Re: Summers off?

[Guest guest]

-

I definately can relate about taking some time off from therapies. We often thought about it, however never really took any significant time off from therapies. We did not want to risk a decline in forward progress on many fronts. Also, the therapy sessions kept me working with Gretchen and trying to have her achieve new things to show off to the therapists on their weekly visits.

At the most, we took a week or two (maybe even three) because of vacations or sickness. At 20 months, i would encourage you to keep up with what you can. At that age, there are so many different things that you are working on. However, do what you can. Maybe after taking a few weeks off, you and everyone else in the family will be so rejuvenated that it will be worth it in a different way.

My Gretchen is 4 and we are contemplating not having her attend her school's summer session. Its only a 4 week session, but then it only leaves 4 weeks (or so) of no therapies. We feel that her most significant delay is speech and we have a private speech therapist in addition to the school's therapist. We'll keep our private therapist (weekly one hour visit). I work now, but will stop come may/june. I plan to be able to work much more with Gretchen on alot of her therapy needs during the summer, something that has not been possible before.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Inga

mom to (8) and a & Gretchen-ds (4)

-------------- Original message from "cathyshaw02" : -------------- > Have any of you ever taken a summer off from therapies for your child > with DS? We are considering doing this (maybe) to give us all a much- > needed break. I would, of course, incorporate therapy goals into our > daily playtime, as we do now. > > What do you think? Has anyone ever done this? What do those of you > do with school-aged children? > > > Mom to Ethan-almost 4 years old and (DS) 20 mos. > > > > > > More pictures of our kids: > http://www.pbase.com/urriegrl/multiplesds >

[Guest guest]

I just think that kids can and will progress, therapies or not. Sure, they help but I have also seen great strides in motorically when she hasn't had PT for a month (due to cancellations, sicknesses, what-not). Sometimes, you can hit a wall with therapy- the family can and the child can. They are going to achieve the milestones at some point. I think you do things to encourage and facilitate the achievement of the milestones but you can't MAKE them happen. For me, the biggest thing that we as a family have gotten out of the therapies is knowledge and instruction on how the motor, fine motor and speech skills develop. We try to just take it from there- know what to expect next, what things to be doing with her/toys to get to encourage the next milestone, etc. I don't think her weekly appts. with various therapists alone are what is making her achieve milestones. Helpful, yes, but I don't know if that is more for us or for

her. Am I making sense? I guess I just think that we can get overboard with the therapies sometimes. Once a week or once a month, does it really make that much of a difference? Shouldn't the child have time to be a child and have what we all want for our children with DS- a "normal" life? I think that people and families have different ways of dealing with it all. It is hard to find a balance. Mom to Ethan -almost 4 years old and (DS) 20 mos.i.wronski@... wrote: - I definately can relate about taking some time off from therapies. We often thought about it, however never really took any significant time off from therapies. We did

not want to risk a decline in forward progress on many fronts. Also, the therapy sessions kept me working with Gretchen and trying to have her achieve new things to show off to the therapists on their weekly visits. At the most, we took a week or two (maybe even three) because of vacations or sickness. At 20 months, i would encourage you to keep up with what you can. At that age, there are so many different things that you are working on. However, do what you can. Maybe after taking a few weeks off, you and everyone else in the family will be so rejuvenated that it will be worth it in a different way. My Gretchen is 4 and we are contemplating not having her attend her school's summer session. Its only a 4 week session, but then it only leaves 4 weeks (or so) of no therapies. We feel that her most significant delay is speech and we have a private speech therapist in addition to the school's therapist. We'll keep our private therapist

(weekly one hour visit). I work now, but will stop come may/june. I plan to be able to work much more with Gretchen on alot of her therapy needs during the summer, something that has not been possible before. Good luck with whatever you decide. Inga mom to (8) and a & Gretchen-ds (4) -------------- Original message from "cathyshaw02" : -------------- > Have any of you ever taken a summer off from therapies for your child > with DS? We are considering doing this (maybe) to give us all a much- > needed break. I would, of course, incorporate therapy goals into our > daily playtime, as we do now. > > What do you think? Has anyone ever done this? What do those of you > do with school-aged children? > > > Mom

to Ethan-almost 4 years old and (DS) 20 mos. > > > > > > More pictures of our kids: > http://www.pbase.com/urriegrl/multiplesds >