguish the first
eight sounds. And, she has said the “t”, “o” and “h” just with me holding
it up, before I have said it. I know, without a doubt she is learning.
Her parents are overjoyed that she is making these sounds. We are
getting somewhere. I just have to keep reminding myself to not push or
try this and try that when simply saying and touching the letter is enough for
learning the sound.
1/14/2011
Jesse came and sat down with me on the floor. (Often before I would come in and work with her as she was lying on the couch.) When I said, “Hello Jesse,” she said “Hi” to me. Her mother was right behind her. We looked at eachother and smiled with excitement. We both knew that was something. She continued to make eye contact much more than usual during our session. She said each sound quite well. I don’t recall her saying one again. Her mother did come running out after I left to hand me the t. She said it’s Jesse’s favorite and she had hung onto it.
No comments:
Post a Comment