What have Anna and I been up to during quarantine? Besides therapy, we actually tried to make the best of our time. Although before, we were doing activities such as swimming, horseback riding, physical therapy, and occupational therapy; now, we have had to get creative at home. Besides all the home therapy I attempt whenever the opportunity arises, she has had a lot of free time to play which is great for her. She enjoys spending time with her brother and sister since under normal circumstances, they would be at school and their after school activities. Some of the fun things we have been doing: playing with kinetic sand, drawing with chalk on the driveway, baking, playing with the hose on a hot day, and playing lots of games like charades (see video).
The game charades was initially hard for her to understand. She would say out loud what the picture was that she was supposed to act out and we were supposed to guess. The other thing she was doing was looking at the picture, but still just acting out whatever she wanted. For example, she kept acting out swimming over and over again with different cards. But, after several attempts, she finally got the idea that she was supposed to look at the picture, not say anything out loud, and act it out for us to guess! A success!
She is also progressing very well with Talk tools even via online. She relatively recently had a palatal expander placed in her mouth and we had a bit of a set back with her speech, but we persevered through Talk Tools and it’s amazing that she has adapted beautifully with the expander in her mouth and her speech started clearing up again. Amazing how young children just adapt to their circumstances. All the videos you see of her talking are actually with her dental device in her mouth.