22 weeks seizure free.
I went to Benaiah's seizure tracker website and ran a report. It is a great program, free and it keeps track of Benaiah's seizures. Now, I wasn't so good at keeping the site up to date while we were in the States because of not having internet but I still ran the report and enjoyed seeing 5 consecutive months of being seizure free. I wish I could figure out how to put the chart on here because it made me so thankful that he has very good seizure control. He seems to have good control in late fall to spring. Last year we made 6 months. I wonder if we will make it longer this year.
Also, it has come to my attention after reading some of the posts in my apraxia group that people really do not know what apraxia is or how a person feels with it. So I will be posting different facts on Apraxia so that you can maybe understand Benaiah more.
Some of the things I found really fit Benaiah. Believe me, if you spend any time with him, you know he is smart. I read today that having apraxia is like being tongue tied. Can you imagine being tongue tied all the time? I also found out that if a child with apraxia thinks he can't do it, he won't. There is no way you can force him to talk and please, please, please, don't make fun of him or correct his speech. For example. Benaiah says dink for drink. This is a good aproximation for the word drink. So dink is acceptable now. Eventually, he will get the r sound but for now he doesn't have it. Aproximations are allowed with apraxia. Another thing, Benaiah gets very nervous when meeting strangers and or people he isn't comfortable with. He clams up or hides. This is part of apraxia. Sometimes he needs to be by himself. Today, he spent most of the day outside in the sand box by himself. He talks now when he plays and he is saying more and more new words.
Yesterday, we put on our flylady shoes( a great cleaning system) and Benaiah helped me work in the attic. He asked me before we went up there if we were going in the attic. No one has said attic to him as far as I know. I know he has not copied the word from me and I have not been trying to teach him that word. My heart just soared and I wonder what other words are floating around in his head just trying to find a way out.
I have been working with him trying to teach him I love you, which if I sign I then he says I, sign love then he says love and when I point to him he says you. So with alot of prompting it is coming along. He counted to 5 yesterday- one, two, tee, or, ive. We count all the time. The other day he helped me make corn bread and he counted how many of each ingredient.
School is going very well I think at this point. Now that he is 5, I am trying harder to get him interested and we have a schedule we kind of keep. It is called 1 lesson on ABCmouse.com and 3 pages in his workbook. Today he traced his name for the first time and did pretty good if I don't say so myself. We also incorporate signing times into the equation. Speech therapy is going on all the time as is OT. Bboy can cut and paste like a pro now, though cutting a circle is almost impossible for him. He also is able to ride a scooter. Overall, I am pretty happy with how things are going with him. I am constantly checking myself to see if what we are doing is working. I have thought about looking at lapbooks for him, but have no idea how to even start that process or if it would even be a good fit for him.
