Recently working on

I’ve joined a group of mum’s to answer a Monday question. I am answering a day late!

“What have you been working on to help Coraline lately?”

I’m going to do a top ten here! The context for these is that Coraline is not yet walking or talking (apart from the word “cat”). She’s just turned three in August.

1. Coraline loves to hand us the T.V. remote control. She also hands it to us again if what’s on isn’t to her taste. I love this communication beyond words! We are working on quality T.V. time and distraction to other things.

2. Homemade flash cards: photos of everything around our house, with words underneath and laminated

3. Flashcards of letter sounds and matching flash card activities

4. Book reading and pointing in books

5. Singing nursery rhymes and doing Makaton signs to them

6. I’ve been thinking about potty training and when to start, and had a fascinating chat with Coraline’s new Occupational therapist who said that perhaps to think of it around age 4 when Coraline shows an awareness. She said that Coraline has lax ligaments and muscles, which are lax on the inside too so it will take longer for her to become aware that she needs to go.

7. Encouraging Coraline to use a spoon for eating which she doesn’t (she picked one up a couple of months ago and we thought, “ooh that’s it!” and she’s not done it since!) I told Coraline’s new Occupational therapist that Coraline puts a lot of food in her mouth at once. I found her reply fascinating that the muscles are lax so she puts more food in to feel the sensation that it’s in her mouth

8. Finding motivating scenarios to encourage Coraline to stand up, as shown to us by her physiotherapist. We are practising trunk rotation by putting a toy a bit behind her, as she needs rotation for walking. We have other fascinating exercises to do too. Her joints are hypermobile so she is not keen to stand and it’s a case of building strength and it all happening when she’s ready

9. Return to preschool - stimulation and socialisation

10. Taking care around sensory factors e.g. hair brushing, touching her face etc.

One we don’t need to help her with: being awesome

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