Kimi Ora School Report
July 2011
Rosie has made pleasing progress over the last few months. She’s able to focus on tasks and show a greater understanding of instructions. Rosie joins in beautifully with class activities. She has learned routines very well and will join in with 20-30 minute sessions with verbal prompting only.
One of Rosie’s goals is to join in appropriately at communal meal times. Rosie has had some wonderful successes with this and has enjoyed all opportunities to take part in school parties and functions! Recently during a shared morning teak Rosie independently went to the table, took one item of food and returned to her seat without any verbal prompting. Once she had finished her item of food she repeated the process. Rosie continues to work on keeping clean while eating.
Rosie’s communication skills are improving. She has become a whizz at PECS phase IV and is placing her choice of object on the sentence strip next to the “I want” symbol. Rosie has been using sentences when passing the sentence strip over to her communication partner. She will independently point at pictures, moving left to right when ‘saying’ the sentence. Rosie has a range of words that she says consistently and at appropriate times such as; “chippies”, “go”, “guitar”, “more”, “me”, “bye”, “no” and “oh oh”. Rosie continues to sue some sign language throughout the day and we are working on expanding this through the use of songs. This term our focus has been on learning some of the signs for the songs “We are going on a Bear Hunt: and “Old McDonald had a Farm”.
Rosie has been working on imitation and being aware of her mouth. She uses a sweat band on her wrist to wipe her mouith when asked to do so. Rosie has been developing her oral motor skills by using wind instruments such as a kazoo, a duck noise maker and an inhalation exerciser which moves balls up a clear channel when she breathes in. Rosie ishaving some success with the instruments but has been struggling with the concept of sucking. On one occasion she was able to make the balls move by sucking and was therefore beginning to show some understanding of what she needs to do.
Rosie has been working on sequencing activities that require her to complete two steps. She shows persistence and enthusiasm with tasks and objects that are highly motivating such as using assistive technology to activate utensils during cooking, or when using musical instruments. Activities that require more precise fine motor skills can be challenging for Rosie. She will often stabilize objects against her body rather than manipulate them using both her hands. This will continue to be a focus for Rosie as more refined fine motor skills will increase her success during activities and her willingness to continue to practice a variety of skills with less frustration.
Rosie continues to be a very active and excited member of groups in which assistive technology is used. She is beginning to show more control and restraint and is using switches appropriately. Rosie is working on holding switches down and then releasing her hold once the task is complete.
It is encouraging to see that Rosie continues to progress with her rate of success on the toilet. She is becoming more successful each Term. Her achievement rate has generally been around 80% each week- well down Rosie!
Rosie has accomplished her swimming goal and is able to swim ten metres with the assistance of flippers. She is very motivated in the water and kicks her legs beautifully. Rosie will blow bubbles when encouraged to do so and uses dog paddle type stroke. This term Rosie has been working on retrieving an item from the bottom of the pool by blowing out bubbles and immersing herself under the water independently. She is comfortable floating on her back with a very small amount of support on her shoulders. She pushes her hips up and relaxes her head back into the water. Rosie is able to push off from a crouched position on the side of the pool. Her next step is to push off from the side and then turn around to reach for the side of the pool again. This will help her keep safe in the water.
Rosie is encouraged to try to work herself up on a swing and is beginning to get the idea of straightening and then bending her knees to gain momentum. She is becoming more confident on playground equipment such as chain bridges and shows much more attention to where she is placing her feet. It has been great to see Rosie showing more caution in these challenging situations.
Rosie is developing some neat friendships with her classmates. She is often content to play by herself and also has times of playing alongside and with others. Rosie is much more tolerant towards other students. She is showing an understanding of turn taking, sharing and having to wait for others.
Rosie is a pleasure to teach and we look forward to helping her achieve her goals throughout the year.
