If you want to hear about something positive...

[PeterPan]

Ds went to his first music therapy session today, and it was awesome!  He has been sort of fragile lately, and he was so nervous I didn't even know if he'd participate.  She got him to work with her, and by the end she had him doing so many amazing things!  She got some tone matching out of him (good!), but my favorite was the apple tree song.  They swayed scarves as branches and then would do these motions (sneezing, etc.), and you could see with each verse he got into it more.  Of course when she says Wow, 5 apples hit me on the head!  How does that feel?  He's just looking at her...   :lol:  (She gave the answer, of course, that it HURT!)  

 

So anyways, that was just my happy thing for the day.  I need to take some video footage.  I'm excited to see where he might be a year from now, if we work at it.  He has the most basic, limited ability to engage in singing right now, so like he can join her with simple repeated phrases but it will be rather unmelodic and quiet.  She did such witty things, like taking a song I had gotten with him (BINGO) and changing the words, so like "there is a food I like to eat--a-p-p-l-e..."  Smart, eh?  I should have thought of that!  And she let him play her guitar, couldn't believe it.  And all the THINGS they can weave into a session, oh my.  

 

So has anything good happened lately?  Feel free to share!  :)

[texasmama]

That is really great. :)

[OneStepAtATime]

That's fantastic, OhE!   Yeah!!!!!!   :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:

 

DD found out that many of her friends are not doing drama this year.  She went to the first class of the season today and was sad they weren't there but she made the effort to meet new students and visit with returning students she did not know as well.  She made a new friend with similar interests to her.  She felt the improv they did to get comfortable with one another went very well and she is excited about this year.  There was a time when she would have completely withdrawn if her friends were not going back. 

[Jennifer-72]

That is wonderful news!

 

My happy news of the day was ds negotiating with us. Every Thursday we get the rotisserie chicken and fresh salad special our grocery store offers and lately a dessert. Since we have been on holidays and/or visiting family lots this summer and there has been way too many desserts of late. Dh was telling ds that we would be getting back on track and not getting any today. Ds came back a few minutes later with his win win plan, which was how about we get dessert on the first Thursday of every month and when it was agreed to he decided to put it in his planner. It seems so small, but it shows that he took sometime to think about what might be good solution (instead of complaining), involved some perspective taking and I loved how he made a beeline for his planner afterwards.

[Storygirl]

I mentioned this in passing on another thread -- A classmate wants to invite DS11 to his house to play! DS never had a friend before age ten, and he had to move away from his first friend this spring. The fact that he has made a friend and is only in the second full week of school.....HUGE!!

[MeghansMom]

Wonderful news, glad to hear it!

[PeterPan]

Wow Story, to find a friend is HUGE!!

 

Jenn, that's some terrific negotiating and using his new skills!!

 

OneStep, seems like you're finally on a wave of successes!  :)

[Guest]

OhE that is great news :) I love how she also added in giving him context with the spples falling on the head part. That is wonderful! Sounds like a keeper.

 

Loved reading all the other happy news also :)

[displace]

Omg thanks for this thread. I was going to post: not much great happened unless you count DS losing a tooth (which DS absolutely counts). Then I remembered I forgot the stupid tooth fairy money!!! So I snuck in some money but the tooth pillow is in a death grip so I'll have to make something up why he got money but the tooth is still there. ðŸ˜

[merry gardens]

Omg thanks for this thread. I was going to post: not much great happened unless you count DS losing a tooth (which DS absolutely counts). Then I remembered I forgot the stupid tooth fairy money!!! So I snuck in some money but the tooth pillow is in a death grip so I'll have to make something up why he got money but the tooth is still there. ðŸ˜

And thank YOU! I read your post earlier this morning---early enough for the Tooth Fairy perform her duties.

[displace]

And thank YOU! I read your post earlier this morning---early enough for the Tooth Fairy perform her duties.

How funny! I totally forgot! I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was grateful I had cash too. 😀

[OneStepAtATime]

I changed our game plan with the Tooth Fairy since I never seemed to have any cash on hand and the kids frequently lost teeth late in the evening.  The tooth fairy sometimes leaves other things instead.  Once it was a set of barrettes (bought them on clearance the day before and DD hadn't seen them yet).  Once it was a tiny picture book.  Once it was a colored pen.  Just basically whatever I had around that was small and they hadn't seen yet.  Worked well.  They never knew what they were going to get and weren't expecting anything specific.

