Richard requested a 2nd try on his witch/wizard Brew and was fully in the spirit of Halloween. Using the same recipe but problem solving ways to improve, Richard was following directions and demonstrating good initiative, organization and problem solving skills. So proud of his progress with more complex language and multistep activities.
Spencer was happy to be outside. Kicking the soccer ball, we answered "would you rather" questions targeting strong R sounds. His self-awareness has improved and when asked "was that a strong R?" he can self report accurately 70% of the time.
Tristan was in a great mood and eager to show off his art work. We used the opportunity to discuss art and using strong sounds while describing the materials, technique and feeling of creating art. He was motivated, excited and speech was excellent!
Christopher was in a good mood at lunch and very talkative with his friends. He stepped out of his comfort zone and was chatting with a new student. I whispered some compliments of how "kind and thoughtful" he was getting to know the new student. He smiled and continued on with enthusiasm. In our after recess pow-wow we continued to discuss coping strategies for when days are not going as planned and we find ourselves a little grumpy. It is important to practice those skills when we are not upset or stressed so they are easier to access in the hard moments.
Richard was excited to test out his Witch/Wizard Brew with real ingredients. Following directions from the previous week, Richard verbally described the sequence of ingredients and how to add them to the Brew. He was pleasantly surprised by how good all the sugary items tasted together. It all turned into a science experience with Richard microwaving 7 types of candy to see what it tastes and looks like. Richard demonstrated great language skills with describing and asking/answering questions. Lots of opportunities for speech practice with multi syllable words.
Santino was greeted in the area in the back where I have been working with him. He finished up his lesson and transitioned well to my lesson. Santino was given a choice of a book out of 3, he chose Pete the Cat Thanksgiving themed book, stating "Pete the Cat, YEs". Santino has been using much more independent yes/no responses lately when something is very motivating or no, when he protests (i.e. certain foods, going outside sometimes, etc.). Santino grabbed for my cup of water, so we got him a cup of water from the cafeteria and he drank quite a few sips until he started to play and let it dribble down the front of him. With the book activity, we targeted following directions, vocbulary enrichment, and answering questions. Santino's attention was fair. Santino requested Mr. Potato Head so we targeted yes/no, answering simple wh questions with object function, and following sequential directives. Santino required moderate cues for answering questions. With set up and clean up, we targeted requesting with attributes, and requesting for help when needed. An app was used to conclude the session to target verbs. The app is called My Play Home. Santino continues to require verbal cues with using verbs appropriately. Less scripting and echolalia today. Overall, he was happy and did well in my ST session.
Santino was greeted in the classroom as he was listening to an audiobook on the computer. Santino was happy as he transitioned back to the cubby area where we have been working. Ms. Nicole was in the hallway as we walked back and she commented on how happy Santino has been this week. This is wonderful news. We targeted the following goals today: yes/no questions, verbs (-ing) both identifying and naming, vocabulary enrichments, commenting, requesting (more, all done, etc.), attention, social interaction as well as answering simple questions based on object function given a field of 3. Santinos yes/no was improved today especially with highly desired tasks. "Do you want___" tends to lead to the most accurate responses. We did some writing/drawing tasks. Following 1-2 step directions with smile sequences was also targeted. Scripting shows/songs was frequent. Overall, Santino continues to require moderate cues for speech language goals however the prompts/cues being used are effective and necessary at this time. Language bombardment throughout the day is recommenced from all teachers to continue to improve Santinos overall speech and language skills across all environments.
Richard was greeted in his classroom as he finished with his last teacher. Richard was pleasant throughout his session. He did require more frequent cues to redirect his attention to the task at hand however the cues were effective and Richard was able to return his focus to the task. First, we went over the new month. Things we will be targeting this month and fun activities we can do together in preparation for Thanksgiving and break. Richard required minimal assistance with the date/day of the week. He demonstrated the understanding of the new month. We also did event recall of his Halloween, which he enoyed talking about with me. We completed some verb tasks with Richard did well with, achieving 90% accuracy with during a structured task. With unstructured tasks, I only noted 2 errors with irregular past tense in the session. Richard requiring minimal cues to over articulate as speech intelligibility is decreased when articulatory contact is weak. We did 2 book activities, one is a fact book about Thanksgiving which we will do 1 fact a day from that book and go over it together until Thanksgiving break. Another book, we read aloud to discuss auditory comprehension as well as vocabulary enhancement. Richard is asked to explain the words and then use them again in a self generated sentence. Overall, I am very pleased with Ricahrd's session today. Keep up the good work!
Chris enthusiastically initiated conversation with a sequence of familiar " Guess what?" sentence starters. Supporting the linear framework with which he inquired was facilitated with use of familiar cue strategies. Expanding the use of cohesive ties, and "connector" words was noted with increased success. Subsequent topic shifting was supported with familiar cues, as acknowledgement of perspective and self awareness within communication exchange dynamics was highlighted once more as a tool to support expanded reciprocal exchange . Strong session.
Chris rapidly initiated conversation as he shared that he had "something important" to discuss. He was very much wanting to talk about "attention.' His awareness of attentional shifting and self reflection regarding attention has been an ongoing focus of intervention as previously noted. He has continued to demonstrate awareness of attentional shifting, and utilization of strategies to support communication during attentional shift is now observed with more frequency.
Conversational reciprocity was strong this session as comment -comment exchange was noted with increased cycle frequency and duration. Use of validation, agreement, and expansion of detail was noted as well. Acknowledgment of perspective, as well as presupposition within communication cycles was noted with increased frequency. Strong session.
