Bike Riding

My son was riding his bike before he started, but hated it and avoids riding it. He wobbles alot and if his concentration is taken away he falls. Last summer he came back with a gash- head,body and legs and didn't get it out on it for the rest of the summer. In the initail assess. he did not register on the vestibular scale at all, not a blip!! So we have an explanation for the wobbles and screeches. I see bike riding as mostly vestibular and visual balance, as the feet are pedalling the somatosensory cannot be relied on fully(this was Matthew's strongest balance sense). At his 2nd assess, he had a reading for vestibular but his somatosensory reading has lowered slightly (as the other sense take more control) we were told this was normal, and it makes sense to me.Do people with stronger vestibular readings find their bike riding wobbly? You probably need all 3 senses to be spot on to ride normaly.

He now rides with confidence, off the kerb- plop and round and around!

Another good day

Good this morning again, he got up before me, dressed and had his breakfast, and I only woke when I heard the cupbords opening when he was collecting his lunch box ingredients!!
I had a chat with the lady who encouraged us to do the Dore program (a work colleague), she was a lot more forthcoming about it all, and was telling me how her daughter has nice writing now and enjoys her schoolwork. I think she didn't want to say too much at the start, not to influence what I was seeing. Today I was telling about the tie and the good morning we had yesterday she asked "Do you think it's Dore?" I said "yes I did" and she chatted about her daughter (13 now), she only wished she found it earlier as she had already been put in the bottom streams and the schools don't seem to care much about these children. She also commented that she wanted to see Dore treatment in every school.
Matthew seems to be reminicing a lot, and saying "remember that or that" (I don't normally).

S&L therapist Letter of Support sent to School in support of 1:1

Our brilliant S&L therapist sent this letter to support our request for 1:1 support for Matthew for literacy lessons. She belived alot of his problems were down to attention difficulties. She even asked if he had a diagnosis of ADHD.

Breakthrough

We had a brilliant morning, Matthew decided last night he was going to get up early, dress, get his own breakfast, clean his teeth, exercise then relax for 30mins before school.
Well he did it (nearly forgot the teeth!), BUT he came down with his tie knotted!That's huge, he was so pleased. (The thin bit was a bit long!!) I was delighted, after weeks of "go round up through, round again up through and through the gap, he's got it. Shoe laces here we come!!He even helped with his lunch pack.

Parents Evening

Firstly we visited the Language Support Teacher, who was very pleased with matthew's progress. She commented that when she first had him in Oct 2006 she had to sit next to him to egg him on, now she has given him work and wandered off, rushing back to find him keeping up and studiously doing it. She does dictation with the group, and sometimes he can't get it all down due to Dysgraphia and poor short term memory, but he is not doing to badly and getting the hang of it. He is getting all his spelling correct within the lesson.

The class teacher however knows there more than is coming out on paper. She is going to concentrate on him within a group of children she is going to target for the next term. Her best pupils cannot improve much more, so the others are to be pushed for their best. I am happy with this arrangement, she still wants us to try for 1:1 again.

Lastly we saw the SENCO. We gave her our concerns she has asked for 1:1 again, and is going to phone the Ed Psych for a within class/playground assessment to detail how Matthew learns within the class environment and how he interacts with the other children on the yard. She said if this fails we will have to apply for a statutory assessment which could lead to a Statement of Special Needs.

Improvements 3

More new words coming out, we call them the word of the day. I was asked if I was making "adjustments" this morning when clearing files on the computer. Stuart commented that his memory is improving e.g he reminissed about holidays, and said I didn't like the food when we where there etc.
Exercises easy today and fun, bouncing on the ball and tossing a bean bag (I think he has that one sussed).
I am also finding he is asking "What does that word mean" not just ignoring the fact that things are not making sense.

Improvements 2

We are seeing "changes" just over 3 months in. Matthew sang the 2 songs he knows last night word perfect for the first time, he hasn't sung them for a while, but always put in his own words in the past because his memory was so poor. More vocabulary that's in "there"seems to come out every day! He has had 14/14 in his spelling test 2 weeks in a row (unheard of) and seems happier in his school work. Longway still to go with organisation of thoughts on paper, but I can see it is starting to come.

