The Honeymoon is Over

Greyson's been doing really well at his therapy sessions, despite being a very tired boy.  On Thursday, we moved to trying some diluted apple juice (50/50 water/juice) on a spoon, and he took 2 ounces during one session!  That is a major, major deal.

Friday morning, some diluted applesauce was introduced.  Greyson had a lot of trouble with the texture of it, even though it was heavily diluted.  He sputtered and spit out (or wiped out) the few bites he did accept, but quickly decided he was not going to accept any bites.  He began crying, reaching for me, and calling my name.  It's very hard to see your child obviously upset and wanting/needing you, but being able to do nothing.  That behavior (during mealtime) is something that needs to be ignored, so as to not reinforce it in any way (positively or negatively).  There was also some obvious manipulation, because at one point, he looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and smiled.  That boy.  We always end sessions on a positive note, usually Greyson accepting one more bite, and then lots of praise and he can get down. 

Behavioral Sessions have been changed to having me be the "therapist" and his psychologist on the side giving me tips, encouragement, etc.  Greyson took 3 ounces (I'm NOT exaggerating), 3 OUNCES of diluted apple juice!  He did amazingly, and the session really flowed.

Greyson's favorite sessions are his OT sessions with "My Shewwy" (Ms. Shelley).  He gets to do a lot of active play as well as sensory play with play doh, food, moon sand, etc.  Today he played with oatmeal play dough (recipe to follow), drove cars through applesauce, and road a tricycle through the halls (be sure to keep reading to see the picture!)

Oatmeal Play Dough

-2 cups oatmeal

-1 cup flour

-1 cup water

Mix until in a dough.  Add more flour slowly if it is too sticky.

Our last speech session of the day was even tougher than the first.  Greyson was being prompted to take bites of Goldfish crackers, and he was refusing.  He began pushing items off of his tray, kicked his shoes off, and trying to distract from the situation by looking and talking about other items in the room.  Ms. Patty is very good at keeping a neutral face and continuing to prompt him with short demands, and it took over 15 minutes to get the last bite in.  I am anxious to see how next week goes, now that Greyson has shown his true mealtime behaviors.  There are positives that we have seen through these two rough sessions.  Greyson DOES understand what is expected of him, and will eventually respond, and he is exhibiting very typical behavior of kids like him.

Here's a video of our session this evening, where he continued showing some of these behaviors.

On that note, here is one of the best moments of the day, Greyson riding a tricycle around the hallway during his OT session (Yes, I broke the rules and had to take a picture of this!)  I apologize for the blurriness, he was being pushed fast!