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Warning: Shop talk to follow
Posted by Cory , Thursday, April 9, 2009 3:34 PM
I spent most of the morning thinking about this mushy, corny blog post that I was going write when I got home, all about how things are going well at work and my job is so rewarding, etc., etc. And then T decided to stick his shoe in the toilet. The magic was kind of gone after that. But I came home and had a snack and now I feel like writing a mushy post again. So woo!
I've been feeling a little overpaid these days (but only a little). It sounds cliche, but sometimes IBI is really rewarding. I've known T for a year and a half now and have been working with him every day (with the exception of school breaks), and I spent a lot of today thinking about how much progress he's made, just by having a consistent schedule and therapists who actually communicate with each other. He's in such a good groove right now that I feel comfortable giving him a little more space and independence (but oh, did we have a battle when he was trying to earn that independence). The child bathrooms himself now, for crying out loud! When I first started at the middle school, the paras were doing everything for him. EVERYTHING. They unbuttoned his freaking pants for him, which he is so capable of doing. It's amazing. And then sometimes, he stims with his shoes and dips them in the toilet, because who the hell doesn't just love doing that? Serious.
K, on the other hand, is a different story. She's regressed a lot. BUT! We've started saving her lunch for her, because she eats about two bites and then tries to throw her food and then she's hungry and pissy the rest of the day and it's a big headache for all involved. Anyway, saving her lunch. When she gets her work done with me in the afternoons, she gets to have a snack, but starting today, she either eats the rest of her lunch or she gets nothing at all until she gets home, which is another place that she's stopped eating. When snack time rolled around today (another battle just getting there), she said 'no' to her leftover lunch, walked to the cupboards and reached out her hand for help opening the door. I told her what the new deal was, and she walked over to her tray AND SIGNED 'YES'. AND THEN SHE ATE HER LUNCH. She mostly turned up her nose at the chicken sandwich (not that I blame her; the meat was GRAY), but she ate her fries, cookies and pineapple AND WAS HAPPY ABOUT IT.
You have to savor the small victories with this job.
In other news, a few random thoughts:
*Yay for babies! Both Nelly and Will and Lindsey and Louis are having boys!
*What does it say about my relationship with our DVR that I forgot a certain TV show had a freaking THEME SONG?
I can't tell you how long I giggled after I got your twitter that he dipped his shoes in the toilet. I can't tell you how many times I had to keep him from doing that. Oh my gosh. I'm super impressed about the independent toileting thing. Way to kick some serious backside.