A Mostly Typical Week in Therapy...

I don't like to book Spencer for more than one appointment of any kind back-to-back. I try to only do one per day, but sometimes we have to do one morning and one afternoon. A lot of people book their therapy appointments together to save on trips, but at Spencer's age I don't feel its the best choice for him. If we catch a bad (missed) nap day, then he'd have two workouts to get through. This is our week in therapy last week:

We do Speech Therapy for 30 minutes every Tuesday with Jordan. Last week we got to try the Z Vibe for stimulation. Spencer loved it. Every time she touched his face with it, he looked like he wanted to go right to sleep! I'm not sure it encouraged any talking yet. She also does lemon swabs with him.

We work on getting Spencer to say all the basic sounds. (M B P D T) We also do signs and work on communicating to do different things with toys. (He just started putting the rings back onto the tower when told.)

We just started going to Occupational Therapy for 45 minutes on Wednesdays. This was our second session with Shelia. Spencer was totally zonked out when we arrived! He never naps this hard. Still, clacking some blocks together got him awake and ready to play!

We'll be working on getting Spencer to help with dressing and undressing, feeding himself and reduce his face sensitivity.

We see Rachel for 30 minutes of Physical Therapy once per month, mid-month. It was on Thursday last week. Yes, we went to the same therapy place for three days in a row. Spencer was a rock star at PT this month!

We focus on getting Spencer to crawl on his knees rather that his bear crawl. He is already starting to walk with his knees turned closer to straight instead of turned out. We're also working on how he goes from sitting to standing and how he squats. His hips are kind of hyper flexible, so his knees and feet turn out pretty far.

April 2013

We also see Kristen, our Child Development Specialist from the Department of Human Services, twice per month. She came on Thursday afternoon. I fill her in on Spencer's progress (health and development). She helps us come up with new ideas of things to do in our home to encourage his healthy development. Having her in our home, she is able to see exactly what we have on-hand. She also brings us items to help sometimes.

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Yes, I say "we." I help the therapists. No, I'm not trained. However, 4 hands are better than 2. For example: It is very difficult to blow bubbles and help Spencer to sign for "more" at the same time.

I love our therapy. I like having professionals encourage us both and give us more ideas of things to do at home. As long as I feel it is beneficial, we'll continue. I want to encourage rather than push Spencer. He is doing things on his schedule, no one else's. I want therapy to continue to be a fun thing for him.

We also had Spencer's first dentist visit on Monday and we see our chiropractor every Friday. We have very busy weeks!