CHIP Quarterly Conference

Hello, my friends.

Just a quick update regarding Ben's progress at CHIP.

I attended our quarterly conference on Tuesday with all the therapists. It was a very positive and encouraging meeting!! We are all very encouraged with Ben's progress these last few months. Here are some highlights of what was specifically discussed:

• As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, Ben is showing more assertiveness in general. NOT aggression, but he is more readily making his needs/wants known with adults AND with the other kids! This is a big step for my little guy as he is usually very passive. Yay, Ben!
• His receptive language is growing so quickly! He understands so much of what we say and what is going on. Heidi, the behavior consultant, said she has been moving away from simple "labeling" ABA programs to more complex language programs and he is handling it nicely. In fact, from what I saw when I stayed for ABA yesterday (with his new UT speech therapist), he is more challenged, engaged and enjoying these programs more.
• Ben continues to struggle with expressive language, BUT he is trying so hard. Dr. Linsk and Michelle (the speech therapist at CHIP) both agree that he has "apraxic" features, both in speech (severe) and other motor skills (milder.) This means (in a nutshell) that his brain has a difficult time planning and executing the movements needed to form words and actions. Michelle said that they continue to work on improving his coordination in general. She also told us that instead of trying to get him to form syllables correctly, we should be emphasizing intonation and number of syllables. Ex: "banana." We want him to get 3 syllables even if they sound nothing like "ba" "na" and "na", rather than one correctly formed "ba" (which he has a tendency to do). So, in other words, we are trying first to expand the number of syllables he is saying before worrying about how he is forming his syllables. Hope that makes sense...
• Patty, the OT said that she is seeing wonderful things with Ben while he has his therapeutic listening on. He is willing to try new things, new sensory inputs, etc. She is now working on trying to expand the effects of that, which to this point have been short lived. She is going to experiment with the timing of the session during the day, among other things.
• We also discussed Ben's "visual" self stims. This continues to be an issue with Ben, BUT he is learning to control it. When we say "Ben, no eye stims," he smiles and stops. I tend to only do this if it is dangerous (poking at his eyes) or he is doing it to avoid something. Otherwise, I find that he usually does it out of boredom. So I just find him something to do, especially something that is appropriately visually stimulating. This is sort of a controversial subject in the autism community...to allow the stimming or not. Like most things, I'm on the fence with this and don't believe either extreme is right FOR BEN. Each child/family is different though. I think it is important to let the child seek the input he needs, but I also think it important to help him find appropriate ways to do so. Otherwise, it can hinder his interaction with his peers. Anyway, this could be a book in itself, so I digress...
• Finally, Ben's non-verbal imitation is really starting to take off. He even enjoys following along with TV shows and doing with the characters do...which is a big step. The therapists said that this is a great thing to encourage (yes, TV isn't all bad!) They suggested some videos that encourage interaction and attention (in moderation of course!)

This is all that I can think of for now...it's quite a bit I suppose. It was a very positive and enjoyable meeting. I'm thankful for being blessed with such a great team for Ben.

I'm thinking that after this year of CHIP, we will take advantage of their "wrap around services" in some way...probably by continuing ABA in the afternoons after some sort of preschool. We shall see.

I am working on putting together the silent auction/spaghetti dinner for March as a fundraiser for Ben's CHIP tuition. We've had a bit of a snafu in that the gentleman that runs the hall is in the hospital. So, we have not yet confirmed the date, and progress is a bit stalled. Of course, his health comes first and we pray he will be well soon.

As I mentioned above, Ben's new speech therapist from the University came to CHIP with my yesterday to observe Ben's ABA. She's wonderful!! We are looking forward to beginning our sessions with her on Friday!

Well, I need to see what my little monkey is up to. Hope all is well with everyone!

Love, Julie