Motivators and Tools

Here are some of the fun things that we keep in the therapy bin as motivators to keep him working, and to calm him when needed.

One of the universal favorites, the squishy ball. These are so soft and smooth. Great stress reliever. These are well loved their use-by Eric and Mommy and it shows! VERY ADDICTIVE!!!


This is another type of sensory ball to hold in his hand. These feel cool too,but Eric tends bite holes in them so they don't last long.

Another crowd pleaser-bubbles. Many of us have lost our breath with these. Very dangerous around Andy...he won't let you stop blowing without a full blown tantrum. All the boys love a bubble show. A great friend of mine suggested a bubble machine, which I am going to purchase in time.

What little boy doesn't like making a lot of noise. The toy instruments are also very popular.

Eric's favorite toy car. It turns into a robot I believe. This was one of his dad's old toys. Eric found it and has been in love with it since. Used as a playtime reward and to learn colors and words.

His favorite book. He can look at this for a long time. This is used to help him stay focused, and learn new word and how to read. He has read some parts of this book out loud. This was initially given to Andy by his teacher because he liked it so much. Now the other 2 boys have taken possession of this. I've never seen Eric take in interest in Arthur before, but whatever works. I just hope this book don't end up in pieces like most of them have around here.

Magnetic letters and numbers. Lately they have been asking him to specifically tell them the letter/number or the color. He used to give the color when asked the letter and vice versa. Now that is a cake walk for him. The next step is starting to put letters together to make sounds and words.
There are also some not so interesting items such as flashcards, crayons, ect that they use too. Andy loves the therapy book. He always wants to play with that. Don't understand the attraction, but fear not he should have one all his own within one to two years!

Getting To Know You...

Eric started his therapy last week. Right he is having 2 sessions a week for 2 hours each session. He has had 3 sessions as of now. His next will be Thursday. We have 90 days to work to the state minimum hours so we are taking advantage of this time for all of us to get used to each other. Plans and goals are being established and written. Eric's routines and habits are observed, along with household rules and operation. Toys have been brought in and tested to see what will motivate him to participate. They also tickle him, lift him and give him time for physical play since he enjoys that so much. He also loves music and to be sang to (as long as it's not mommy doing the singing!).

This is the therapy bible with all the records, plans, notes, ect. This is a big binder because we know this is going to get thick quick!

This is the box of motivators which will be used as rewards. Like anyone else, kids like a little incentive for doing things that they otherwise would rather not do :) .

The ball won't fit in the box but the purpose is the same as the toys in the box.

During these first 3 sessions I have learned that we really have to start with the basics with Eric. The goals focus on social skills, communication, compliance, and tolerance. He keeps wanting to turn off the lights during therapy sessions. We are trying to get him to understand that the lights have to stay on and tolorate them being on when needed. We are also trying to think of a way to get him to put his cup down on his tray or something beside it so I don't have to stand there while he drinks to take the cup when he is done and give it back when he wants it again. He can recite the alphabet so they start out with a few letters and ask him to say the next one in sequence. This is not an academically based program. He gets that at school and the state wants as little overlap as possible. The goal here is to persist with him until he does what is asked aka complience. They keep repeating the letters and the requested response until he does it. It can take a while since he only does this when he wants to. We know he can do it, it is just getting him to do it on command. Pulling him away from enjoyable activities is a challenge. He had a fit when the computer was turned off before he was done. Transitioning will also be addressed. He surprised us by saying the word "tickle" when they were tickling him. So now he is asked to say the word and he will get the tickles as a reward. This is going well. They tend to say and ask for what they want the most:) .We are also working on greetings since he knows the words "hi" and "bye bye". It is a good thing we have 3 years. He is handling this better than I expected. There are some meltdowns and that is to be expected. But we all live. As time goes by he is going to be putting in more time and more is going to be asked of him. We shall see how it goes.