Little Clues

I think after experiencing so much with Dominic's issues, I'm picking up signs that Damien is following the same path on alot of the same problems Dominic has had. Either that or I'm just losing my mind. The speech thing by 18 months was pretty apparent. Lately though he's starting to show signs of SID (sensory Intergration Disorder) He has been itching his back raw lately. Cries when he hears loud sounds. He's only prefering a few foods and is extremely picky. He threw up last night as soon as I opened Mia's diaper. He threw up watching Dominic throw up at the dinner table last night and a few times before this. SID sucks y'all. I don't want two kids with it!!! I certainly don't want two kids at the table throwing up by certain tastes/textures we've asked them to try or by one seeing the other puke. (sigh)

SID In Action

I didn't record everything but I caught a few moments on video. This morning Dominic woke up all upset. Everything is itching, sticky, and loud. Usually however the morning starts is how the day will end up. So since he's only been up for a hour already whining about itching, everyone being loud at the table, and washing his hands twice in five minutes because something is sticky, I expect it to be one long day with him. We need to go to the store for Thanksgiving items so I'm alittle worried. Alex and I planned on spending a bunch of time in the kitchen.

This week Damien's Path really pushed the letter M. Damien makes MMM noises when playing with cars. He makes a "mooo" sound too when he sees a car. He won't say any of others but will say "mama!" He does try to say "mop" we think. So she knows he's able to get the letter out.

I'm noticing that Damien is much more out to share then Dominic. Dominic is always trying to steal Linda from Damien at therapy. She'll give him something to share with Damien but he won't but other way around and Damien will share whatever he is given.

Back Pedaling

Tuesday at Gymnastics, I asked the lead instructor about Dominic if he was doing ok in there the past few weeks. She said he has his moments but is doing pretty well. She thinks more repetition in the class and he'll learn to sit still and do as he's told. Not run off, etc. lol While there one of the assistant teachers from his school was there to work out. We talked for a bit and I told her I was able to talk to someone from this new EI center that deals with psychological issues for children. She tells me he is just fine with her and she doesn't think I should really worry about how he is acting. So she has me questioning myself again. Is he normal? Is he "just a boy?" Do ALL boys act like this? She says she's the only teacher out of the 4 that is able to get him to listen, mind and not have outbursts or wailing fits. That to me is not normal. When she's not there his day is down the tubes. I don't like that little changes set him off. It's not right.

I still plan on contacting them though to see what they can help with.

Auditory Bombardment and Making Progress

It was definitely interesting this week with Damien's Speech Path. He got a headset that we are talking directly into a mic which keeps him focused looking at our mouths. She is trying 2 syllable words this week so she gave me a list of words to read to him twice a day along with the oral therapy toys to "wake up" his mouth with sensation. I told her after she had asked me about drooling that all the sudden I noticed that yeah he does drool a lot. She said she has noticed while being here he always has his mouth opened, it's like he doesn't know HOW to close it. Interesting. lol So our homework with the words is hopefully get him to say 2 syllables. On Hot dog after hearing the word about 40 times he did in fact say "ha....."and then did the tongue thrust spit thing to end it. She said that counts as 2 syllables because he tried. When we talk to him, she wants us to clap or tap out the word. For example: Hot- Dog (2 claps) Cow-boy (2 claps) Da-mi-en (3 claps) He caught on quickly though and so did Dominic (who sits in on his therapy for attention lol) that the claps separate parts of the word.

2 New Words Damien can now say... ha (hot) Boo! (said a lot during Halloween)