and develpmental specialist.

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I am the world's biggest advocate for the daily reading of the book, " Dr.

Seuss'

ABC's " It taught both of my boys their alphabet in no time at all. Not only do

they learn the letters but they are learning the lower case right along with the

upper case letters. I always pointed to the letters as I read... " Big A, little

a, what begins with A?... " I read it daily to and wore it out. I have

gone through two copies with Jonas because I bought him a new, clean and not

torn copy to take to the hospital. It is his favorite book, and I credit it for

teaching him his letters so early. He can now write his whole alphabet on the

" Magna Doodle " and his name etc. He has learned so much from doing puzzles and

games with educational content like colors, shapes etc. There is so much you

can do right away with now if you are not currently. The big puzzles

with the knobs the oversized knobs on each piece are so great for them too. When

your daughter makes any progress, have a clapping fit or praise her verbally and

kiss her. Jonas eats up clapping and praise because we have used it as his

motivator for so long. Shape sorters were a huge hit early on with Jonas, and

they can be gotten so cheap. You can teach shapes, colors, and at the same time

increase their fine motor skills. However, if you are not anywhere near the

shape sorting yet, this is something I did and the therapist asked if I minded

if he stole my idea. When Jonas was barely sitting up, I took a metal can from

powdered formula, and put heavy packing tape around the edge of the top rim.

Then, I cut a round hole in the top slightly larger than a quarter. I bought a

bunch of ping pong balls and had Jonas put the balls in the container through

the hole in the lid. He loved the sound the ping pong balls made as they hit

the metal can. He also did not have any frustration about having to line up a

triangle or anything like that. It was a cheap learning toy and a good one for

Jonas. (Please make sure the rim is not sharp anywhere before your child gets

hold of this can, I would not want to make a suggestion that hurt anyone!)

Talk to all the time and name things, sign if you can too... some basic

words to help her communicate earlier. Hugs to ie and ! (The OT

should do many learning things with her too at this age which could be seen as

developmental). I guess I had to be Jonas' own personal developmental

specialist in those first three years. One hour a day from you would be about

48 hours a month more than she would get with them. Even if that hour is divided

over the entire day 15 minutes here and there. Even if you can do 1/2 hour per

day in three ten minute sessions, she will get 24 hours of one on one therapy

and attention every month to help her learn and move forward. Don't

underestimate your own ability to teach her. You are her first and best

teacher. Bob and I do tag team learning with Jonas. I spend the most time with

him each day and week, but Bob knows what we are working on that day or week,

and he does some work with him in the evenings and weekends when he is not

working. We get in on it too, and Jonas loves to perform for " Gawk "

which is the only way he may ever say his brother's name. He CAN say it right

now, but he still calls him " Gawk " ! I think prefers it (from his

brother) over ! I hope you have lovely folks doing therapy with

and that all goes very well. I will be waiting to hear you bragging her up over

the months & years! Hugs to both kids!

Blessings,

Barb Martz

Mom to Jonas (MDS) & 10

RE: IMDSA membership-

Isn't that awesome that you can turn to your son for help! One of my

questions would have been when my daughter gets older, will she be able to take

care of me!! lol Seriously, this is awesome to hear that Tim has cooked for

you! Hope you feel better soon! And tell Tim! Let him get the big head! : )

My daughter just got her 6 month review back. She received an increase of PT

from 2x/week to 3x/week and they are adding OT. I am glad for this but upset

that they denied her a developmental specialist to work on her cognitive skills.

They tell me that because she is only 6 mo. it is still too young and in the

future they will approve special ed for her " probably " . I told them I was going

to take this fight all of the way. In all honesty, what does a child usually

receive? Am I picking the wrong battle?

Thanks and I am so happy to be a member!

Mazzu

Staten Island, NY

mother of ie (21.mo and (6mo. MDS)

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