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March 1990

 

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
1990-03-02 T. & D. -

Kat is doing fairly well with bead stringing, ring stacking, and block building. We have been working on building a block tower 10 high, sniffing, and coloring. I'd appreciate if you couold attempt this at home too.

Thanks, J.E.(Occupational Therapist)

Next week, the unit will be transportation. We'll focus on car, truck, train, plane & bus. We'll do some matching activities, object identification, auditory, discrimination activities & create play activites using the theme of transportation.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-08

Kat has been doing fairly well with eye contact, following directions (with some prompting) and responding to Name. We've seen some improvement in initiating play & appropriate play with toys.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-09

Iam sending in a video which might be apporpriate given this week's lessons on transportation

T. & D. (Parents)

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1990-03-13

This week the unit will focus on "toys and things to play with". We'll emphasize ball, doll, block & teddy bear. We'll do some matching, object identification and picture identification. We'll focus on a lot of creative play acttivities. For example: rolling ball to one another, feeding & putting baby doll to bed, build houses out of blocks for the little people and playing with teddy bear. This may also be a good time to work on creative play at home as well.

L.G. (Teacher)

Please let us know about Kat's response to other kids. From talking to other parents I was told that you have tested all the kids again and determined the kids progress. Why wasn't Kat tested?

D. (Mother)

Sorry we forgot juice for today.

!! Kat cannot drink milk in addition to her other diet restrictions (no sugar, preservatives, artificial flavors or colors (all natural) ! !

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1990-03-14

D. -

We are in the process of testing all the children including Kat. We've been taking a few children a week to do testing. We'll be sure to include milk to her allergy list.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-20

Please let us Know what this weeks unit is focusing on. Also, please let us know how Kat's testing is coming along. Kat looks through books now and if we ask her she will name objects (and point to) in the book.

D. (Mother)

D. -

This week the unit is focused on sensory activities. Suggested activites to do at home: 1. Making play doh then rolling play doh & making it into a ball. 2. Silly Foam - it's a cream that you can use in the bathtub (instead of using Shaving Cream), encourage Kat to play in the foam, making designs using her whole hand or individual fingers. 3. Cooking activities such as making jello, pudding, - encourage Kat to help you pour & mix ingredients. 4. Auditory activity: using musical instruments; have Kat play the instrument while the music is on and hold the instrument still when the music is off. Therapists are still in the process of testing.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-22

D. -

I've seen some nice improvement in Kat's play skills. She will now build block houses for the farm animals, puts baby to bed and rocks the bed, and take the little people to school on the school bus. She is also becoming more interested in the kitchen area: (ie) pretending to stir soup in a pot. She is also doing very well with following simple directions and responding when her name is called. We've also noticed Kat has been having brief tantrums (screaming & kicking) if we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do or if we change an activity that she likes. She is usually able to calm herself down pretty quickly though. Eye contact is improving.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-27 Could you please take the cover off Kat's lunch (pancake) and heat it in the microwave for 35seconds. Thankyou. Kat is on an antihistimine which may make her sleepy.

T. & D. (Parents)

OK -

The unit this week will focus on Self Awareness. Suggested activities to do at home: 1. Using mirror, talk about the body parts that you need to create a face - (eyes, nose, mouth); Show Kat where the eyes, nose, & mouth go on a face then ^ give Kat a blank face & see if she can correctly place the eyes, nose, & mouth on the face. 2. Work on identifying own facial features & body parts on a doll. 3. Also work on identifying hands & feet - talk about things you wear on your feet & hands. Talk about things you do with your hands (wave "bye bye", etc ...) 4. Show Kat pictures of herself & identify. 5. Do activities that require Kat to explore the object or whatever, using her senses such as touch, sight, hearing & smelling. For example: use different items that feel different, look different, may have a different sound and that may have a different smell to them. Talk about the body parts that are related to the senses. 6. Emotions: Talk about how Kat is feeling: happy, sad and angry in specific situations.

L.G. (Teacher)

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1990-03-30 Kat wasn't feeling well last night, she has a post nasal drip and it upset her stomach.

T. & D. (Parents)

Thank you for letting us know. She seemed okay today.

L.G. (Teacher)

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