Tuesday, July 31, 2007

denuding myself

Ah, the little, and sometimes not so little, hairs that sprout in unwanted places. It's been awhile since I've defurred my face. Based on my past experiences, I have trepidation about doing this myself. Years ago I waxed my bikini area and ended up with horrifying bruising in my groin area. On my upper lip I've always broken out in a mustache of acne.
I made a few calls to salons-but never got in. And the little hairs continued to flourish. I can't stand the little hairs any more! So last night at 11 pm I decided it was time to rip those babies out with my recently purchased facial wax strips.

I went to bed with my upper eyelids and upper lip burning. I don't remember it hurting this much. I awoke to swollen eye lids. On one of them I actually managed to pull off some skin - so now I look like I walked into a wall. And the upper lip, it is in shock as evidenced by the newly acquired acne mustache.
Good thing I didn't go for the bikini wax.
If there is a nexttime for all this-I'm scheduling in advance and paying up front.

A question

If the week looks like this:
M swim at the pool
T swim at the lake
W swim at a friends pool
Th swim at the pool
F swim at the lake
S swim at Grandpa's pool

Then when and how often does one need to bathe the little children?

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

I cherish my coffee and my coffee time

Currently I am reading Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith. It is the 7th book in the series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. They are sweet, simple books that serve as a nice escape. I loved the following piece where the main character shares her thoughts on life and tea (the sister to coffee on my mind).


"She put the paper aside and marshalled her thoughts. It was all very well sitting there on her verandah thinking about the problems of others, but it was getting late in the afternoon and there were things to do. In the kitchen at the back of the house there was a packet of green beans that needed to be washed and chopped. There was a pumpkin that was not going to cook itself. There were onions to be put in to a pan of boiling water and cooked until soft. That was part of being a woman she thought, one never reached the end. Even if one could sit down and drink a cup of bush tea, or even two cups, one always knew that at the end of the tea somebody was waiting for something. Children or men were waiting to be fed; a dirty floor cried out to be washed; a crumpled skirt called for the iron. And so it would continue. Tea was just a temporary solution to the cares of the world, although it certainly helped... Most problems could be diminished by the drinking of tea and the thinking through of things that could be done while tea was being drunk. And even if that did not solve the problems, at least it could put them off for a little while, which we sometimes needed to do, we really did." page 12-13

Monday, July 23, 2007

Follow up on the little one

I called case manager and expressed my concerns. Requested speech 3 times a week, an OT eval for SID and concurred with rec to have family see psych there that does ASD diagnosis. I held eval to go over with mom at first therapy session. There are 5 pages of details that one who "is in the know", would "know" what I was outlining without labelling. It is touchy-technically I am not supposed to diagnose. If the family were to look up things online, they would be able to match up symptoms to my report. I know that a dx will likely be provided in the next couple months. I feel that starting the therapy and family education process is good. It still breaks my heart knowing that one day soon all of their fears will be confirmed.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

GOOSE!

One of my dearest clients is a six-year-old boy with ASD (Autism Spectrun Disorder or Autism). At times when he is frustrated or confused by the task at hand he may bang his head on the wall, floor or the nearest person.
Last week we had a productive, successful session and I was wrapping up. It was hot and I was wearing white pants with the thought that the light color would make me cooler. While he stood on the rug, I began to clean-up a few things on the floor. I turned, and bent to pick up a puzzle.
It must have been the size of the target and the bright white. Suddenly, while in my precarious position, I received a head butt to my hind quarters that nearly landed me in the second shelf of the bookcase.
If I had been him, I would've done the same thing. It was funnier than anything.

My son?

I took Granny and the kids out to breakfast the other day.
The waitress arrived and I ordered. She then said, "And what does he want", while motioning to my...daughter.
When I turned and looked at Ki, I couldn't fault the waitress. There sat Ki in her favorite new hat. It's a Spiderman baseball hat that she claimed after her brother brought it home from a birthday party. This was paired with her A's t-shirt.
The only thing feminine about her is her beautiful face.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

AJ "Wanna see my finger?"

