Tyoma’s Progress

The past two weeks have been difficult for Tyoma, primarily because he has been ill. He has missed daycare and been more sensitive and prone to meltdowns. Intense speech therapy was sometimes put on the back burner while I coped with my tearful son. Nonetheless, here’s our progress:

·   Tyoma seems to have great difficulty communicating internal states to us. He does not consistently indicate when he is hungry, thirsty, hot, cold or in pain.  He also uses no words or signs for his emotional states. Recently, he has said “brrrrr!” when cold and will clack his teeth to indicate tooth pain. We are working with him intensely to use gestures (sign) to show hunger/thirst rather than bringing me his cup or booster seat. Since he has been feeling unwell, this has been a major priority and we could really use some good advice.

·        I have been focusing not on the addition of new words (which he accomplishes easily), but the pronunciation of existing words. He has not regained the improved pronunciation that he had when my mom was here. Tyoma typically utters the first syllable of a word and does not bother with the rest. He can, however count to 12 with clarity.

·        Tyoma now completely “gets” the word mine, which is has become a source for meltdowns of late. Auuugh! He also says “where,” but it is unclear if he “gets” the meaning of the word or is just repeating it as part of a game.

·        He uses two word combinations regularly, but is reticent when pressed. He has begun to string together three words; such as “want…bath…open” (open the door to the bathroom). His “I want that!” from a few weeks ago has vanished.

·        Tyoma’s  pronunciation has slipped a bit—he has gone back to good days/bad days. I’d say he has about 20-30 words that he speaks clearly and consistently now. More, star, car, want, pop, no, zoo, white, the numbers 1-12, 23 letters of the alphabet, and a few more I can’t think of as I write this. A definite pattern exists, most of the words are nouns and most of the words relate to things he is profoundly interested in. The rest of his speech is about 25-30%  recognizable to a stranger.

Verbal reports from daycare staff indicate that he continues to do well there, the director commented on “how far he has come” and “how quickly he has adjusted.” I have begun to leave Tyoma for the full four hours so that he can have the experience of sitting and eating lunch with his peers. He is finicky about the food, but otherwise he is adjusting nicely. At home, we have playing social games like chase and hide and seek. Tyoma has been imitating Papa as he rakes leaves and quickly followed Papa’s example in learning how to fall in a pile of leaves. We have also been playing “airplane” with him (where we pretend to be airplanes flying) and he mimics us with gusto. Physical games engage him and bring out cooperative behavior and a few words.

Youtube!

Sure, Tennisfiend and I are midly addicted to youtube! Where else could he possibly watch obscure Russian music videos? How could I keep up with the freakishness that is Julie Masking or catch snippets that I missed from Dancing With the Stars? Seriously!

So, today we took a big leap--we introduced Tyoma to youtube! It's the best thing ever! You can find most of the cool animations from old school Sesame Street! I really don't care for the current politically correct, Elmo imbued program. Give the Cookie Monster his cookies! Let Oscar be a bastard! Etc, ect... Anyway, I'm going to embed two really psychedelic videos, just for nostalgia's sake! I dare Nickelodeon to match this!

Hi 62!

For about a week now, Tyoma has been greeting his numbers with a small, friendly wave and a cheerful “Hi!” I sigh and grimace every time I hear it. I used to relish his odd little moments, finding his eccentricity charming--now I shudder. Every quirk makes me wonder if the Autism Spectrum Police are going to break down the door and haul my son off to a Neurotypical Re-education Camp.

As I cleaned up from breakfast today, I had the Weather Channel on in the background. The murmur of the forecasters is more comforting than CNN and I feel soothed by the mindless jazz that plays when the Local on the 8’s comes on. Tyoma likes the Local on the 8’s, too, since the numbers are big and bold.

He hustled over to the TV when the  8’s began their  broadcast. The announcer stated, “Sunny, today with some cloudy intervals. High 62…” Tyoma perked up. “Hi! Siz-ooo!!!” He tapped the 62 on the TV screen. I laughed. It’s still odd and the Autism Spectrum Police are probably around the corner nonetheless, but his little greeting seems less inexplicable and certainly very funny.

