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More progress!!

When Preston got off of the bus today I asked him what he did today (I am a glutton for punishment sometimes because normally he doesn't answer open ended questions like that-lol) Anyway, he said "I go bye, I go Julie, I go bye". (I went on the bus. I saw Miss Julie (speech path) and I went on the bus again". I was SO amazed and very very excited!

Progress!!!

An exciting report!

Monday when Preston got off the bus and I asked him about his day----you do know he is mostly non verbal-so this is just my way of entertaining myself. Anyway, he started saying something about "Tannah". To Preston, "Tannah" = Friend. Our neighbor girl's name is Hannah. He is used to us talking about her and going places with them and going to their house, etc. So, we noticed about 6-9 months ago Preston refers to anyone we see or hang with as "Tannah" might be a family, a kid, a parent, an aunt or Uncle or a Sunday School teacher. I thought nothing of our conversation and went in to feed him lunch.

During his lunch, I read over his folder. Miss Melissa sends notes about his day. Which I LOVE! Her notes said "Preston met a new friend and played at recess with him. They had a good time". I was shocked! He was trying to tell me about his friend when he got off the bus!! Made my whole day. Just a very very cool thing. I love that kid. :)

March 8th, 2010-PEOPLE!

Well, it may not be exciting for everyone but it is for us. Preston has always loaded his bus and boats up with cars. He loves cars, cars are his people. He has a pirate ship and a school bus and he just loads his cars up in those bigger vessels for more fun....however last week, he started paying with the "little People" and he is putting them in the bus and on the boat. It's a cool transformation to playing with "toys appropriately"! I even caught him carrying the little people around for a day or two.

He also correctly labeled two colors on demand. Red and green. He did very well. He didn't know blue or yellow or any of the others, but I think red and green were a great start. We also had a of luck Friday night with choosing "big" or "litttle" pieces of chalk. I was trying to get him working without knowing he was working but he's pretty smart and catches on QUICK and then gets mad at me.

His IEP review is tomorrow. :)

Baby steps

Sensing that the change would be difficult from 2 to 3 for his upcoming March birthday in December 2008 we began trying to teach Preston that he was "3" and not "2". Fast forward to November of 2009 and we were still getting NO where so we moved on to "4" in preparation for his 4th birthday. He won't verbaize it, BUT today when I asked him how old he was he held up his hand and displayed something between 4 and 5 fingers.....so I am taking that as accomplishment!

We also worked on colors today. He definitely identifies "red" and "blue" (Our little Jayhawk man! lol) He ony got mad when I tried to get him to identify green and yellow. We're still having some troubles with Big and Little -and since it's basically a 50/50 shot just when I think he's got it, he trips up again.

He continues to struggle in school. He is now being evaluated for the Seeds for Success classroom which is intensive one on one work. Which I may have mentioned in my last post. I have also asked that he be evaluated for 5 days a week of school instead of 3. I would like to see him have the extra time though I would miss him a lot. He really just gets mad at me when I try to work with him. His teacher's express the same concern that once he is "done" he is DONE and refuses to work further. I have to imagine it just must be very hard for him and that is sad for me as his mom.

IEP review on the 9th. Anxious to see how that goes!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Had Preston's conference yesterday and it went as suspected. The teacher's let us know he is not really progressing and that they are going to evaluate him to get some extra help in the Seeds for Success classroom which is more intensive and one on one. They will keep him in their classroom but send him to that classroom for extra help. We were very happy and look forward to the results from that. I met Miss Melissa the teacher in that classroom and she is very nice. Preston won't like the change but will get used to it. He will also be recommended for summer school again.

Mike says he just wants to be able to talk to his son. I couldn't agree more.

2/10/10

We had a playdate with Zachary yesterday. It went very very well. The boys actually played TOGETHER. They had lots of fun. The interaction was really good and I loved getting to talk to Kate. They go to school together and actually their big sisters are in the same class (Juniors at Mill Valley). We've gotten together before but this was the first time that the boys actually seemed ot enjoy it as much as the mom's did.

