March 11, 2012

{Progress}

I have a tendency to look at my youngest & see all the things she’s behind in. To compare her to other 4 year olds and notice what she CAN’T do.

And that’s why I have the wonderful teachers at the special needs preschool Kalia attends.

They keep me focused on the positive and make me see all the things she CAN do.

Her biggest accomplishments are in her gross motor skills, but she’s really come a long way just in the past 6 months.

Some of her improvements or new skills include:

  • Participation – Kalia will now engage in activities with little to no resistance (she is 4 so there is some complaints, but it really is minimal)
  • Attention – She will now focus & pay attention for longer periods of time without losing interest
  • Her gross motor skills have come a LONG way. She is attempting to jump and can now get both feet off the ground 2-3 times in a row without losing her balance. She can jump on a trampoline a couple times without losing balance. She can lift one foot, tap a step and place that foot back on the ground without holding anything for balance. She runs, though is pretty slow & clumsy yet.
  • Her fine motor skills are getting better, as well. She holds a crayon or marker correctly about 75% of the time. She enjoys painting, coloring, stickers and is working hard at being able to use scissors (she can snip down but can’t open yet). Her signs are getting easier to understand.
  • Pottying is no longer an issue. She is fully capable to getting to the bathroom in time and tends to her own needs most the time, with help only needed for better wiping & hand washing (she can do it, just needs a little help doing it correctly). Accidents are few & far between.
  • Dressing & undressing is going very well, with only slight problems with tighter fitting shirts. We’re still working on socks (she can finish putting them on if we start them). She puts her braces on with no help, but still needs help getting the shoes on over them. Taking clothes/shoes/socks off are no problem.
  • Communication is better, but still frustrating for all. She understands so much, but sadly has problem expressing. They’re thinking she has motor planning issues, and we’re still not sure if she will ever be able to talk. She is doing very well using assisted technology devices (iPad, PECS, Springboard, etc.) and her signing is improving as her fine motor skills improve.

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Overall she is making HUGE strides this year. She has approximately 17 months before she begins Kindergarten. I don’t believe she’ll be completely on target by then, but at this rate she should be pretty close (except for speech, of course).

She’s AMAZING and reminds me every day to keep the faith and to never give up on her.

jpvipj

2 comments:

  1. Oh sweet beautiful angel, our son is jsut newly home, but we are seeing some similar issues.

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