Speech Therapy

Tyoma’s Progress

·        Tyoma consistently uses about 50 words each day. He continues to add new words quickly and has been learning positional adjectives, exclamations and more verbs.

·        Although he has successfully said a few words with multiple syllables, his frequency of correct pronunciation has dropped off.  

·        Tyoma is beginning to understand more personal pronouns such as “me,” and “mine,” but he uses them infrequently. He seems to be a bit confused between “your” (as in “Show me your nose.”) and “my” (“Show me my nose.”).

·        He uses two word combinations several times a day and has even said “I want that!” a few times.

·        Tyoma’s  pronunciation is about the same—some improvement on  his more familiar words while about 25-30% of his regular speech could be understood by a stranger.

·        While looking at books, Tyoma has started talking to himself, naming objects in the book and even describing simple activities taking place. As I read to him, he continues his descriptions, and is delighted to count and make animal/vehicle noises.

·        Tyoma is grasping the concept of time. He can ask for five more minutes of a favorite activity and understand that story time is for thirty minutes.

Things have leveled off speech-wise for Tyoma the past two weeks.  Although he has not made any extraordinary language advancements, he has made tremendous progress socially at day care. He is more cooperative, friendly and engaged than ever before. In fact, we have just upped his attendance by one day a week!  He has begun to play more imaginatively and creatively, adding more words in the process.  

Hasta La Vista Ugly Border!

In case you haven't seen a close up of the hideous wallpaper border in our kitchen, here it is:
 
I personally do not care for the border, but what makes it completely distasteful is its pairing with mustard yellow paint, pickled oak cabinets, and forest green counter tops. Blah!

 So, with no regrets and only a smidge of nostalgia, I tore the border down today. After surfing online and consulting with the color experts at Home Depot, I will try a greenish paint to make the green countertops look like less of a mistake. Wish me luck!

Ogunquit Vacation

We took an overnight vacation to Ogunquit, Maine while Mom was here to sit with Tyoma overnight. I can't tell you how very nice it was to have some quality time together. I do have a little write up to go with this, but I'll post it later. For now, here's some pics...

Speech Therapy

 

Tyoma’s Progress

·        Tyoma consistently uses over 50 words each day. He speaks about 80-125 words regularly and seems to add new nouns and adjectives as quickly as you can teach him (over 10 a day).

·        Tyoma now uses “Bye” and “Hi” regularly with family, preschool members and neighbors.

·        New sounds include W and Wh. At last he says “want!”

·        He has been successfully saying a few words with multiple syllables. Generally, he either pronounces the first syllable correctly (not bothering with the rest of the word) or he utters the cadence correctly. However, he can intelligibly pronounce a few words like potato, pumpkin, carrot, and ice cream.

·        He uses two word combinations several times a day.

·        Tyoma’s  pronunciation has improved on some of his more familiar words. Nevertheless, about 25-30% of his regular speech could be understood by a stranger.

·        Tyoma can finally say the numbers 1-20, which he uses to name his flash cards. He also uses numbers to describe things, like “two cars” or “five” in referring to the number of times he wants to be swung in the air.

The biggest change in Tyoma the past few weeks has been the absence of “bad talking” days. Virtually every day he has a great deal to say and speaks spontaneously. His frustration level has dropped since he is able to request which books he wants read, which toys he wants to play with and which activities he wants to pursue. We no longer need to coax words out of him, although he can still be shy and not always intelligible. He has begun to play more imaginatively and creatively, adding more words in the process.  

 The day after the last therapy session, he was able to categorize objects by color in a game similar to the teddy bear cup exercise. He can easily categorize by color, shape, or function, but he is often quickly bored and prone to mischief. We have been regularly singing nursery rhymes to him. Although he does not join in the song, he genuinely enjoys the songs and will repeat words from the songs afterwards (E-I-E-I-O!).

