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Willa
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| Posted: Feb 13 2005 at 4:12pm | IP Logged
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I'm not sure quite how to get this corner of the board off the ground, so I thought I'd introduce my "special" child and talk about what I'm doing with him these days. Please feel free to talk about what's worked in helping your special child learn and develop and flourish, and any questions/concerns/joys that are on your mind.
My Aidan is 5.5 years old. He's developmentally disabled after a stroke in infancy and is also medically fragile after a liver transplant also in infancy. He's been in and out of the hospital often.
In the past year he has been mostly healthy and it has been a blessing to watch him develop. He is roughly at the same cognitive level as his sharp-as-a-tack 2 year old brother Patrick, perhaps just a little ahead.
He is not really ready for formal academics, so his "curriculum" right now is mostly playing with his siblings, going on "field trips" to the store and post office and church and outside, and LOTS of music. Music has been a big help in his life. His teenage sister Clare has taken over his music class this year and since she is into Celtic folk music, he has acquired a lot of Irish songs and likes to sing, listen to CDs, and "help" her play the fiddle and guitar.
Sign language really never took off with him; he is strongly visual and prefers "picture talk". We have a lot of those realistic Dorling Kindersly photo books and we browse through and he looks at the pictures and we talk about them. He also likes puzzles. OUr literature studies are oriented the same way. He likes simple board books and usually adopts a single page as his favorite, and looks at it and talks about it endlessly. He has a talent for building a relationship with certain books and toys and concepts. I suspect a preschool teacher would call it "perseverating" but we use his fixations with certain objects or pictures to expand his vocabulary and heighten his interest in related types of objects or pictures. Sort of like the Stanley Greenspan Floortime concept. (the link is in blue and gives a brief summary if you haven't heard of the concept)
Lastly, Aidan has a G Tube and since some of his medical problems have abated, he has been eating almost completely by mouth. This has made a big difference in his approach to life... he is much more proactive and wakes up announcing "I'm hungry!" and telling me what he wants to eat. At first it was usually Fruit Loops and M&Ms he wanted, but now he requests quesadillas and noodles, so we are heading in the right direction 
Aidan's web pages are here:
first year of life
caringbridge journal
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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MacBeth
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Probably at the beach...
Joined: Jan 27 2005
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| Posted: Feb 14 2005 at 9:50am | IP Logged
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Hey Willa!
WOW, has Aidan come a long way since the first pictures we saw. I think he was attatched to EVERY medical device known! Look at him now!
I love the Fruit Loop/M&M diet. I only wish I could go on it, too.
Thanks so much for keeping us updated. Sure, it's medically interesting, and the developmental process is fascinating to watch, but we care about him, and that makes it really special.
BTW, I was  as I read the journal--"No, nay, NEVER!" It sounds like Paddy has been enjoying those Irish music listens, too. Good work, Clare! My s-i-l is a music therapist. I'm sure she'd love to hear more about ways that music has benefitted Aidan's development and progress.
Post more! Go Aidan! 
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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MEBarrett
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Hi Willa and all:
I am Mary Ellen. My oldest child, Ryan is autitistic. Ryan has three sisters and a brother. He is almost 10 but functions much lower in terms of comprehension. His speech has caught up a bit and his motor skills are normal. When youspeak to him you know he is "off" but it can be hard to pin down why. He writes exactly as he speaks so that is something we are working on.
Ryan has a gift for music. He hs been strumming a guitar since he ws three and could play things he heard In September we finally found a teacher who would teach him. Well he sounds like he has been playing for years. the music teacher says he has perfect pitch. Nothing makes him happier than playing with our Friday rosary group (we sing an appropriate hymn in between each mystery)
He wants to be a Franscican Friar when he grows up and he is a joy to be around.
Right now our big focus is to make math more understandable for him. We hit a huge brick wall when it came to division so we re taking a break and just practicing math facts and trying to build up confidence.
Ryan has a mild seizure disorder and some moderate sensory problems. He takes meds for both of these things to minimize the effects but the results of the seizires is memory loss and confusions. Makes school harder and very frustrating for him.
I hope to learn a lot from this group!
 
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Blessings,
Mary Ellen
Mom to seven beautiful kids
Tales from the Bonny Blue House
O Night Divine
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MEBarrett
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Sorry about the typos in the previous post! I miss spell check. Now I have to be careful when I type!!
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Blessings,
Mary Ellen
Mom to seven beautiful kids
Tales from the Bonny Blue House
O Night Divine
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Chari
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Mary Ellen
.........if you just click on EDIT below your name.......you can actually re-edit a post after you have posted it!
Isn't that a cool feature?
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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momtomany
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| Posted: Feb 18 2005 at 8:07am | IP Logged
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MEBarrett wrote:
.
Right now our big focus is to make math more understandable for him. We hit a huge brick wall when it came to division so we re taking a break and just practicing math facts and trying to build up confidence.
Ryan has a mild seizure disorder and some moderate sensory problems. He takes meds for both of these things to minimize the effects but the results of the seizires is memory loss and confusions. Makes school harder and very frustrating for him.
I hope to learn a lot from this group!
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This sounds so much like my son!
Hi, I'm Mary Ann! I have 10 children. My John is my special guy. He just turned 10 today. Like he Ryan he has a seizure disorder and is on meds. He has residual problems from a seizure he had at 13 months that lasted 70 minutes. Just like Ryan has the gift of music, my John is very capable when it comes to building or any visual/spatial type of thing. He has the hardest time with short term memory; we have to review basic math facts all the time, yet he breezes through any geometry concept. Reading is a struggle for him. But he is a hard worker and such a cheerful, friendly guy. He is truly a blessing. I feel like his siblings have gained so much by having him in the family!
I'm looking foward to learning lots here!
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Willa
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| Posted: Feb 18 2005 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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Hi Mary Ellen and Mary Ann!
Thanks for telling about your children. It's so true that special children add so much to a family and are blessings. Aidan had seizures for a couple of years but hasn't had one for a long time, so we are hoping he has outgrown them.
MacBeth, it's true about Paddy picking up the Irish music too. We laughed that you recognized the song -- ah, another Irish music fan! Clare is really a good teacher, better than her mom I think. The "babies" LOVE her lessons. You should hear them belt out "..... will I PLAY the wild rover, no never, no more!" all together.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: How your special child learns
