Denver Diary Day 20: Progress

(**Sorry this post is so late...I had major video issues last night and today!)
This has been such a long journey, and I know we have so much further to go.  We have learned so much about Cade's SPD -- what sets him off, how he reacts, what we should do, etc.  But it has been painstakingly slow watching, and waiting, for things to change for Cade.  Looking back we know there have been small changes all along.  But today at therapy I realized just how far we've come in our 19 days here.

I have talked before about the nonverbal communication that Julianna has been having with Cade.  He has often reverted to pretending to be an animal or make "noises" but we never realized that it was because he was having trouble thinking and doing at the same time.  Julianna explained to me that Jean Ayres, the occupational therapist that coined SPD in the 1970's, found that most SPD kids have that problem -- they are unable to think and do at the same time. 

I have been amazed at how much motor planning and ideation Julianna has been able to get from Cade when he isn't trying to carry on a conversation.  Bless his heart...he has two very verbal parents!!  But we are trying hard not to inundate him with language in hopes that he will better be able to develop these skills as his brain develops. 

This video shows a wonderful example of this nonverbal communication and how Cade responds.  He wanted to draw on the windows with window markers...he and Julianna are having a "discussion" without words to remind him of the rules.  He went on to complete all of the windows in the gym:

Cade has been eyeing a game in one of the rooms at the STAR Center.  It is a form of "Whack a Mole" but it is a tower.  Today Cade decided to try it.  The game required him to hit both hard and more softly in order to light up all of the numbers on the tower.  This is tough for Cade -- he doesn't actually feel how soft and hard he is putting pressure on something (we break lots of pencils and crayons!).  I was so proud of him with this game...he worked so hard to manipulate the pressure to light all of them up!  And he did this without major frustration, which was another huge goal for him!  He continued to return to this game throughout he session. 

Cade also came up with a completely new activity today.  In all of our days at the STAR Center he has never used the zip line tower as a castle, although this is a perfectly sensible activity.  Today he thought of that idea himself, and decided to elicit a sword fight.  I was so happy when he stopped his game to help find a sword for Julianna...this shows an unbelievable social awareness that he hasn't had before! 

The two of them had a great time sword-fighting, and I even joined the game.  Unfortunately my cell phone battery died and I didn't get as much video footage as I would have liked.  But after this game there was more interaction where he brought Julianna in to his game.  This is huge -- we have been working on getting him to bring us in to what he is thinking and feeling....this is big step in doing that!

The end of the session today was a rocky one -- Cade did not want to leave.  He was able to get it together, though.  When Kristen, our social worker here, helped him transition to getting his shoes on and offered him two prizes from a little bag, Cade chose a play phone.  But the best thing?!  He chose another play phone for his second prize and gave it to Julianna.  I think he wanted her to know that he was still her friend, even though he had a little trouble transitioning to get ready to go home.  I am so happy that he has developed the trust in her as his friend...through all of our time here this is perhaps the biggest deal for me.  It is important to us that he be able to be successful in social situations, and reaching out to Julianna was a huge step in the right direction!

As our time for our first trip draws to an end I am feeling both apprehensive and blessed.  We have learned so much about Cade and have some real strategies on how to help him.  But I know when we go home for our two weeks that there will be some real struggles.  I feel like the parents on the show "Supernanny" when Ms. Jo leaves them on their own for two weeks -- we are worried about what might come without our "safety net" of Julianna.  But thankfully we have a wonderful new OT at home waiting for us, and we are armed with a boatload of knowledge that we didn't have before.  We are on the road to making Cade better...and all great things come with a price.