Joy's Autism Blog

We did the autism walk on Saturday. There was a threat of rain and we saw lightning and heard thunder in the distance but we didn’t get rained on so that was nice! On our way home our windshield was pelted pretty hard with rain so I’m glad we left when we did! So we didn’t get a lot of pictures but we got one of the people ahead of us walking (really exciting right?):

And this is the tshirt we got:

So that’s that, I’m glad we participated. We had a good time.

I finished another scarf for the Special Olympics Scarf Project, so here is a picture of that:

I thought of another fine motor activity yesterday. The kids and I took a bucket of water outside and some little paint brushes (big ones would have worked better but I didn’t have any) and the kids “painted” the house, rocks, and sidewalk with water. They loved it:

That’s about it around here. I need to figure out what to do with the kids today because it’s going to be very hot out but Adrian doesn’t feel well so we may have to hang around home today!

I had made the commitment to try to write on my blog daily and recently decided to take a little break. I think it kind of goes with my mood and things have been a little difficult lately and then I don’t feel very inspired to write but thought I should pop on and do a quick update.

There aren’t any results yet from our Fragile X testing, I wouldn’t expect it this soon anyway so we’re just waiting on that still.

We have been spending tons of time outside and we had a picnic for dinner tonight and a fun time at the park.

Lincoln was sick some this week so we missed his speech appointment Wednesday and today’s appointment wasn’t the smoothest because he is still in a bad mood from being sick. He’s talking way more though and it’s really exciting. He’s started asking Glen, “Daddy what you doing?” it’s very cute! He knows all his colors and says them pretty well, he can point to several body parts and name them, he knows the names of everyone in the family, he knows most common animals, and he knows a lot of foods. I’m very happy with his progress. Lincoln’s IEP meeting is on June 8th.

With Nevaeh and the fine motor skill stuff I’ve been working with her a little bit, if you didn’t see this post and you’re intested in fine motor activities check it out. So far we did some glitter that comes in the tubes that you have to squeeze. She did awesome with that, she was holding it perfectly. Then one day we painted with watercolors. She also has a special pencil gripper that the OT gave her, I’ll try to get a picture of that and share it soon.

Glen and I are participating in our first autism walk on Saturday morning, pretty excited to get involved with that so I’ll share about that experience too.

I haven’t really been on the computer at all but I have gotten a few emails from people asking me to share various links. If you are one of those people, I will check out your links soon! Thanks for sending them to me.

That’s it here, the kids are officially on summer break now! I’ll check in when I can!

As I’ve said before, Nevaeh has some issues with fine motor skills. She fist grips her pencil and has trouble with a few other fine motor activities. In order to get that where it needs to be the occupational therapist has been working with her and gave me a list of things to work on over the summer to help build strength and dexterity in her finger and hand muscles. I thought I would pass along the activities she suggested so you can work on them with your kids too!

• Rolling dough into small balls using the tips of the fingers with playdoh or clay
• Rolling dough into balls using the palms of the hands with playdoh or clay
• Making designs in playdoh or clay with toothpicks
• Cut playdoh with plastic knife or pizza wheel
• Tearing newspaper into strips and using for art project
• Crumpling newspaper into balls and using for art project
• Using a trigger type water bottle to spray plants or have a water fight
• Use tweezers or tongs to pick up small objects such as cotton balls, cheerios, or marshmallows
• Shake dice with hands cupped together in games
• Lacing cheerios or similar cereal, macaroni, or buttons onto yarn, string, pipe cleaners, or licorice strings
• Putting together and taking apart nuts and bolts
• Turning coins, playing cards, checkers, or buttons on table without bringing them to the edge of the table
• Play finger games or finger puppets
• Play with finger paints, add sawdust, sand, or coffee grounds for extra texture
• Playing with toys that have tools ex-workbench with screwdriver, wrench, etc
• Painting with a paintbrush with a large handle
• Drawing and painting on vertical surface, either an easel or paper taped to the wall
• Writing/drawing on a Magna Doodle
• Putting stickers in sticker book on a picture or on vertical or horizontal lines
• Putting together large simple puzzles
• Playing dress up and practice with large buttons and zippers
• Try to get a coin or other object from the palm of hand to fingertips without using the other hand or body
• Put coins in a coin bank

And I have a couple of my own: pick up some cheap attached chop sticks, give very small pencils, markers, or pieces of chalk to write with.

I plan on doing at least one of these activities each day this summer with Nevaeh to get those fine motor skills where they need to be, plus this stuff is just fun!

First I wanted to say you all could connect with me on facebook! I’d love to get to know all of you better! My husband is going to be setting up something on my side bar so you can find me on facebook but I figured I’d just pop a link on here today so we can connect.

Secondly…I got a tip from another mom whose son has Chiari Malformation about something to help with fine motor development. I thought I could pass along her tip. Have your child use connected chopsticks at meal time! How cool is that?? Fun for the kids to use and helps develop those muscles used for fine motor movements. Awesome!

Thirdly I wanted to just update that I filled out a Connors Test for Sanura that I received from the school yesterday. It looks like they’re compiling some things for me. I’m hoping I get something back from them today or tomorrow so I can call the doctor.

That’s about all that’s new with us! It’s gorgeous outside and I’m going to enjoy it. The cold wind and snow are coming very soon and the park is calling my name today!

I started a job today. I’m working at a little gift shop in the mall sporadically through the Christmas season. I trained today. The lady I worked with was chatting with me about her child and I was telling her about my kids. I mentioned that Adrian had autism and showed her a picture of him. She gushed over it saying how cute he was, he’s really an adorable child…not that I’m biased or anything.

So anyway, the night went good and I”m feeling good about picking up a few hours at this store to help pay for Christmas gifts and such. I love being a stay at home mom though but this is very minimal hours…a day or two a week from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

I went to Nevaeh’s conference this morning. I seem to meet with her teacher constantly. They really stay on top of these meetings at her preschool. Not that I mind a bit, I love hearing about how my kids are doing. It was all good stuff about how sweet she is and how quickly she picks up on things. The only thing we really need to concentrate on is her fine motor skills. I don’t do so well at letting the kids practice with scissors (something about being scared that some beautiful long hair could get cut off) and I guess that really helps develop the muscles you use for fine motor skills. So she gave us a few tasks to work on at home, scissors, picking up items with tweezers, & lacing cards are all great for fine motor development, just passing that little tid-bit along in case it may benefit someone else.

Tomorrow is Sanura & Adrian’s conferences. Adrian’s I’m not so worried about because his teacher knows him well and I talk to her quite often. Sanura’s I’m a little more nervous about but I’m not going to get too excited about anything until I speak with the teachers. I will update tomorrow about the conferences.