Determination!

I'm not sure if I've actually explained why Jack is back in therapy so here's the story. Around the end of school I started realizing that Jack was unable to do many things that kids his age could do. Such as unbuckle his car seat, tear open a granola bar and balance related things were a struggle for his as well. Jack has been to occupational therapy before back when he was 3 and couldn't open a door or pull up his own pants. He needed some help getting the dexterity in his hands built up. His therapist also tried working on his core since in her words, "Jack doesn't know where he is in the world"! After 20 sessions with Miss Julia he greatly improved and graduated from therapy. Like I said I was concerned so his pedi gave us a referral for him to be evaluated again at Children's Therapy Center in Kent. This is the same therapy center that Ella goes to for speech. 

Last month I took all the kids to CTC for Jack's evaluation. Miss Sarah took us to a room that had a big section and then a smaller section that was divided by a half door. I kept the other 3 kiddos entertained in the big room while Miss Sarah evaluated Jack in the smaller room. The whole time I kept hearing her say things like, "Great Jack", "That was awesome"...etc. Of course I'm sitting there thinking I'm a neurotic mom that is just freaking out about my kids development for absolutely no reason! When they were finished Miss Sarah came and chatted with me and thankfully I'm not a neurotic mom! Jack does need some help with a few things and I'm so glad he's going to get it. The main things we are working on are Jack's muscles and his brain talking to each other, his senses in his hands and his ability to problem solve and recognize order and patterns. 

I have been very open with Jack about how his muscles and brain need to talk and work together and since I've been doing that he has been using his muscles more and been able to do more. I think just bringing it to his attention has made him focus a bit more. In regards to his senses in his hands Miss Sarah has been having him roll things in his hands and move them up to his finger tips using only that one hand. She's also played games with him where he has to reach into a sock and find a certain item by only using his sense of touch. It's been challenging for him. 

As for the problem solving, order and patterns we've been working with LEGO's. They are great for his fine motor skills and increasing his muscles in his hands as well. A couple weeks ago Jack used his own money to buy a Star Wars LEGO set. That afternoon I worked with him to put it together. I walked him through it step by step, comparing the instruction pictures to what the LEGO's he put together looked like. Did they match? Was that piece in front of the red piece or behind it? Did you push the pieces together so there is no space between them? For each and every page of instructions! It took us 3 hours of working together, but he did it! I only helped with 2 pieces. I was SO proud of him! I know that therapy is going to be a tremendous help and I can't wait to see the progress he makes!