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January 1992

 

This daily correspondence between schools she attended and us gives you a glimpse of our daily life. Most parents of typical children do not communicate on daily basis with the teachers. This gives a reader an insight to how important daily communication is for a child with autism.

Kat has attended school since she was 3 years old. These are school notes that were result of correspondence with her parents and her teachers. We have made comments at a later date reflecting back on the impact of these events. Kats School Notes Index

 

Date

Notes

Comments

1992-01-02

 

1/2/1992! Hope you had a nice holiday. Kat's was pretty good. Would you mind bringing the sensory integration info on next home visit? Thanks.

 

 

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1992-01-03

 

1/3 I will send the stuff in Monday .

1/3 Danuta,

Thanks for resopnding to my grooming idea so quickly. I'm sending a picture home that Kat did independently. She is attending much more closely to the guidelines of each figure & picking different colors !

K.

 

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1992-01-05

 

1/5 Danuta,

Kat did cry a bit after you left today ( about 15mn ) and then got back into schedule. She did very well on computer & in gym. - also w/ toothbrushing .

K.

 

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1992-01-07

 

1/7 Danuta ,

I'm working on fork use w/ Kat . She usually uses the fork as a spoon & does not " spear " the foood . This increased her need to use her hands to push the food on the fork. Can you try to monitor this at mealtime? I think if she gets enough practice ,she will become more proficient w/ the fork .

Thanks ,

K.

1/7/92 Hi K., I'm sending in water in different type of container let me know if it worksout

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1992-01-08

 

1/8/92 Hi , how is Kat doing with her reading ? At home she is doing pretty well . She can read now 70 - 80 words. We also started to use the Franklin Dictionary . She likes using it , when you come on Friday maybe we can discuss how you could use it at school.

Danuta

nice ideas, carrot bites, garden veg chips

 

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1992-01-09

 

1/9 Danuta ,

Kat is on lesson 22 in Edmark ( comprehension lesson 4). She is doing very well on First Words (computer reading) as well . She mastered the third category (clothing/ today w/ out the voice prompt. She has begun to help Kte. during computer ( e . g . gives Kte. the answer ! ) .

I'd love to see the dictionary. I had a meeting w/ a Franklin rep before the holiday & it seems like a great tool !

We have carrot chips ,rice cakes & vegetable garden chips at school . If you want, the days Kat can have them for a snack just write us a note . It may save you some time since we already have those items. The water is fine in the box.

K.

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1992-01-13

 

1/13/92Hi K., Thanks for coming over Friday. Kat had a great weekend . Yesterday she sat in a restaurant for 2 hours without any problems !

She lost her 2 front teeth !

Danuta

1/13

Danuta ,

That's terrific about the weekend ! (did you eat Japanese? ) Our field trip to the hospital is Jan 28 . We will not require a parent chaperone . Also, have you asked parents about the fundraiser for the respite weekend? I'll be sending a note home this week .

Kat was very pleasant & worked nicely today.

K.

 

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1992-01-14

 

1/14 Hi , we will be getting together to talk about the fundraiser . Can we use the Meford Lakes school name in order to get their number for legal & tax purposes ?

Danuta

 

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1992-01-15

 

1/15 Danuta ,

I'll ask Est. about that tomorrow . It's really great of you to organize that!

Today was the 1st day for student volunteers ! At first Kat would not let the little girl B. touch her toys or play. I told B. to wait a bit & just sit next to her . W/ in 5 min . Kat was holding her hand & dancing w/ her around the room ! She wouldn't let her leave her side! She held her hand all the way to the door & waved " Good-bye " !

It was great !

K.

1/15 Danuta ,

Talked to Est. She said if this is a 1 time donation ( e . g . , cake sale ) , then the $1 can simply be collected and contributed to school as a private donation .

If you are to solicite vendors, I've included 3 sheets w/ tax# to be used if they request it . If not , the $1 can be donated as above .

If this is to be an ongoing thing , then an account may be necessary . That may e costly if the amounts contributed are small . You can also donate unless you enjoy PACT name if you like .

The board secretary recommends not using a separate account ( donating less formerly) to save cost unless this is to be an ongoing process.

K.

Danuta ,

Kat is whizzing through First Words! Some new words to add : truck, doll, ball, blocks, book, fork, cup , dish, glass , spoon, juice, apple , bread , milk, door, toilet , bed , bathtub , tree, snow, flower , flag. (she may have some of these already)

Could you send me an updated word list from your file ? I can't find the one you gave me !

Thanks !

K.

