Iain's OT went to the daycare today and began to teach one of the teachers how to do the Wilbarger on him. They are noticing that when it becomes close to the time he would normally be Wilbargered (as we call it, or "bargering the child") he becomes agitated and is prone to meltdowns. The hope is that if they begin to do this at daycare it will help him make it through the day better. At home, I barger him at least 3 times a day on weekends and the change has been spectacular in him and is still holding. I LOVE this protocol and eepecially love the changes in him since we began. If I get a good bargering in on him before daycare I can literally POUR him into the arms of his teacher.

Naptime is problematic as well. He is 3.5 years old and does not want to nap in any way, shape or form. He has been like this since just before turning 3. Daycare protocol and regulations state that he must at least lie still for a time on his cot. Um, not gonna happen. Even when he was napping, it was hard to get him to settle as he would watch the others get to sleep first before he even thought of closing his eyes. :smt036 He is a funny little duck at times. So, our OT brought a weighted blanket today to trial. It is about 4lbs and daycare is supposed to attempt to use it for naps. They are to begin by placing it on his lap or shoulders and see how he reacts to it. If it is a success, I can then take it back and forth between the daycare and home. I have not seen it yet, but will get a glimpse of it on Monday, I suppose. Does anyone else use a weighted blanket and how has it worked for you? At night here, I just *smush* the daylights out of Iain with a pillow and massage his legs or back for a few minutes until I see a bit of a release in tension. It works for us, but he DOES fall out of his Sleep and Snuggle toddler bed quite a bit still. We removed the rail guard as he was braining himself on it in the night and I am not so sure which is worse now. Perhaps a weighted blanket will end up helping in this regard as he night wakes STILL. Arg. At least 2 times a night and when there is a reflux flare I might as well have a newborn. Sleep is definately 'optional' with this kid.

I brought a few of our snack bowls from home so that they can use them as "spit" bowls for him when he decides that food is also optional. Some of you may recall that he is squirreling his food in his mouth and stuffing it beyond belief as his oral senses are being awakened with therapy. Quite the sight to see him looking like he has the mumps as he shovels in half a hotdog in one go, crunches an apple until it is half to three quarters in his mouth, or stuffing in 4 or 5 crackers at a time and then spitting it all out again. :hairpull: The daycare is still having a stroke at the thought of the choking hazzard this represents. Welcome to my world. **pins Hemliech manover and CPR posters on dining room wall**

Our SLP dropped off a video tape of the PECs program and I am going to watch it this weekend so I can get an idea of what is involved. The services worker/coordinator type person has implemented some pics a la the PECs system (I *think*) to help ease Iain in transitions. The thought is that if they show him a picture of what is about to happen it will help. He apparently is not interested in this whatsoever and still pitches a fit when they change what he is doing. I will get a better idea next week I think on what the plan is and know that it is not a full fledged PECs system being used at daycare and I am not sure if eventually as we are trained in this if they will implement the program there, too. No clue. Guess I will know better on that when we begin this program sometime either at the end of this month or in October when our SLP returns from vacation (off the month of Sept).

According to the report sheet we got today, he also now has a "fidget" box to keep him occupied. I have to see this as well. We have tried this at home and he never, ever uses it. Ever. Same thing with his chewing devices. :hissyfit: I rotate the fidgets around and he looks at me like I am nuts. *I* get more use from them. lol

I have yet to speak to our OT as she just got back from vacation, but I hope to talk to her next week sometime to see what she thinks of Iain and his progress. She returns for a naptime session on the 16th, I think.

Hmmmmm ....

Sounds like the weighted blanket might show some results. I'd think it would be similar to the "smushing" but last as long as it was draped over his body. I also think the fidget would be helpful, too, if you could get Iain to use it. Catherine kneads poor Baby Bear with her hands until I'm sure she's disintegrated all his stuffing when she's agitated, but it does help her deal with things. We were in a restaurant over the weekend that had a clown wandering around making balloon animals for the kids. She was terrified and kept her face averted (he never even walked by our table or even close to us) and I could see her hands just working and working on Baby Bear ... but she never cried.

Awww... that is so cute how Catherine uses Baby Bear. At the same time, it is difficult to comprehend how a wee one would be so stressed out that they would need a fidget. :sad5:

Iain has no fidgets he likes at all to use in this regard and I wish he did. He sometimes grabs a blanket or a pillow to "self smush" or takes the pillows off the couch and throws them on the floor to launch upon. I really wish he had of attached himself to something, anything at some point to use as my other boys did. Walker had Bunny for the longest time and even today still sleeps with "Sheepy" he got from our friends and has had since it was inserted into his crib when he arrived home as a newborn. Curran's bed is covered in stuffed animals and he LOVES them all and has "Car Blankey" that was/is his lovey. Iain never has picked one item at all to use consistently.

I also bought a flexible ball akin to one the OT had at therapy to smush him with. He just laughs his guts out when I use it on him. I can hardly wait to see how she uses the massive one she has at therapy on him. **remembers Indiana Jones** lol

I hope the weighted blanket works for him. Many times I have thought of placing anvils in the blankets of the children to keep them in bed, but I suppose it is not the same thing, right?:haha:

You might have something there with the anvil theory ...

Dang it! The dog just ran by with "pink baby" in his mouth! (Pink Baby versus plain old Baby -- Catherine's two dolls)

LOL...bargering the child. Love it!

It sounds like daycare is really good about working with you, even if they don't fully "get it", kwim? I'm hoping we can find a good one too!

Leigh, I bought a weighted "lap pad" for Jason when we first found out about his SI issues. He enjoyed it for awhile, but now it seems that his propriocptive/vestibular issues (baby ADHD) is taking over and the lap pad is out.

I bought his off ebay. I know that the blankets can run quite high if you were to buy one yourself. The weight in the blankets are evenly distributed throughout the blanket. They use either beans or pellets for the weight and they are sewn in pockets throughout.

I don't know if you've ever used one of the "old" feather blankets that weighed a ton....but that is similar to how it feels.

Glad to hear that his therapy is working out well!!:yahoo:

Hey, Leigh the use of the pictures to let him know transitions are approaching isn't really PECS b/c he is not using those pictures to communicate. They pictures are probably being used as a visual schedule. Typically events of the day are placed vertically on board. During transition the teacher typically helps the student pull the picture of the activity from the board and place it in a container at the bottom. This gives the student a visual representation of the schedule so he knows what comes next and gets used to the routine. Visual representations usually work better than verbally explanation to kids on the spectrum b/c they tend to be visual learners. Pictures or visual aids are used for many different purposes with kids on the spectrum.