 

But a few times I did forget altogether and felt like such a terrible mother.  The sad little face, the confusion as to why the Tooth Fairy didn't come.  Ugh!  Glad you remembered in time!

 

And thanks for the thread, OhE.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Hurray!

 

We made it through an entire school day without fussing from a particular child. It was the first time EVER.

[Storygirl]

OhE, I'd love it if you keep posting about the music therapy. DS11 loves music, so I think he'd love music therapy. I just don't know what good it would do for him, so we haven't looked into it. Right now he's taking percussion lessons, because he picked drums for the school band. Just being in band twice a week at school and having lessons on another day is giving him three days of music, which is awesome for him. Maybe that is just as good as therapy anyway.

[PeterPan]

Hurray!

 

We made it through an entire school day without fussing from a particular child. It was the first time EVER.

I would happy dance, but first I need to  :svengo: .  I can totally see why you're on cloud nine!!  To have a single, blissfully perfect day where each thing just works and the kid just goes along with it, oh my!!  We've been almost there.  Ds is clicking with these visual schedules, and I think we can get there.  But then there's always something interrupting it, some meltdown, someone too hungry, some something.  So today for you

 

:party:   :party:

[PeterPan]

OhE, I'd love it if you keep posting about the music therapy. DS11 loves music, so I think he'd love music therapy. I just don't know what good it would do for him, so we haven't looked into it. Right now he's taking percussion lessons, because he picked drums for the school band. Just being in band twice a week at school and having lessons on another day is giving him three days of music, which is awesome for him. Maybe that is just as good as therapy anyway.

I didn't want to go on too much about it, because I didn't want to make anyone feel bad that they weren't getting it, kwim?  But honestly, it was just brilliant.  You know it's at the autism charter school, and you know this woman's entire career has been in working with kids with ASD.  So she just KICKS BUTT at weaving it all in.  Like if you got some novice, they'd be all tenderfoot, like maybe this.  Oh no, she can do the eye contact, extend the hand, bring you in, roll with him, honestly enjoy him just as he is, weave in social skills (turn taking, responses), build expressive language (with the lines in the songs), target speech prompts (rounding, tongue lifting), have routines and consistency (opening and closing songs), be kinesthetic, not be frazzled by the sensory (it will be too loud if we... I'll need ear muffs), not get all pissy that he bolted out of her classroom (to go to the bathroom, which he actually SAID he was doing, huge hurrray for the progress!).

 

I'm just saying it was awesome how many things she wove in.  And in ds' case, his issue is that any skill he has (like she said he did tone match her when she went specifically for that) is locked up in the whole complex mix (do I know the words, can I motor plan the words, can I get out of myself and want to say/sing the words, etc.).  Oh, and did I mention rhythm?  And she hit intonation!  And she had him pretending and taking on a character!  (a tree waving and sneezing, but still!)

 

So that's all to say, I don't know what your ds needs.  I know the ASD charter school will get it added to anyone's IEP, because it really can be like that, working on all sorts of things.  So you need some kind of goal in your IEP that the music therapy can service.  Speech, social, ANYTHING.  Then, yes, you can get MT added to the IEP (there's a form, no biggee), and bam you can pay for it with the scholarship, yes.

 

We sat in a lesson with an older dc (14? not sure) and the MT was weaving in social and TOM (theory of mind) as well as, of course, singing.  So they would work on the singing of the song, and then it was what do those lines mean, how do you want the audience to feel, how will your mom feel when she listens, how will you feel, do you believe this, etc. etc...  So it's definitely a flexible therapy that can work up and down ages to target goals.  My aunt was MT for many, many years, and she worked with disabled veterans.  Obviously their goals were different.  While there are lots of great goals you can work on with it, to use the scholarship you're going to have to go back to what the IEP goals are and whether it's servicing those goals.  So then you back up farther and you say what do I need to list in my concerns, what do I need to get the school to test, to get those issues serviced in the IEP so I can get these therapies.  That's how it works.  

