Sunday, February 13, 2011
Miriam update!
I couldn't be happier with the progress our Miriam has been making these days. Besides the fact she is starting to "initiate" play with her sisters, she has been requesting things like playing outside "want to play outside" but her sentences and requests are getting longer. Here is a list of conversations that are not the result of parroting (IE: hearing the answers before hand then responding. She is starting to understand cause and effect in conversations in that when she is asked something she is supposed to answer it. Not only that but she is actually comprehending the questions and connecting them with an answer that is appropriate to the question.
1. What is your name? MY NAME IS MIRIAM!
2. Miriam, where do you live? I LIVE IN TEXAS!
3. Miriam, how old are you? I AM 6 YEARS OLD!
4. Miriam what do you want? I want some cookies or chips.
Besides questions like the ones above where she answered questions she has also been initiating and responding to conversation. For instance...
Miriam: "Mommeeee, I want some pizza!" Me: Miriam, you want some pizza? Then Miriam grabbed my face , found my ears then in my ear she said loudly in a very miss smarty pants tone "GOOD GOD, That's a what I said...PIZZA!"
We have also been noticing that she is comprehending and laughing at Jokes on television and has even been telling her own jokes. For instance she decided to make a play on words which she found so hilarious, at the same time we realized she is noticing similarity between words which leads me to believe a breakthrough beyond breakthroughs is on it's way and despite what others have told us she might end up being able to read. In the car one day she started saying "daddy" over and over again, we couldn't for the life of us figure out why she was doing it until she finally said "daddy like day day a play on dada" When she discovered this new word and found her "day day" answered to it she laughed at the top of her lungs, something she does to this day. She thinks calling Tom "day day" instead of "daddy" absolutely hysterical. Though she does still call him "daddy" she will randomly decide when she had his attention to call him "day day". We find this interesting because Georgia, who is 3 has been going around calling by the names of her favorite cartoon characters, something I found out is normal for a 3 year old. Miriam is pretty much doing the same thing now.
Another thing she can officially do for herself as of this morning is put on her pull up. I have been noticing her pull up coming off during the day and ending up back on backwards or inside out. I wasn't sure if it was her doing it , as she tends to do things when she doesn't notice anyone paying attention, or if it was one of her sisters who used to not only pull of theirs but hers. So one day I opened up the pull up , sat Miriam down and ordered her to "put your pull up by yourself Miriam." Less than a minute later she was sliding it over her butt by herself. This gives me hope that potty training is going to happen sooner than later.
One more interesting thing she has been doing is playing with initiating toy play. She still plays with a lot of them not quite as intended but she IS seeking out toys and playing with them. Her favorite toys as of late are little metal cars and rubber duckies. She actually asks for rubber duckies if she cannot find one herself.
Every little thing Miriam does confirms the fact that homeschooling was the way to go with her. She has become more sociable and active than I ever could have imagined her becoming had she still been in school. If I knew how I would go out and tell everyone whose child is blind and autistic to pull their child out of school right away and to take the home school approach. I wish schools understood what I have found in the past few months, that blind children NEED one on one. I think if more schools understood that fact they would be a lot more supportive and helpful when it came to teaching special needs children at home. I am sure there are other special children who could benefit from the same environment. All I know is that you CANNOT properly teach a child who suffers from blindness and autism in a sighted school. Public education facilities simply do not have the funding or the training to handle such special needs. Not to mention the fact that most special needs educators are inadequately trained in dealing with the blind. I thank the Lord every day that he led me to this decision and made it possible!
