We are knee deep in boxes here. But surprisingly I have found ample RDI moments. It has been such a treat having both kids home, I feel like I am finally getting the hang of it. I can seize an opportunity for RDI anytime of the day. Our big goal right now is to get Cotton to initiate, or even re-initiate. I am not sure he even knows he can start an action. So that is where we are with RDI.
Things have calmed down so much since moving in, we have been spending hours at the pool, and I have started homeschooling. I decided on Oak Meadow curriculum. It has the whole Waldorf feel, but it has much more structure, I NEED STRUCTURE!! The services down here stink. In the fall they offer a dev. delay preschool, that is only 2 hours long! They really have nothing durring the summer, so as soon as I get my referals, I will start interviewing OT's, PT's, and ST's! (they do not have teachers for the visually impaired, so I will have to shop a little further from home.)
I have to laugh because, I always sort of forget that Cotton is visually impaired. It just seems like the least of his worries. I actually had to call the Dr.(that issued my referals) back and say, umm... I forgot to mention he is visually impaired. He does really well with his vision. He seems very capable of seeing up close, he can see numbers and letters written in big print. He recognizes pictures on 2x2 cards. I can really only tell at a distance. If I ask him to bring me his pants, 5 ft. away, he cannot see them, and when we are in a group he will go up to people and pull them down to his level to see if they are me?!
Sometimes, it is hard to tell what is vision and what is Autism. For example he glides his hand across the wall as he walks around. He also tilts his head up to see out of his "null point" ( the point at which his vision is most clear). I went round and round with an aide once who was convinced that this was a visual stim, that needed to be stopped. His ped. opthamologist assured me and her, that this was necessary to maximize his vision.
So far Cotton is responding to my effeorts to encourage initiation. I am hoping this will filter down into other areas as well. He has been asking me to read to him this week. Usually he just walks around with the book in his hand, or reads it himself. This week he has physically put a book in my hand, and looked at me smiled, and nodded yes. Horay for small victories.