 

As far as your ds, that's neat that he can do those things.  My ds can't participate in any of that.  He couldn't go into a regular music class of any kind and participate because the speech would swamp him.  He's got a big spread between what he can sort of get out (toddler level) and where his mind is (gifted).  He can't tap a consistent beat and struggles even with single beats.  So just to have the chance to do basic things other people take for granted (sing a song, tap an instrument to music the teacher sings), he needs individualized help.  I've tried and it was really above my paygrade.  That's why, when I found out about this MT I latched right on, because music is SUCH an important part of our culture, church experience, etc.  Not to be able to participate in ANY way is a disability and it would become glaringly obvious to him very soon.  He's only just starting to notice he's not the same age as other kids in his swim classes, etc.  He hasn't yet figured out that his music issues are different.  But as soon as that happens, it would be devastating.  I've been pretty desperate to get him into this and give him ways to be able to participate with music on SOME level.  So when she can give him ways to respond with rhythm, to strum the guitar, to learn to interact, I'm just crazy excited for him.  For him it's opening the door even to be ABLE to connect with music at all.  It's not like oh I could do this and take him a little farther.  It's like no, I just want him to be able to do the same things a group of 3-4 yos could do and move forward so he can participate in some way, even if it's never going to be quite perfect.  I want him to be able to participate in what is half of a church service and not be excluded or worse yet not wanting to be there, kwim?  I've had no way to help that progress till now.

 

Oh, his SLP says singing is the HARDEST thing with apraxia.  Like everything else was rocket science, and this is reaching for the clouds.  But I reach.   :)

 

Adding: None of that is to say you shouldn't.  I'm just explaining why we are.  I'm trying to intervene hard on what, to me, is a whole category disability.  But definitely there are lots of other valid reasons to pursue it.  It's just a matter of knowing your reasons and getting the funding to line up with them.

[Storygirl]

OhE, that sounds fabulous! DS is actually quite musical. He dislikes attempting to read music and wants to play by ear, which he could do at the piano (at a basic level -- he's not playing anything hard). When he took piano, he would know how the song sounded after playing it through a couple of times, so then getting him to read the music was not happening, so playing by ear comes with its own issues. That's one reason that I thought percussion would be good for him -- playing by rhythm is right up his alley. He'll still have to read the music, though, which is good for him, too. :001_smile:

 

Anyway, he would really respond to things like theory of mind activities if they were integrated with music. I'm glad to know that is an option that can be included in an IEP. Thanks for sharing!

 

I'm glad your son enjoyed MT -- it sounds like it will be awesome for him! :thumbup:

[KSinNS]

OhE, so happy to hear all this. Music, honestly, has done more for my ds than almost anything else. He kind of liked music, but never sang and didn't really seem to get it, until one day, he just started playing (after a couple of years of lessons) and his teacher said she had never seen a kid at that level play by ear that easily. It was like we found his language. His verbal skills improved dramatically, his coordination improved, everything. So happy to hear this class is so great!

[kbutton]

I'm enjoying everyone's happy news!

 

 

[merry gardens]

Happy news: we started high school Spanish today and it wasn't horrible! I've read for years how dyslexic children have problems with foreign language, so I was (and am) a little worried. I'm trying to pull in O - G and Barton techniques. When reading English my son often read long English words with the stress on the wrong syllables to the point that he couldn't recognize the word, so we worked and worked on that in English--and now we turn it around and use it to our advantage. He's a natural at turning words he knows into foreign sounding words just by changing the stressed syllable or reading the silent e aloud. And since this is a thread that started about music therapy, I'll share that my son also requested that we play the Spanish children's songs c.d. that we have. I approach this with cautious optimism.:)

[PeterPan]

OhE, so happy to hear all this. Music, honestly, has done more for my ds than almost anything else. He kind of liked music, but never sang and didn't really seem to get it, until one day, he just started playing (after a couple of years of lessons) and his teacher said she had never seen a kid at that level play by ear that easily. It was like we found his language. His verbal skills improved dramatically, his coordination improved, everything. So happy to hear this class is so great!

That is amazing!  Yes, it feels so whole, so connected, like they're using lots of parts of their brains at once, making connections.  And he was doing things and exploring comfort with expression in ways I couldn't do with him.  But you're right, it hadn't occurred to me that eventually it might lead to some unexpected gains beyond the immediate, wow.

[Lecka]

My older son says he is one of the most fluent readers in his class, but he has the worst handwriting.  He thinks it is a fine trade-off.  He is in a good place with his self-confidence.  

 

My younger son is spending almost all his time in 1st grade (he has two aides this year, one for morning and one for afternoon).  He is participating in specials.  He is doing some 1st grade work.  He brought home a paper where he drew pictures about a story (Curious George Goes to the Library) and he was able to answer some simple questions about the book, after he got home.  This is new, last year he could not answer any questions about anything that happened at school.  It is a great start to the year, my kids have been back for about two weeks.  

