Excelling with Speech & Occupational Therapy

The therapist went through each row of the spreadsheet and listed what would have been the appropriate response, which was usually ignoring her tantrum. Chandni began doing that, and Ria’s tantrums reduced greatly.

Chandni’s hard work in making Ria practice what she did in therapy paid off, and in six months the speech therapist said Ria doesn’t need sessions. Her progress was remarkable. She communicated her needs, her vocabulary was extensive, and her tantrums had reduced.

Occupational therapy still continued. The original therapist moved cities, so Chandni found another one recommended by Dr. Kadam, nearby. This one focused on sensorial stimulation. Ria felt kidney beans, and the therapist did exercises with her, and also rubbed her arms for stimulation.

Chandni did the same at home, and also bear walk, crab walk and other animal walks, which Ria enjoyed. From commando crawls under the dining table, to backward hopping, the exercises gradually helped regulate Ria.

Ria didn’t like having her nails cut, but the therapist would cajole her and cut them, dangling a reinforcer. Chandni too cut Ria’s nails at home, even if they had grown only slightly, to get Ria used to this practice.

The therapist would converse with Ria about school – what she did, who her teachers were, what she thought about the activities she had there. Gradually, Ria’s responses improved – she started elaborating on each point, rather than answering in monosyllables.

Initially, the therapist suggest a shadow teacher for school, but Chandni voted it out. She felt they could manage without one, and they did.

Both Ria and her twin would push other children at school. Worried about the constant complaints from the school tai, Chandni asked the therapist for help. She suggested the duo say hi to the children they pushed. Building relationships in this manner with others at school helped, and the two stopped pushing others eventually.

Ria would not respond if someone would say Hi to her. The therapist would prompt Ria to reply Hi Komal, when she greeted her with Hi Ria. Eventually, Ria caught on and started responding without prompting.

Ria was a picky eater, and to get her used to eating a variety of food, the therapist would get her to have a bit of carrot, and then reward her with a reinforcer. Gradually, Ria started eating different kinds of dishes.

When Ria was four years old, she began learning writing in school, but found it challenging. Komal suggested practising on a chalkboard, where Ria could trace over Chandni’s letters by hand until she remembered the strokes.

“First start with letters without curves,” said Komal. So Ria learned E, F, H, L, I, T, Y, M, K. Once she had mastered that, she practised the remaining letters, which had curves. Komal drew a grid of 3 inch by 3 inch boxes on the slate, so that Ria could make letters that were medium sized rather than big. The teacher at school was amazed at Ria’s progress!

To be continued...

This post is a part of Blogchatter A2Z.