As I sit here I can hear Beth singing at the top of her voice to her Pink CD. She sounds just like any other 10 year old girl enjoying her music. She’s been getting into the groove lately. I found a list she wrote for when and if she has a friend over for a sleep over. The list was quite varied with things to do like makeovers and watching dvds. It also had ‘rolling in the mud’. My personal favourite was ‘busting some moves’. I love her imagination and I hope that one day she’ll have the chance to do that. Maybe not the mud one though. When we’re in the new house all the kids will have their own rooms so I’ve told them that they can have friends for sleepovers then.
We had another very successful afternoon at Sensational Kids today. One of the receptionists there is a male by the name of Dave. He’s a lovely guy and luckily has a good sense of humour. Last time we went Beth decided to call him Ernie. We all had a good laugh at this as when you have a proper look he does actually look a bit like him! The staff gave another receptionist Julie the name of Bert. This week Beth decided that he wasn’t Ernie at all and called him Hurley. I had to explain that it is because of his hair as one of the guinea pigs in the movie G-Force is called Hurley. I didn’t want him to think it was because of the guy from Lost! I must say, Beth does crack me up at times!
Beth worked well with Melinda, working on her pencil grip and then doing a picture with pins which she had excellent concentration for about 30 minutes. Melinda had ‘revved up Beths engine’ so to speak and noted how much work she got out of her so I’ll let her teacher know that perhaps every 30 minutes Beth needs to do an activity to wake her up a bit.
As usual Beth’s session with Rod was fabulous. He knows what to try with Beth to get the best out of her and today was no exception. It’s usually something old mixed in with something knew so that it’s a bit unexpected, that’s when you get the good stuff from Beth, when she doesn’t know what’s coming. Today we got her old favourite Hullabaloo out of the cupboard, picked by Beth, and the card match up game again picked by Rod. Before we could play Hullabaloo the usual way Rod wanted to use the game to his advantage. He opened the box of matching cards and spread the Hullabaloo pads out all over the floor. Usually it has an electronic voice telling you which pads to move to. There may be 3 square ones, 3 food ones, 3 musical instruments. Also about 3 of each colour, so there’s always more than one option to choose from. At the end if you’re on the pad that is named you get to do a victory dance. Of course Beth does this even if she doesn’t win. I must admit there is great satisfaction in doing the victory dance or the monkey dance if I win so I get it!
The difference in todays session is that Rod decided to instruct Beth with actions rather than words. He would point to a cranium pad and at the box of cards. Beth cottoned on amazingly well that this meant that he wanted her to put these cards on the pads indicated. Rod would do something like move his arms back and forth rapidly and Beth would guess that she had to find something that went fast. She had to find something wavy, something red, something that was smelly, all sorts of things. I was so impressed with her. When Rod asked for something big she took it that one step further and said she could find something massive.
It was more difficult when the tables were turned the other way but Beth got the picture eventually. Rod wanted her to let him know which cards he had to put back in the box without her talking. She did cheat a bit by making noises like a moo for the cow but she still understood that no words could take place and gave it her best shot. It was such a good session, almost like if you take one thing away it makes way for the concentration levels to be higher. Beth had to use her eyes and really think about what was required and she was 100% focussed and there. Both Rod and I agreed when I told her that her engine level had been ‘just right.’ Once the hard game was over Beth got to play hullabaloo the proper way and do the victory dance even though she didn’t win. And of course the big reward, being carried on Rods shoulders and tossed into the ball pit, that one never changes cos that’s the one Beth asks for all the time.
