The last week of April her teachers and Tracy were reporting that Ashley was giving unprompted hugs to them!!! The exciting part is that we started working at home about her giving us a "real hug" which means front hug and her arms around us but we were not forcing her if she didn't want to. Now she is starting to give REAL hugs to others because she WANTS to and its not the old way where she would back into you for 2 seconds and run off.
She is starting to say some new words which is really exciting and some unprompted words. At lunch today she said "juice" after eating her sandwich and no one had said that word before her saying it! She is also saying "ice" sometimes very clearly when wanting ice chips which we have tried to have her say that for 2 years.
At dinner time, she is still helping feed Oscar, let him outside & open door for him. I ask her help with getting a fork for her and one for Noah which she walks over to give him! Then I started allowing her to carry her plate from kitchen to the table and you could see the intense concentration on her face trying to hold it level. :) Building from that, I have also added in asking her to take Noah his dinner plate before she takes hers. The very first time I asked her to take the plate, she did not need any physical prompting or any other verbal prompting after first time I said it!!! She picked up his plate, took it to his spot at the table and returned quickly for her plate. It is still amazing to see her listening, comprehending and following directions!
April 15th
I was just filling out a 20 page application for Ashley's new therapy location and noticed after a few minutes that it was VERY quiet for our kiddos..... However, I see Noah sitting in Ashley's lap and they are both watching Monsters movie together. Wow!!!! She didn't mind that he interrupted her lining up toys or being in her space. God knew Ashley needed a special playmate and so thankful they are starting to really play together!!
April 26th
Ashley is really into Elmo and Sesame Street characters so my mom put on Sesame Street. While Elmo was dancing, Noah took Ashley's hands and wanted to dance with her. She complied and my mom caught some pictures!
April 27th
I wanted to encourage all the new families that just attended Start-Up. Since we started using Son-Rise techniques with our daughter 1 year ago, we have seen so much progress! By "joining" her, it gave us a way to connect with her and show her acceptance. (Sadly before we discovered Son-Rise, we had a BCBA that wanted to stop ALL her odd behaviors which made her so anxious and upset.)
We started out doing simple games in Playroom that would encourage eye contact and lots of praise, which thankfully she responds well to! She now likes to get close to people's faces and look into their eyes while smiling! One day we will teach her about space but for now we LOVE seeing her noticing others and not off in her own world!
Now she is happy, seeking out interactions, playing with her brother, listening and comprehending better than ever! We still have long road ahead but to see the progress she has made in 1 year is amazing! We have had a great team of Son-Rise volunteers, speech therapists, and school teachers! I am soooo excited to attend New Frontiers next month so that we can create better goals and take her Program to next level. Here is picture of our daughter giving her little brother a kiss today!!!
We started out doing simple games in Playroom that would encourage eye contact and lots of praise, which thankfully she responds well to! She now likes to get close to people's faces and look into their eyes while smiling! One day we will teach her about space but for now we LOVE seeing her noticing others and not off in her own world!
Now she is happy, seeking out interactions, playing with her brother, listening and comprehending better than ever! We still have long road ahead but to see the progress she has made in 1 year is amazing! We have had a great team of Son-Rise volunteers, speech therapists, and school teachers! I am soooo excited to attend New Frontiers next month so that we can create better goals and take her Program to next level. Here is picture of our daughter giving her little brother a kiss today!!!
April 28th
The cost of replacing a broken dryer was almost worth it due to the large box our kids have to play inside now! This week Ashley's really into ALL the Elmo books so they had to come inside the fort for coloring too!
April 29th
Ashley is mostly non-verbal but this afternoon she said "Awesome!" 2 times while we decorated our fort with Sesame Street plates, napkins, and game cards! A few dollars in decorations can make her soooo happy!
Sunday, May 1st
At church, we dropped Ashley off late into Kidzone Worship and she immediately started dancing with the songs! She really does love music!
May 2nd, 2016
Ashley's wonderful SLE teachers have been working hard with her all year on letters. Yesterday, I found some jewelry making supplies on clearance so we made some key chains this afternoon. We poured out the letters and they were all different directions and colors. I was so impressed seeing her pick out the letters A and S after I asked for each of them so we could spell out her name!!! She starte...d getting frustrated when finding the H and then I realized these are capital letters... so once I wrote out name in capital letters she easily the found letters and matched. She said "y" after I said it for her to find letter. She also found letters to make names of Papa and Grammy really fast! It was so great see her concentrating so hard on finding those letters for 3 names, the attention span of making 3 key chains and the progress she has made this year academically!
May 3rd
Grammy came in the afternoon and they all got to enjoy the outdoor weather! The kids loved the new swing, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and play with the hose! Ashley said "bubba" for bubbles and "water" for the hose. She did great sharing the swing with Noah!
May 4th
Today in session with Tracy, Ashley played the game "Face Game" and attempted to make ALL the faces shown on each card (smile, surprise, tongue out, teeth showing, etc)! That was so encouraging to hear because when I have tried this game with her before she only did 2 cards and was done.
Sunday, May 8th
I was putting on Chapstick before we left for church and Ashley was watching me. I asked if she wanted some and she walked over with her face lifted up to mine. I put some on her lips and then she walked over to the mirror and stuck out her lips!!! So precious and girly!
I was putting on Chapstick before we left for church and Ashley was watching me. I asked if she wanted some and she walked over with her face lifted up to mine. I put some on her lips and then she walked over to the mirror and stuck out her lips!!! So precious and girly!
Noah has always been a slow eater and Ashley eats very fast. This past week Ashley got a little impatient wanting Noah to get down to come play. Here she was trying to undo his seat strap and it was sweet that she wants to play with him!
Wednesday, May 11th
This past month we have all been working on Ashley giving us "real" hugs by facing us and putting her arms around our waist. When we used to ask for a hug, she would back into us, tolerate a quick squeeze and run off. We didn't try to force it but Ashley is becoming more affectionate so when she would back into us we tried to help her give us a "real" hug! :)
So last 2 weeks she has given a few spontaneous hugs (no prompting or wanting anything) to me, her 2 school teachers, daddy, and Tracy which is soooo wonderful to hear!!! Of course I couldn't capture ashley giving those spontaneous hugs but I did want capture her real hugs to daddy coming home from work, Tracy arriving for Son-Rise session, teacher Callie at pick up time, and her buddy at church Alissa! I love seeing her progress and her wanting to give hugs!
Today she was really hungry before dinner which was cooking in the oven so I offered her some grapes. Noah was already sitting at the table and wanted some grapes too. I gave Ashley 1 grape which she put in her mouth and then handed her another grape asking if she could give that one to Noah. She actually walked over and gave it to him! Normally food she doesn't share or puts in her mouth quickly. She gave Noah 3 grapes so she was a big help!
When we left to run errand this evening I asked if she wanted to go bye-bye and she said "yes"! We have been using physical prompt to shake her head yes or no to answer questions. She thinks it is funny!
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