Phone Call to Ed. Psych

Following the refusals of the applications for relevant help I have contacted the ED Psych again for advice. He has decided to ask that Matthew to be assesseed for attention dificulties at a Child and Family clinic in a hope that he may be seen there more quickly. We have a least another 8 months to wait for an appointment at the Child Assessment Clinic at the hospital.

Trying for extra Support

Found out the request for 1:1within class had been turned down, the reason is that he has 2x 30mins session with a Special Support Assistant for Speech and Language already.
Turned down for Dyslexia Support as he reads too well, spelling is area of concern (but apparently not for them).

Phoned to School spoke to Senco/Headmistress. She says she will reapply for 1:1 support. I'm going to put a letter in with it this time and so is his class teacher. This time I'm going to include the key phrases given to me by the Ed Psych:-
Not reaching his full potential,
the school is not meeting his needs,
he needs greater support than simply language,
he is being investigated for attention difficulties.
Has complex needs.

Keep at it.

Teacher's verdict so far.

Saw matthew's teacher this p.m.
Good news she says "he's gained confidence and is interacting more with the other children in the class (boys) and is listening more. His reading is above age. No worries with his maths at all". He has to be told off for talking now, but she said this was a good thing as he is mixing better. I see this as a good sign that he's coming into "our world" so to speak. She said he used to just sit there quietly looking lost.

Bad News However he can't organise his thoughts into a piece of writing he has to have sheets with the sentence started, he is not taking things in when she starts the lesson introduction and she still wants 1:1 for literacy lessons. He is not reaching his potential.

OMT 12/3/07

Had to post these seperately as you can't enlarge more than picture/date by clicking them.

2nd Follow-up Assessment

Went to Dore for an assessment today


OMT tests

Smooth Persuit
Very good tons better, stayed on track mostly all the way through.I can tell his eye tracking is much better from the amount he is reading these days, this happened within a month.

Saccades
Better but could be tighter to the lines.

Primitive Reflexes

Matthew never crawled, he commando crawled, we thought it oh so cute at the time. We wish someone at told us how important all these different developmental stages were, we were more concerned with getting him walking. He has retained primitive reflexes. I did lots of reading about the INPP centre in Chester, whose exercises are meant to deal with this. Dore I believe have encorporated them into their routines.

Improvements 1

We have seen
word processing improvements.
Vocabulary improvements.
Reading is more fluent definitley and willingness to read that "extra chapter".
Eye tracking is better, I now don't have to run my finger under each word as it's read.
His spelling has taken off, he knows most of the 100 most used words, which have been on his IEP for 2 years.Remember in Nov 06 we were told that his work had platauxed and we need the Ed Psych out urgently.I'm waiting to see Matthew's teacher, as his reading support teacher told us that his class teacher was amazed with his work (they discussed him at an IEP meeting). I don't know whether this amazement was with the work in the reading support class or in class work generally. Meeting next Monday.He was not eligible for Dyslexia support as his reading age is not poor enough, but they said spelling was a concern. The ED Psych said 1 hr a week help is not going to make that much difference anyway! I'm not upset as I feel we have his reading and spelling are in hand anyway. It's all the other symptoms broadly termed "the fog" , that I want help with.

Speech Improvements

He no longer says lickle instead of little and bockle instead of bottle (struggled with this), his vocabulary has taken off. He sat down in the week and told us all about the Eisteddfod (a Competition day, written and performing, the same children seem to win everything). Matthew had no expectations as he's used to failing so that went over his head, but he told us how a few of his friends were crying when the same old children (you know the ones that get all the parts in the plays) got all the prizes). He related it all clearly- a non foggy day. Teachers seem to think the "best" children excelling is an indication of how good the school is, I however see the yard stick of good teaching as how well you teach the more difficult children. The non learning disabled ones will always progress happily.