Today started a new adventure in the therapy sessions for Connor. Sandy is his Occupational Therapist (my favorite out of the three of his therapist) and she had told me that she wanted to try something different with Connor called Therapeutic Listening. It is a series of CD's. You use one CD for two weeks and you have to consistently do it twice a day for 30 minutes at a time. No more, no less, without ever skipping a session. You must do these sessions at least three hours apart and I have to be there right with him for the whole thirty minutes. We cannot be watching TV or anything else. He can hold or play with a toy, as long as it doesn't make noise. We can do it driving down the road, or in church during the preaching, but not while other music is being played. It is a real commitment.
I had to purchase the headset part of it from her, it is a special type of headset, and then just used our regular portable CD player. Instead of purchasing all the CD's from her, which would cost us well over a thousand dollars, Sandy is allowing me to rent the CD's from her at a significant cut in cost. That way if there is a CD that he doesn't like or isn't working for him, we haven't wasted our money on purchasing something that we cannot use.
This is a program they use with children that have sensory issues and it can bring about real changes in them and their behaviors. Here is a list of some of the ways it will help him.
Should show improvement in: attention, organization of behavior, self regulation, development, refinement and mastery of postural and motor skills, bilateral motor patterns, articulation, timing in social interaction.
What does some of this mean in our terms? Improvement in sleep and wake cycles, reduction of sensory defensive behaviors, improved focus of attnetion and improvement in transitions, improvement in both verbal and nonverbal communication.
Sandy also brought and loaned to us a net hammock that hangs in the doorway to our laundry room. Connor can lay or sit in it and swing while listening to his CD's. (See picture above of him from his first time today) The movement along with the stimulation of the sound can benefit him even more. I can also sit in the hammock with him on my lap if it would make him happier.
Since Connor joined our life we have sure had our share of contraptions around our house. Specialized corner chairs, walkers of different degrees, therapy contraptions, and now this net hammock. The neat thing is the bar can stay up (which I can use to do chin ups, yes I already tried it and it works great) but the net part can easily be removed so as not to be in our way. He tolerated today's session really well and even smiled throughout some of it.
We will see how it goes and I will keep you posted on how it's going. We sure have learned a lot from this little guy in so many ways, and we are just thrilled to do anything that will help him improve in his life.
I had to purchase the headset part of it from her, it is a special type of headset, and then just used our regular portable CD player. Instead of purchasing all the CD's from her, which would cost us well over a thousand dollars, Sandy is allowing me to rent the CD's from her at a significant cut in cost. That way if there is a CD that he doesn't like or isn't working for him, we haven't wasted our money on purchasing something that we cannot use.
This is a program they use with children that have sensory issues and it can bring about real changes in them and their behaviors. Here is a list of some of the ways it will help him.
Should show improvement in: attention, organization of behavior, self regulation, development, refinement and mastery of postural and motor skills, bilateral motor patterns, articulation, timing in social interaction.
What does some of this mean in our terms? Improvement in sleep and wake cycles, reduction of sensory defensive behaviors, improved focus of attnetion and improvement in transitions, improvement in both verbal and nonverbal communication.
Sandy also brought and loaned to us a net hammock that hangs in the doorway to our laundry room. Connor can lay or sit in it and swing while listening to his CD's. (See picture above of him from his first time today) The movement along with the stimulation of the sound can benefit him even more. I can also sit in the hammock with him on my lap if it would make him happier.
Since Connor joined our life we have sure had our share of contraptions around our house. Specialized corner chairs, walkers of different degrees, therapy contraptions, and now this net hammock. The neat thing is the bar can stay up (which I can use to do chin ups, yes I already tried it and it works great) but the net part can easily be removed so as not to be in our way. He tolerated today's session really well and even smiled throughout some of it.
We will see how it goes and I will keep you posted on how it's going. We sure have learned a lot from this little guy in so many ways, and we are just thrilled to do anything that will help him improve in his life.
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