Progress:
Both boys are continuing to do good in school.
Both are moving forward nicely in reading through the Edmark program. Click HERE for link about Edmark
Ben is catching on to learning time.
Jonah is still working hard on basic counting, addition, and subtraction skills as well as money identification.
Both boys are making progress in their speech sounds and articulation skills. We continue to look forward to the speech device camp we will attend this June to help the boys and us as parents learn how to use device in social situations.
Both boys, especially Jonah, are absorbing their Sunday School lessons like little sponges. Their teacher is amazing and really knows how to teach to their level. She incorporates actions which helps the boys remember the story. She also is very good about repetition which is exactly what the boys need to help something "stick" with them.
Setbacks:
Ben is struggling socially. It's not that he has kids being mean to him at school or kids just ignoring him. He has a nice core group of girls who include him in their games at recess most days. And of course, he always has his faithful sidekick Jonah :) However, I still observe Ben answering questions in very silly or inappropriate ways or just ignoring the person talking to him. I know he can do better because Ben is a very smart little boy, and he knows the answers to the questions I hear people asking him. I feel Ben suffers from sociali anxiety. The speech device, hopefully, will be able to help with him being better understood. But Ben still needs to learn proper social skills- how to answer questions appropriately, how to have a "tennis ball" conversation etc.
Jonah's difficulty with staying focused and on task is always present. Sometimes he is spot on and does his work without being distracted. But then a few minutes later, his mind is off and running and it's very hard to get him back on track.
Both boys, especially Ben, have been having trouble with lying these past few weeks. It comes in the form of blaming each other for something he did. Sometimes I catch the lying outright because I see who did it and know that boy is lying to me. But a lot of the time, I don't see what happened and then I get 2 boys pointing the finger at the other. The one thing I have going for me is quite often if you ask Jonah if he did something, he has a "tell". If he did do it, he usually does a "I don't know" expression and this lets me think he probably did do it. Ben, on the other hand, just outright lies and keeps saying Jonah did it. Let me tell you- discerning the truth from 2 boys with Down syndrome is no simple endeavor. You have the issue of them not always understanding the questions we are asking and then there is the issue of how much they remember- especially if the event in question was longer than an hour past.
Broken glasses: we are now on the 3rd pair of broken glasses for Jonah this school year :( First pair mysteriously disappeared, my bet it is was dropped down a storm drain grate in school parking lot. 2nd pair was stepped on when Jonah threw them off while playing in the snow and then jumped off the snow pile onto them. That one was my fault because I shouldn't have let him go outside to play with the glasses on. On Monday, someone broke Jonah's glasses at school. The story we discerned from the Eek and Meek is that Jonah put his glasses on the floor and Ben stepped on them. I'm still suspecting that Ben did both things, but again, this is the problem I have discerning the truth with the guys.
Possible Solutions:
Ben's social skills: I spoke with Ben's speech therapist, and she is willing to add another session for Ben this summer just to work on these skills! She even mentioned taking Ben out on the road into different settings to practice him communicating with people. I am so excited for this! I also am hearing about a possible social skills group that might be starting in Sheboygan which would pair kiddos up with one-on-one buddies and then participate in group activities and crafts etc. I think this would also be beneficial to Ben. I say address this on as many levels as we can! Hopefully I can get him into that group.
Jonah's attention issues: Since Jonah's pediatrician does not want to start ADHD meds for Jonah at this time, I guess we just have to keep working hard to keep Jonah motivated to work. Fortunately, Jonah often does respond to the "If, then" approach as long as you can offer him a reward he likes. This is usually a favorite YouTube song, TV show, activity with Dad or older sibling, or Culvers!
Lying: I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants on this issue. My older three typical kids never had a problem with lying or I was never bright enough to catch on if they did :) With the boys, it's a challenge how to address both the poor choice of behavior and the lying. Sometimes it just feels too hard to help them and it's just easier to ignore. But I know that is the lazy answer so I'm taking it case by case and mucking my way through.
Broken glasses: This school year we made the switch from rubber frames to somewhat flexible but more grown-up looking kid frames. I think we have to go back to rubber frames. Rubber frames can withstand being thrown, jumped on, and twisted without breaking.
Upcoming doctor appointments: endocrinology labs and check-ups for both boys in April/May, and kidney/bladder ultrasound and urologist appointment in June.
