Bethie and I just got home from Sensational Kids. I took some photos of the working out that I’ll attach in another post as it’s being temperamental at the moment. I found it very complex and was impressed that Beth grasped some of the ideas. First Rod has asked her what was going on and she told him that she had done maths and was doing data and chance. She then said it was about days away and people. We assumed from the rough diagram that it was in fact a bar graph about absenteeism but she didn’t elaborate at all. Rod was saying that Beth has got some great ideas but finds it hard to explain. As is shown in the white board, her linguistics as far as engagement, promimity and vocal tone are quite good. Her quantity and quality however are poor as she will answer questions with one word. We also had to try to get out of the whole question and answer way of speaking. She will only give what is required if you just ask a question as opposed to putting it in a conversation. For example rather than asking when seeing a bird “What’s that Beth?” you could say “Look there’s a bird in a tree over there.” This will model how you would say this and stop her answering a simple “A bird” as an answer. She then may go on to say “Yes, it is a bird in a tree” and even elaborate on colours/size etc.
We then went on to Beth writing lists. She had to write 3 things she liked, 3 things I liked and 3 thing Rod liked. She asked appropriately what we liked and I lead into my answers. For example I asked what I did after assembly on a Friday with my friends and she remembered that I do art class. Once she had all the answers Rod told her that he was going to argue why he didn’t like her choices, a bit of a debate. I myself found this quite difficult to grasp so I thought she did an excellent job. She then had to argue against our things. Rod said he liked Luna Park and she said that it was scary and the ghost train was haunted. She suggested that I don’t go to art anymore and I argued that I like to see my friends. With Rod’s help she suggested that I do something else with my friends. She did so well as it is a difficult challenge.
After Rod Beth went in with Whiskers (not her real name) our occupational therapist. They have developed a great bond and Whiskers reported to me that they enjoyed having back and forth conversation with Beth really interested in what Whiskers life was all about. They did a chart with what makes Beth happy. Beth told Whiskers that we were picking up a guinea pig on the way home today, she was obviously very convincing as Whiskers spoke with me about it. I said that no, that was not even a thought we had discussed. All in all they seemed to have another great session.
