Ryder Update

Yesterday was a long and disappointing day for Ryder & I. We dropped Zak off at daycare in the morning (he was very upset when we left which made me upset) so that we could go to a playgroup that is offered by the Infants & Toddlers program. When we got there the gate was still locked and nobody else was waiting to get it. I called the Infant & Toddlers office to ask if the time had been changed, but they said it was still at 10am. They took my phone number and said they would try to get a hold of the person in charge then give me a call back. Well, I quickly got a call back saying the person in charge was there, but couldn't find anybody to unlock the area for the playgroup. Finally at about 10:15am a security guard appeared and unlocked the door for us. After all of that no other kids showed up for the playgroup! My goal was to get Ryder into social situations with other children as much as possible and this was not going to help. At 11am we left and went to Burger King for lunch since his group therapy class was at the same building at 12:30pm.

We arrived back at the building and headed in around 12:20pm. Ryder put his name in the envelope (this is how they "sign in") and started playing. Once again, NO other kids showed up for the class! This class has 5 kids registered to come and Ryder was the only one to show up and the therapists had not gotten any calls about sick children not coming. I was really annoyed at that point because we had tried twice in 1 day to get Ryder into a social setting and both failed! The therapists were also very upset since they have a waiting list of other children trying to get into these group sessions. After talking with them for a bit they decided to cancel the Wednesday 12:30pm class and move Ryder into another one. Then they were nice enough to do all of the activities 1-on-1 with him that had been planned.

At 1:30pm Ryder and I headed back to pick Zak up from daycare. When we got there Zak was having a blast with the other kids (mainly a 3-year old boy) and I was told he was only upset for about 5 minutes after I left which made me feel better. I talked to the daycare person and she said Zak could come on Mondays instead of Wednesdays. So now Ryder will be going to the group therapy class on Mondays at 11:30am. Hopefully this class will actually have other kids who show up weekly!

This morning the occupational therapist (OT) came to the house to see Ryder for the first time since we moved into Harford County. She started out by just playing some games with the boys and observing Ryder's fine motor skills. Then while the boys continued to play with the toys she brought (which by the way are much cooler than the million that they already have!) we talked and I answered a bunch of questions. After talking she told me that she has been approved to come 3 times this month to do her evaluation and then we will find out how often she will come for regular OT sessions. She is coming back next Friday morning to observe Ryder during breakfast so that she can complete a feeding evaluation. Recently we have had some concerns with Ryder at mealtimes (not chewing food, spitting food out and not swallowing, trouble with fork/spoon use, wanting to be up and moving while eating instead of sitting still) so she wants to observe him and see what she can help with. Also, the following week she will come back to do some other evaluation things. She noticed him crawling down the stairs instead of walking which is what he does. So that led into some more questions which then led to a conversation about him possibly having some issues with gravitational pull. Basically, meaning that he is afraid of falling and hesitant of doing things that causes him to feel the gravitational pull such as going down the steps or being thrown into the air.

The OT also noticed his low muscle tone and tight ankles which she feels could be effecting his ability to go down the stairs without crawling. Also, she noticed how he is not 100% steady on his feet all of the time...hence the black eyes and bruises. So next week when the special educator (case manager) comes for her session I am going to ask to have the PT come to evaluate Ryder. He is not actually delayed in gross motor skills, but has trouble controlling his body while doing the skills.