Santino rapidly entered the office today smiling happily. Gentle redirection was once again provided to encourage him to retrieve his backpack and say goodbye to Ingrid. He hurriedly returned to the office and reached for an item of preference while simultaneously verbalizing its label. Strong carrier phrase and phonemic cue support were facilitative as a softer vocal volume and varied referencing within requests was noted through mid session today. Once acclimated to the familiar "flow" of the session, vocal volume increased and articulatory clarity increased as well. It is significant to note that today's session followed a 2 week hiatus. Response to yes/no personal choice question forms was noted with verbal yes x4 and head shake no paired with vocalization x6. Request for assistance was noted via use of verbal "help me" following cue supports 6/6 opportunities. 432 hz music continues to be utilized within session.
Session today was unexpectedly conducted online. Anticipated Chris' arrival in the office, however, an early morning message from mom requesting the password link to meet online this morning and for the duration of time that Chris continues to patriciate virtually from home through January was received.
Chris' affect today was variable, as he typically exudes excitement to connect. Session commenced with a bit of melancholy, and support was provided to assist. Conversation expanded into the highly motivational topics of "youtube channels" that he is wanting to create. Supporting linear framework to detail the characters and storyline was successful. Allowance for reciprocity today was variable as his strong motivation and intention to share his ideas was evident. This was supported, while providing scaffolds for increased exchange of comment and detail. Collaborative discussion was most successful when inquiries were made requiring him to elaborate specific character traits and vocabulary. This afforded the opportunity to once again discuss self-generated ideas vs. previously learned scripts.
Chris was eager to connect on line this morning, as mom requested a virtual session this morning rather than the office visit due to a conflict in getting him to the office today. We met "early "as he was ready to connect by 7:15. Chris was eager to share new "stories " that he created. This afforded an unexpected opportunity to discuss familiar concepts related to use of cohesive ties and linear sequences. Chris was extremely successful as he detailed a "story" with noted periods of "check in" to clarify a portion of the story with use of "Ms. Lynne, pretend that...."
Chris was extremely excited to share a multitude of ideas, story sequences, and "plot" lines. Allowance for reciprocity was supported with familiar cues as needed. Aspects of meta-linguistic concepts were re- introduced this session. Aspects of self awareness and perspective taking continue to be a focus as well.
Spoke with Kim in detail this morning regarding the emailed guidelines submitted last evening. Discussed the plan for the next 2 weeks, with office visits anticipated next week following discussion with Nicole. Virtual platform options not being explored at this time with the strong progress being made currently with the "in office" visits being provided.
Santino once again happily and rapidly entered the office. Gentle redirect with natural language cues encouraged him to retrieve his backpack and say goodbye to Ingrid. Santino was exhibiting high arousal state with observable rapid reaching to items of preference. Familiar cues to encourage verbal request was facilitative. Once engaging with preferred items Santino was noted to exude extreme excitement and happiness. Allowance for cycles of communicative exchange was subsequently supported through expanded use of RMT techniques, Handle Techniques and T-Touch supports. Stronger periods of engagement, social referencing and increased verbalization to indicate requests subsequently followed. Spontaneous verbal requests for desired items continue to increase each session with use of varied sentence forms. Response to personal choice yes/no question forms was noted today with verbal yes x2 and head shake 'no' x4 /paired with verbal x2.
Request for assistance via verbal "help me' was noted following carrier phoneme cue support x4/6.
432 HZ music continues to be utilized. Strong session.
Richard was greeted in the front by SLP, however was tardy. Despite having a limited session, /s/ blends and /s/ was targeted as well as some language tasks. Richard appeared tired upon arrival, however denied . /s/ blends were produced at ~80% accuracy, improving with verbal cues. /s/ production at conversation level decreased today as there was more lingual thrusting noted. Verbal cues were helpful to correct that. This may be due to Richard feeling tired today. Also, vocabulary tasks were targeted today. Possessive verbs during unstructured tasks were age appropriate during today's session. Have a great Thanksgiving break.
Christopher was resistantly eating his lunch when we met. He was wearing a hoodie with the hood up, sunglasses and a mask. He said it was "his armor." He was excited to go outside at recess but was on the defensive from the beginning about the game the group decided to play and what the rules would be. The majority voted and the game began. Not soon after, Christopher was laying face down in the dirt along the fence. When we started talking, he was crying and full of anger. He was gripping the dirt and weeds while he rolled around and growled. It was suggested that we find another spot to "regroup" or choose another activity. A peer was boxing with the boxing bag near by and invited him over. Nothing seemed to calm him. He finally jumped up and attempted to rejoin the game. The group was concerned and asked if he was ok. He ignored them and just ran. Once back inside, Christopher had a difficult time calming down. We discussed ways he could let the group know how upset he was, but using expected behaviors and socially acceptable communication. He wrote his sister a note letting her know how he felt. That seemed to provide a moment's relief and Christopher was able to speak more calmly about why he was hurt and disappointed. He said he wanted to run away and we talked about how that does not solve anything. It is not a safe choice and people will be worried because they care and love him. He did not believe that people cared about him. While speaking with the head of school, Christopher asked a teacher to call his mom. That seemed to calm him and he was happy that he was being picked up. An email exchange occurred with mom. This has been an ongoing issue and seems to be currently heightened. We are working on strategies to help Christopher build his self esteem, coping strategies, communication skills with the group and problem solving/conflict resolution skills.
Richard was on target with his speech and excited to show how "strong" his sounds are. While playing UNO, speech sounds were practiced. During the game, Richard kept repeating the same mistakes that led to eventually losing the card game. We also worked on a little UNO strategy which focuses on critical thinking skills, organizing, planning and not acting impulsively. He was excited to learn some new tricks to win.