 

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1992-01-17

 

1/17/92 Hi , I put in the words , I wasn't sure if you meant that she can read them or knows them (the words above ) . She has been using the Franklin at home she usually types " I want " and asks for something then I print what she wants on a piece of paper and she copies it letter by letter like "chips " , "book " etc .

She makes some mistakes but she does follow it letter by letter .

Danuta

1/17 Danuta,

Thanks for the word list . I'll give S. a copy , too . She is doing great w/ reading !

Kat played Letto w/ Kte. today & took turns nicely . We made a "TURN" card to help signal when it was her turn to play ( i.e., when she had the "TURN" card ) . Try it at home if she & Bridget play games . She should hand Bridget the card & say " YOUR TURN" when she is finished her turn . ( more social opportunities for speech! ). Also, can you send a plastic cup in for Kat to use at snack time ? We are trying to conerve !

Thanks & Have a good weekend !

K.

 

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1992-01-21

 

1/21 Hi, Kat had a good weekend. She saw " Hook " and enjoyed parts of it . She skated on ice in back of our house ( ice skates ) did pretty well for first time . I changed her penny card to include rectangle instead of a smiley face , and gave her cards written out with different reinforcers . she picks out the reinforcer card and places itthere herself . Once she is done she types out on Franklin " I want a ______".

Danuta

1/21 Danuta ,

I saw " Hook " this weekend & I thought of Kat ! Glad she liked it . I like your idea for reinforcement & we'd use it here to help her learn new words ! She is doing a great job reading !

Also - thanks for the cup !

K.

 

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1992-01-23

 

1/23 Hi, yesterday we had our first dentist visit. Success ! First she watched Bridget go through cleaning then she had hers. Cried a little when got on a chair , but later kept her mouth open through checkup and cleaning !

1/23 That is exciting ! She's been very cooperative about toothbrushes here in school w/ a variety of staff . Been passing out PACT fliers to all special service people& visitors to our class . All have been very receptive .

K.

 

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1992-01-27

 

1/27 Thank you for distributing out flier . there is a slight error on the map of the flier I gave you before. I'm enclosing a corrected copy (Main st Mt Laurel was printed on the map instead of Marlton )

Thanks .

1/27 Danuta ,

I changed the copies w/ the old map .

What did you think of the prime time special ?

K.

 

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1992-01-28

 

1/28 I thought the prime time special was very interesting . As a result of this method (the article I saw in October) I got the Franklin for Kat .

I think it is helping her say longer sentences . I think any option for communication is better than no option. I think proffessionals who so quickly refuse to believe should go out and try it out and let us all know if it's real ! (Just kidding )

1/28 Danuta ,

I realize you're teasing - but I do worry about professionals who don't allow for others to examine the effectiveness of their techniques. I don't refuse to believe B. He hasn't given enough info to assess the effectiveness of his technique so I don't know what to believe . It would benefit so many if it would be published . We know how many leads and techniques are out there - so few have been found effective . Whole school systems are using methods that are wasting precious time for the child .

Also - Kat was very good at the hospital - she really liked the mask ! !

K.

 

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1992-01-29

 

1/29 Good point ! Kat has been chewing her clothes a lot lately , have you noticed any of that at school ?

Also has there been any written " report card " or progress sheet , I do not have anything ?

Danuta

Danuta ,

I've seen her do this as well. It does seem to be up. We usually say " no chewing " and redirect her . It's as if she's substituted that chewing for nail chewing ( the nail chewing seems to have decreased a bit . ) I ask if she would like to chew gum instead ( something like trident ) . We could teach her not to swallow it if she doesn't know how.

I'll be sending progress sheets home friday like we did last marking period. We send them home 3 times per year & you sign & return them .

K.

 

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1992-01-30

 

1/30 Enclosed is gum , that is a great idea , I think it might have something to do with the loss of her front teeth. she can't bite her nails now. I'd like her to chew gum that does not have sugar or artificial flavors or colorings . If this flavor does not work out let me know . How are you doing with water ? I do not seem to have a previous report copy could you send me that with the new report ?

Danuta

Danuta ,

The same copy is used for 3 marking periods . (There are 3 spaces to mark progress). When you sign it , you return it to me ( I can send 2 copies home if you'd like) . I use the school's system (different marks from PCDI)

Kat is doing well w/ the gum ( at first she swallowed it - I guess it looked like a vitamin ! ) . I showed her chewing & took it out after a few seconds. We'll keep increasing the time for chewing . She seems to like the flavor .

K.

PS . - Some articles of facilitated communication. D. sent one & S. had some . the debate continues!

Feb3, : Kat had a good weekend. She went roller skating yesterday initially she had a tough time but later she did great . she loved going fast when I pulled her .

Danuta

 

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