AJ has pretty much recovered from the fracture and nail avulsion of his right middle finger. He still enjoys sharing his injury with people. Of course modelling the injury is best done by folding down the fingers beside the recovering finger and holding it up to the face of the observer. My sweet boy has no idea what he is communicating.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

mmmmm

  1. Situation ::
  2. crazy
  3. Theme song ::
  4. I'm a nut
  5. Kelly ::
  6. Merriefield (high school friend)
  7. Club ::
  8. soda
  9. Swerve ::
  10. beause I was talking on the cell
  11. Couch ::
  12. with my big butt
  13. Bigfoot ::
  14. that's me
  15. Arbitrary ::
  16. bla bla
  17. Inventor ::
  18. Roy W. my friend
  19. Blazer ::
  20. Simpson





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Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Eyes Have It

While sitting on the couch AJ queries, "Momma, why is there a rope coming out of your vagina?"
I remember I am having my period and respond, " ."
Given his simpler thinking as demonstrated below-I avoid an explanation.
AJ, "Momma, can we cut the rope or pull on it?"
Me, "NOO! I mean, uh, No."

Concrete?

me at dinner time, "AJ! THERE IS A PIECE OF PIZZA IN THE KITCHEN WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!"
AJ shows up and stares at the pizza on the plate, "Where's my name?"

Friday, July 06, 2007

Your chance to diagnose

In my practice 50% to 75% of my caseload are from my Regional Center contract to provide early intervention services to children up to the age of three. Monday I had a new evaluation. So for you out there, here is an exam for you. Parents and therapists alike are invited to participate. If you are a Mama in my tribe you're likely to score better that many of the therapsits out there.

Read portions of my evaluation below and write a brief summary, include your clinical impressions and recommendations.
Client:A two, nearly three, year old boy.
me,"Tell me about his talking."
Mom," Well, he use to have some animal sounds, but he is not making them any more."
me, "What does he say or what sounds do you hear.?"
Mom, "ma or mamamam, ba, da, yi, raspberries, humming, squeals."
me,"Does 'ma' or 'da' ever mean 'Mama' or 'Dada' or is it just a babble?"
Mom, "I think sometimes he does, if he is really mad."

me,"How does he let you know what he wants?"
Mom, "He takes my hand and pulls me, or pushes me, or pushes my hand in the direction of what he wants."
me, "Does he ever point to what he wants?"
Mom,"No."
me, "Does he point to pictures, like in a book."
Mom,"No."


Mom,"He really likes having things in order. If he picks up something off the table or his plate, he puts it back in exactly the same place. He's very neat, if cat chow comes out of the bowl onto the floor, he picks it up and puts it in. He loves to close doors, turn lights on and off and flush the toilet. We hope he'll still be so tidy when he is older!"

me, "What toys or activiteis does he enjoy?"
Mom,"He loves puzzles and is really good at them. Also, balls and cars. His favorite toy that plays music and lights up when you press the alphabet letters. Oh and he loves running. He could run all day. He has a lot of energy. He loves wrestling with his Dad."

me," How is eating for him? Does he have specific likes or dislikes?"
Mom, "OH Yeah! He is a very picky eater! He will only drink milk and it has to be in one of these 3 cups that are the some. He's chewed the straws down on the cups. I changed the straw, but then he wouldn't use the cup at all. He loves, pizza, and pasta-but only if it is filled pasta. He'll eat meat only if it is ground. He won't eat fruit unless it is babyfood. Even if I put in little chunks of banana in the baby food banana, he spits out the chunks. If I spill something on his tray, he likes touching it-like yogurt or milk. But he doesn't like hacing his hands dirty. He didn't like the playdough at school. I don't think he knew what to do with it so he just poked it with the little knife they gave him. He liked playing in the rice though, because he could pour it."

me,"I notice he is sitiing in your lap facing you. He did look at me and wave hello. Will he sit on the floor with you?"
Mom, "This is what he usually does when we are anywhere but home." She attempted to turn him to face away from her chest, and he refused both physically and by vocalizing. "He likes really tight hugs in situations like this, it seems to calm him. He is very afffectionate"
me,"Well, our first goal will be to get him use to tolerating being here. Our first step will be to see if he can tolerate facing out whiole you hold him. Then we'll see if he will tolerate sitting on your lap on the floor. At that time we'll have you sit further back on the carpet, in the corner. That way he won't consider that you might stand up and go out the door.This will also become a safe place for him"

Other things to consider:
I do not yet have any forms with history from the family-as they weren't able to get them until the day of the evaluation. (Does that matter?)
He is an only child. (why does that matter?)
Family (both parents present) never asked about prognosis or diagnosis.
They clearly adore him and do not appear overly concerned.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy Fourth!

Every year when I go to the Fourth of July parade I feel weepy. Everytime members of the military go by I stand and applaud. I am thankful for their efforts. I get weepy thinking about the horrors some of them have experienced. That and how they have spent long stretches of time away from their loved ones and lived in grimey spaces with little in the way of creature comforts. All that and they get paid crap.
Thank you soldiers.
Peace on earth is our best bet.