[Tiramisu]

Ds went to his first music therapy session today, and it was awesome!  He has been sort of fragile lately, and he was so nervous I didn't even know if he'd participate.  She got him to work with her, and by the end she had him doing so many amazing things!  She got some tone matching out of him (good!), but my favorite was the apple tree song.  They swayed scarves as branches and then would do these motions (sneezing, etc.), and you could see with each verse he got into it more.  Of course when she says Wow, 5 apples hit me on the head!  How does that feel?  He's just looking at her...   :lol:  (She gave the answer, of course, that it HURT!)  

 

So anyways, that was just my happy thing for the day.  I need to take some video footage.  I'm excited to see where he might be a year from now, if we work at it.  He has the most basic, limited ability to engage in singing right now, so like he can join her with simple repeated phrases but it will be rather unmelodic and quiet.  She did such witty things, like taking a song I had gotten with him (BINGO) and changing the words, so like "there is a food I like to eat--a-p-p-l-e..."  Smart, eh?  I should have thought of that!  And she let him play her guitar, couldn't believe it.  And all the THINGS they can weave into a session, oh my.  

 

So has anything good happened lately?  Feel free to share!   :)

 

You know I especially love this because dd is just starting her third year in a music therapy program. It's intense and dd works very hard, but she loves it and I can't imagine her doing anything else. :)

[Pen]

Yay!  something positive is great!

[PeterPan]

This is just to continue for anyone who is interested in how the music therapy is going.  Today she did more of the routine (opening song, favorite song with repeating chorus, song to work on social/emotional stuff, song to work on tempo/dynamics, closing, etc.), but she added in playing a song together on the keyboard.  That was amazing, because she took what he already enjoys doing (what she calls "freestyle") and could reign in it, going back and forth between freestyle and striking a single note.  She was trying to get him to sing with her, and he started into his meowing, which he hadn't actually been doing as much of lately.  He's had days where he does it a lot, but it has been less frequent enough that I couldn't even remember why or the pattern.  Used to be a LOT.  Anyways, when he started doing that, all the happy left me, like oy we're back to that.  I was surprised how visceral it was for me, like here I'm a failure in that after ALL THIS he's still meowing in public.  But she totally rolled with it and turned it into a song and started meowing herself!!   :lol:   That was way awesome.  So then both therapist AND boy are meowing and singing and playing, all is well, and then they get back to her dinosaur song.  

 

And when I asked her about it, she said she had noticed he meowed last week when she greeted him.  That's why I'm finally glad to be working with people who get it, that there are patterns to behavior, that we should look for the function, look for the antecedent, not just pretend it's not happening or that they're being bad.  

 

So anyways, that was a wildness.  It's also weird to see him in comparison to these social behaviors in the songs.  The behaviors seem like they should be pretty reasonable (pretend you're sleepy and yawn and stretch), and he just sits there.  He might crack a slight yawn, but he clearly doesn't *get* it.  So that's weird, because sometimes you get so in the bubble, so used to things yourself, that you don't even think through or notice what's *not* happening, kwim?  There's so much that *is* happening, that it's weird to think in terms of what isn't.  But it's cool that she's working on it and that we're seeing it and that she can weave all that in.  It just sort of blows my mind, and I feel silly that I didn't notice before.

[Guest]

That's awesome to hear Elizabeth! So glad the music therapy is working so well for him :) This year the goal is to have both of them sing Christmas songs. We were supposed to do it last year but I lost my voice during the holidays :( Without me singing along I would never convince my oldest to sing.

[PeterPan]

I took some video today so we can see how he progresses.  I actually thought I heard him sing something tonight, like he was just sort of trying it out.  I was totally shocked.  But it was so fleeting, I could have imagined it.  You know, like where you hear something across the house and go wow, did I hear that??  It was just a phrase, a line, something brief, but it was using breath support and sounding like singing.  So things could come together.  But Christmas, not banking on that.  The school puts on a spring program, and I'm sort of hopeful maybe by then he can participate.  That would be wow to me.  :)

[kbutton]

This is just to continue for anyone who is interested in how the music therapy is going.  Today she did more of the routine (opening song, favorite song with repeating chorus, song to work on social/emotional stuff, song to work on tempo/dynamics, closing, etc.), but she added in playing a song together on the keyboard.  That was amazing, because she took what he already enjoys doing (what she calls "freestyle") and could reign in it, going back and forth between freestyle and striking a single note.  She was trying to get him to sing with her, and he started into his meowing, which he hadn't actually been doing as much of lately.  He's had days where he does it a lot, but it has been less frequent enough that I couldn't even remember why or the pattern.  Used to be a LOT.  Anyways, when he started doing that, all the happy left me, like oy we're back to that.  I was surprised how visceral it was for me, like here I'm a failure in that after ALL THIS he's still meowing in public.  But she totally rolled with it and turned it into a song and started meowing herself!!   :lol:   That was way awesome.  So then both therapist AND boy are meowing and singing and playing, all is well, and then they get back to her dinosaur song.  

