Last week, I had a meeting with Noah's service coordinator with his speech therapy. Catina took over back in the spring, and I really like her. We had to discuss Noah's progress over this past year, and we also discussed if he would be continuing in the public schools once he turns three.
After getting our insurance information (haha--they won't pay a penny of ST because Noah wasn't born with a cleft palate), we discussed Noah's progress over the past year. Noah does well with Trip, but lately, Noah is bored with ST. He wants to do his own thing. Whenever Trip comes over, Noah hides and throws a fit for the first 10 min. of his therapy. Last week, at least Noah did eventually come around and cooperate for a little while. The problem is that Noah is tired of repeating the same words. Chris and I have decided to begin showing him the Baby Einsteins again. Some experts completely disagree with letting children watch any tv, but our kids have always been enthralled with the Baby Einsteins, and they are quite educational. Most importantly, they introduce new words and Noah will happily repeat them. Catina thought it was a fantastic idea, because we are working with Noah while he watches the tv and interacting with him.
We have decided not to continue with ST once Noah turns three. We believe that he's being stubborn and knows his words, because he does speak some. If he were to continue, he would be evaluated and placed into a class with other ST children. Instead of having therapy once per week, he would go to "school" daily for nearly 6 hours, which is far too long, in my opinion! If Noah is bored with ST once per week, I shudder to think of how he would respond to it daily.
The other issue we are having with Noah is throwing things down the stairs. This behavior just began, and it's very obnoxious. He will throw shoes, toys, water bottles, etc down the stairs and just giggle. We have been putting him in time out, but it seems to have no affect on his behavior. When Aidan was Noah's age, he would literally throw himself on the floor and throw a tantrum if he didn't get his way. It got so bad that we would not go places. Luckily, Aidan outgrew that and is so sweet now, so I can only hope that Noah's behavior will continue to improve.
Oh no! Sorry to hear he's discovered the joys of sending things tumbling down the stairs. Hopefully it will be short lived. Maybe you can encourage him to only throw certain things down, like balls or similar "throwable" things? Like all things, "that too will pass"....
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Baby Einstein videos, you gotta do what works for you. Each child is different. And, as long as it's engaging and you're involved, then it's much better than having him sit there not saying or doing anything. Keep us posted on how he does!