I'll be writing some blog posts now about the issue of how to help Liam learn. (I don't think anybody thinks "Leave him alone and he'll be fine" works for DS children. Or other children, for that matter, past a certain age.)
Liam's been eating from a spoon for a while, if you count touching a spoon I pick up for him, pulling it to his mouth, then letting go before it makes contact. That is, he participates, but without me... I tried yesterday morning letting him have it. He put it in his mouth, let go, and looked hilarious with a spoon sticking out of his mouth. (No pics; it's too short-lived.) But he doesn't think it's funny. He then shakes his hands the way he does when he's frustrated, grabs the spoon and flings it across the room (taking the cereal with it, alas), and cries.
I've been able to overcome some things by guiding him, or doing something partially. When he got his haircut (from me), he was so upset he didn't really get over it all evening. His next haircut took three days. I'd go around him with scissors when he was in his high chair, and try to get snips when he was busy with food. Usually he'd turn to look. Then he'd start getting angry, and I'd stop. Eventually he decided that it wasn't actually torture, although he still resists.
We haven't been able to get him to flip light switches by guiding his hand. He resists. He's a stubborn cuss, and he says, these are MY hands -- do NOT presume to tell me where to put them!
This spoon thing . . . I don't know how to make it gradual. I did alternate unguided with guided and me just feeding him, so it wouldn't be as upsetting. (Didn't work. The next day he remembered as soon as the spoon touched his lips, and threw it.) But if I give him some guidance, that means either I pull the spoon out of his mouth (using his hand to do it), or I don't, in which case it stays there and he gets angry. He absolutely will not keep his hand on the spoon once it's made contact with the mouth. He always pulls his fingers away as though it's icky.
Our PT said one of our big tricks will be to get him to want to do what we want him to do. More on that next time. In the meantime . . . anybody got some good ideas?
Liam's been eating from a spoon for a while, if you count touching a spoon I pick up for him, pulling it to his mouth, then letting go before it makes contact. That is, he participates, but without me... I tried yesterday morning letting him have it. He put it in his mouth, let go, and looked hilarious with a spoon sticking out of his mouth. (No pics; it's too short-lived.) But he doesn't think it's funny. He then shakes his hands the way he does when he's frustrated, grabs the spoon and flings it across the room (taking the cereal with it, alas), and cries.
I've been able to overcome some things by guiding him, or doing something partially. When he got his haircut (from me), he was so upset he didn't really get over it all evening. His next haircut took three days. I'd go around him with scissors when he was in his high chair, and try to get snips when he was busy with food. Usually he'd turn to look. Then he'd start getting angry, and I'd stop. Eventually he decided that it wasn't actually torture, although he still resists.
We haven't been able to get him to flip light switches by guiding his hand. He resists. He's a stubborn cuss, and he says, these are MY hands -- do NOT presume to tell me where to put them!
This spoon thing . . . I don't know how to make it gradual. I did alternate unguided with guided and me just feeding him, so it wouldn't be as upsetting. (Didn't work. The next day he remembered as soon as the spoon touched his lips, and threw it.) But if I give him some guidance, that means either I pull the spoon out of his mouth (using his hand to do it), or I don't, in which case it stays there and he gets angry. He absolutely will not keep his hand on the spoon once it's made contact with the mouth. He always pulls his fingers away as though it's icky.
Our PT said one of our big tricks will be to get him to want to do what we want him to do. More on that next time. In the meantime . . . anybody got some good ideas?