 

And when I asked her about it, she said she had noticed he meowed last week when she greeted him.  That's why I'm finally glad to be working with people who get it, that there are patterns to behavior, that we should look for the function, look for the antecedent, not just pretend it's not happening or that they're being bad.  

 

So anyways, that was a wildness.  It's also weird to see him in comparison to these social behaviors in the songs.  The behaviors seem like they should be pretty reasonable (pretend you're sleepy and yawn and stretch), and he just sits there.  He might crack a slight yawn, but he clearly doesn't *get* it.  So that's weird, because sometimes you get so in the bubble, so used to things yourself, that you don't even think through or notice what's *not* happening, kwim?  There's so much that *is* happening, that it's weird to think in terms of what isn't.  But it's cool that she's working on it and that we're seeing it and that she can weave all that in.  It just sort of blows my mind, and I feel silly that I didn't notice before.

 

Goodness, you are in good company. I am not sure I know too many kids on the spectrum who don't meow once in a while in public. :-) I hear it so often that I secretly think that's what's actually behind the books, All Cats Have Aspergers and My Kitty Catsperger. I was once sitting at a church dinner with my ASD kiddo, another ASD kiddo (high schooler), and a third ASD kiddo walked by the table yowling like a feline. The ASD teen then chimed in that that's why he and the yowling ASD kiddo didn't get along in youth group, lol, so maybe there is one ASD kiddo that has proven me wrong. Maybe this teenager doesn't meow...or maybe he's jealous that the other ASD kiddo gets away with it in public, but he has to keep the meowing inside. Who knows...it was a highly interesting dinner conversation at any rate.  :lol:

 

Anyway, you are not alone. I am glad the therapist is rolling with it!

[PeterPan]

Kbutton, I did not know that, thanks.  That cheers me a little.  

[Terabith]

For the record, my ten year old (who has had ASD ruled out twice now) meows in public, especially when she is anxious or uncertain.

[merry gardens]

(religious content)

 

Oh E--

At church this morning I kept thinking about this thread during our Bible readings for today. Your son's aphasia and his singing lessons--just look at the part of the reading I highlighted!

 

Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

 

That was from Isaiah 35. Then there was the Gospel reading from Mark:

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!â€â€” that is, “Be opened!†—
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.â€

 

I don't normally preach religion here, but since this is a thread about Good News and a little boy's signing lessons, these seemed highly fitting. I hope some of you find these words encouraging. :)

[texasmama]

That is really beautiful, Merry.

[PeterPan]

That was amazing, Merry!  I had not made the connection.  It was just what I needed to hear.  :)

[texasmama]

WAY FAR OUT CC.  Warning, run if you are not into woo woo CC stuff.

 

While we are at it.  ;)  When I was pregnant with ds14, before I knew I was having a boy, the name Jeremiah came to me but I didn't know why.  I read the book of Jeremiah and was struck by this passage:

 

4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 â€œBefore I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.â€

6 â€œAlas, Sovereign Lord,†I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.â€

7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,†declares the Lord.

9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.â€

 

The bolded is the verse that has remained with me.  Because I had a son, who had speech issues/delays and ASD and some other struggles, and his middle name is Jeremiah.  God knew I would need this, and I have.

[PeterPan]

https://youtu.be/SEncKJ6GCKk?list=PLktMMuhPAFJu07GG414dweIKnEznAZS7J

 

I thought someone might like to see how his MT sessions are going.  This was week two, and the therapist prepared his favorite song in the whole wide world (Grandpa Hunted Coon, by Hobo Jim), so he's elated.  You can hear his little voice popping through, very flat, and he's tapping rhythm instruments and having a good time.  Each week he participates a little more.  I need to make some more video.  Last week in my update to her I said that he was using single words and attempting to sing.  This week he's been trying his own little ditties, phrases, and had some movement up and down with his voice.  She also has a way to teach him to play piano using colored bands for each finger.  That's something I never thought would happen, wow.  

[kbutton]

That looks like fun!

 

[Guest H_lynn]

Hoooray!!

 

Happy for your DS and you as well :D