Last week Tyoma’s Grandfather visited. Tyoma was not bothered by the switch to Russian (previously the switch distressed him). He not only understood Russian, but he spoke a few words and seemed very comfortable with both languages.

Hmmmmm.....

Nabakov, Brodsky or Gogol?

Visit From Papa Sasha!

Tyoma's Grandpa from Moscow came to visit us for a few days. Everyone took lots of pictures:
 
  Papa Sasha wins Tyoma over instantly with colorful and fantastic drawings.  

After breakfast Papa Sasha showed Tyoma how to take photgraphs with his digital camera. Although Tyoma's first photo was of the ceiling, his second turned out pretty well!

  "Oooooooooh!" Lunch at the Beanery with robo-crab.   Papa Sasha's lovely portrait. T looks like a Franklin Mint china doll.  Badminton game!   Students of English hard at work!   It's for you! Visits with Papa Sasha always go so smoothly.  I think that's because they are so brief and on such short notice that I don't have time to get bent out of shape!

Seaside Escapade

Today Mom, Tyoma and I took off for a little seaside excursion. We left at 9:15 this morning despite the overcast and slightly windy weather. Mom sat in the back seat with Tyoma, entertaining him with travel toys, noises and general silliness.
 
Mom also entertained me on the drive to Hampton Beach, since she knew the name of all the trees, shrubs, flowers and foliage that we passed on the roadway. I know nothing about local flora except that some trees are oaks and others are pine trees. In fact, I only recently made the connection between acorns and oaks. Duh.
 
Anyway, Tyoma spent the last bit of our drive gasping dramatically, saying “Ooooooohh!” and “O-cye!” pointing out the window to the sea. His little eyes glowed! We arrived first at Hampton Beach, which was relatively deserted, except for a few senior citizens milling about and a smattering of skinny joggers. The season is over.
 
We didn't park because I forgot to bring $40 in quarters for the meters so we could spend a half an hour on the beach. We left then for our ultimate destination, Wallace Beach, which was also closed for the season. Actually, the beach and parking lots are still accessible, but the facilities were all locked up tight. This solitude was fortunate, since Tyoma behaved like a little maniac.
 
He obviously loves the ocean, but the size and newness of it blew the little circuits in his head. He pitched fit after fit, screaming and crying when I made him hold my hand. He wanted to go, go, go! The weather was too blustery for a walk in the waves, so I struggled with him as he tried to drag me into the surf. It was frustrating.
 
After fifteen minutes of exertion, we packed up and made our way back to the SUV. Poor Tyoma looked so tragic, clutching onto his baa and sucking frantically on his souska as I wheeled him to the car. We visited another recreation area by the sea with a modest grassy park. A small group of mothers and a few toddlers Tyoma’s size were picnicking over to one side.
 
I said a silent prayer and set Tyoma free. To his credit, he did relatively well until he caught sight of the waves at a corner of the park. Another tussle ensued, this time with me trying to prevent him from scaling the boulders and rocks that blocked him from the sea. More screams and crying, this time accompanied by the stares of everyone else at the park.
 
I wasn’t quite mortified, but indeed I was a trifle embarrassed. So much for our seaside adventure! We packed it up and decided to go out for lunch. Would Tyoma throw an unprecidented and alarming fit that would humiliate us in front of the restaurant staff?
 
No! He was a total sweetie who completely charmed the everyone. “Oh, what a cute little boy!” our waitress with the little-girl voice cooed. She fussed over him and he had the audacity to giggle as if to say, “See, I am a totally reasonable child. I just needed some love and understanding!” Sheesh!
 
The three of us had a super lunch. Mom and I ordered the mega plate of fried clams, with tartar sauce, fried potatoes, coleslaw and a tumbler of peanut oil to guarantee a caloric content of 10,000. Tyoma ate fried chicken, fruit, and French fries. Despite all the overstimulation today, he was a good little boy. In the pictures below, he is eating a lemon (loves them) slice.