Anya has been in our family for almost a year, and in Kindergarten (fully included with a one-on-one aide) for about 5 months. When she first started school, her brain couldn't make her hand do anything specific. She would make little scribbles on paper, and the only thing she could trace was a straight line. It was really frustrating trying to get her to do worksheets from school.
So, one of our IEP goals this year is for her to be able to write all 26 letters of the alphabet and all of the numerals from 1-10. To be honest, I thought that this was a lofty goal at the time that we set it, but I’m all about shooting for the stars.
A few weeks into the school year, they started sending home these worksheets where she was supposed to practice writing her name. I hated doing them because I basically had to write the letters for her, holding her hand in mine. I thought it was a waste of time. One day, I wrote a note on the top of the stack of worksheets asking that they not send these home any more…we need to master one letter at a time!
Well, Anya’s aide, Pam knows how brilliant she is. This is what I love about her! It was only a month or so later that she started sending those blasted name writing worksheets home again. When they showed up in Anya's backpack again, I thought, "ugh. Here we go again." But Pam wrote a note in Anya's communication notebook that she figured out that if we write the letters with a highlighter first, Anya would follow the shapes with her pen.
We started doing this a few weeks ago. And here are the results. I WISH I had a "before" video. You would be amazed!
The other big milestone that Anya met in the past couple of weeks is sitting with her class for all of carpet time without complaining loudly and distracting the other kids. Pam was taking her over to her desk to work on things together when she did this, which was actually a reward. I had the inspiration one day to suggest that Pam give Anya her own "spot" on the carpet and NOT give her any options. So Pam brought a carpet sample to use as Anya's "spot." and did a little bribing with Goldfish Crackers. Guess what? It worked! She just needed to know that there weren't any options!
We're learning slowly but surely how this little girl's brain ticks. It's kind of fun when you figure something out. Her primary teacher at church has noticed that it's much easier to use the "no options" approach as well. These kids have to know exactly where their boundaries are, and as long as you're consistent with keeping them there, I think they are actually happier! They thrive on consistency and clear expectations.
I'm learning more and more that, although it takes more work to help Anya learn, and a lot. more. patience...it's SO rewarding when she reaches a goal. You just want to tell everyone about every little milestone because it's huge! And the rest of the family gets excited about them, too.
I hope to never underestimate Anya (or Hazel's) abilities! You've got to shoot for the starts with these kids and expect them to learn... even the things that seem impossible.
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