Thursday, April 26, 2007

So Far, So Good

I've been spending my time with Henry this week really trying to get down this whole "RDI Language" thing. Not sure if that's a coined term but that's what I'll use to refer to the no questions, no direct commands, abbreviated, slowed down, and likely something else I forgot type of language.

He's seemed to be reacting positively to our interactions. There are a few times where I get stumped on how to phrase something without making it into a question but I'm getting better as the week progresses. I'm not trying to jump the gun here but he has said a few pretty cool appropriate words/phrases this week... asking is grandma for "chicken" while being driven home from the sitters yesterday afternoon (referring to Popeyes) and this evening, being especially OCD, wanting all the lights in the house off, he said "just turn the lights off". Now I know that there's more to communication that just speech, especially when it's to get ones way but still... pretty cool, I must say. Not sure where this lights off thing is coming from. Maybe Theresa has the kids eat in the dark... I'm not sure. Anyway, like I said... don't want to declare an "RDI miracle" but it's been a while since I've been witness to any even moderately significant language from the kid so I thought I'd make note.

Here are some examples of some RDI-ish things that we're doing in our morning routine:

Breakfast

  • instead of "what do you want for breakfast?" it's "I bet you're hungry"... then grabbing the box of raisin bran, getting his attention, and giving him the "how-bout-it eye".
  • variations of... pouring the cereal in a bowl and waiting until he catches my eye and says "milk" and "spoon" or just setting the cereal box on the table and I say "we're missing something" and wait until he says "bowl". Sometimes he just gets the bowl or spoon himself without saying anything.
  • most of the time I'll do a hand-over-hand when pouring the cereal and milk.
Getting Dressed/Brushing Teeth

  • instead of "take your pants off, take your shirt off" I'm making a motion like I'm pulling down my pants, etc.
  • instead of laying out his clothes, I'm throwing each item at him one at a time.
  • to get him to brush his teeth, instead of saying "brush teeth" I say, "your teeth are dirty". He hasn't really caught on to that one yet, perhaps this is because he doesn't literally have any dirt in his teeth (as far as I know).

In other news, I took Henry to a stock car race on Saturday night at the local track. He LOVED it but was stemming his brains out the whole time and I can see why, because it was very cool. But a this point in the process, I wonder if it's advised to expose him to that much stimulation. Just wondering...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

from Missy: Aaron, this was such a nice description of your time. I love that you're really taking the time to work on your ability to become an effective communicator for henry, and it's so exciting that you're starting to see some small differences in the way that Henry's responding to your changes. I love the ideas with the morning routines, I really appreciate the lay-out of things it is really so effective that you guys are able to keep up with all of this so wonderfully! If you ever get a little stuck with new ideas let me know- otherwise the routines are working great. AMAZING AMAZING. I'm very pleased with all of this! In regards to the cars, I'm really going to let that kind of stuff up to you. I would only caution you if Henry is seeming overwhelmed because keeping in mind at this stage in our treatment we are just trying to restore that faith in henry that we're not going to lead him into a situation that he's going to feel overwhelmed- that through us he will be able to feel comfortable and competent. It doesn't seem as thought he was upset per se, but just keep that in mind. There might also be different options (ear plugs??) if you would really like to share the experience with him?? Either way, it's really cool that you are including him in the fun things that you do!