I took Preston to school today to be in the childcare offered by PTA during class parties. Preston took a while to get warmed up. He really freaked out when we walked in the room. I was pretty sure we were heading home when I saw some of Cooper's classmates mom's because Preston was freaking out. We took about 5 trips to the classroom where the care was and then we took 5 trips back out...after 12 minutes or so of this, he finally removed his coat and indicated he would go back in the room. He did FINE. No issues at all just that rough beginning. I watched him when I got there and they were crab walking and Simon-sezing. He was following along well. I was told he did great and it looked like he did. YAY.

February 2010

While I really try hard to remain positive, I think sometimes I just feel really sad about all of this.
I love this little man more than my own life and yet I lay awake at night on occasion visualizing his future and how he will be treated and if people will be mean to him. I visualize his big brother Cooper coming to his defense and taking care of him and protecting him. I am at a loss for how I can help him further. We do his homework. I ask him to repeat words and phrases ---even funny ones just to see how he does with those. SO many times he yells "NO" at me. He seems to be very frustrated at his own limitations. And while his communication is SO much better than it was a year ago, it saddens me to say that he is just so far behind and can't seem to catch up. I am very anxious for parent teacher conferences on Thursday.


I know there are SO many people out there that have way bigger problems than we do so I keep focused on that and pray that he progresses.

Some interesting verbiage

So, it's kind of fun to hear Preston's interpretation of things. For starters, our neighbors and good friend's, the Toronto's have 4 kids---Hannah, Rebecca, Caleb and Jonathon. We noticed several months ago that Preston referred to the whole family as "Tannah" as well as each of the children and the parents! Then, I noticed that he called other people "Tannah".... And so it was then that we realized, "Tannah" encompasses "friend". It's really very endearing.

He also calls "Snow" "No-man" So, all snow is "No-man" (snowman) and he loves the snow.

He still will not answer "How old are you" and gets angry when I prompt him. We had him showing 4 fingers after literally a year of asking him to say he was 3. We gave up and moved to 4 in November to no avail. He is stubborn and just gets mad! Likewise, we're trying to work on animal sounds, which he knew a lot of them a year ago, and has lost them over the year to other things we have been working on.

He is now saying "I want apple" and asking for "help". He still has no concept of many things outside of basic needs. He doesn't understand "if than this" statements. He only answers yes and no questions and the only one he REALLY says "no" to is "Are you ready for bed?" LOL!! Because after school I always ask him "Did you have fun" he replies "yes", "Did you go to Circle time? he replies "yes" and "did you see Miss Shirley, Miss Juanita" etc all "yes" responses and to prove my point "Is your hair blue?" to which he replies "yes"! It's sad for me on some days when I think about his future and I get nervous about what his future will hold and if people will be mean to him and how far can he progress and how far will he regress? Some days it's too much to think about.

Jan 2010 Meals out!

Another night out on the town. Actually, Preston has been doing well. But, like all 3 year olds occasionally, he is tired or just "off". Tonight we went to Lawrence and ate at Panera with Mike and the rest of the family. Preston was wild-screaming, crawling under the table, wouldn't eat. Was just generally pissed off. The restaurant was crowded which could have been part of it.

He is talking a lot more. It seems to be a lot of jibberish though and you can't really have a conversation with him. It's mostly one sided. He IS awfully cute though!

had a wonderful lunch the other day with Angie! Oh How we have missed Angie and she is pregmant with their first and looks amazing. Preston was SO good!! He was a little wound up the first part of the lunch but was amazingly calm for the remainder of the time and Angie and I got to talk a lot. Very nice. Very very. I saw "hope" for future lunches/meals out!!

I am very anxious about his IEP review. I would like an advocate-or someone who can direct me a little. If you know anyone...... :)