WoW....what a whirl wind of excitement we have had the past two weeks. We had our occupational therapy assisting students start almost two weeks ago. We have two students that are working in Hayden's Son-Rise for 37.5 hours each a week!!! Absolutely Freaking Amazing!!! The students teacher is also coming 8 hours a week to assist with the students.
I must say I am still in shock that I pulled this type of externship off. I get to interview and select the students I want to work with Hayden, I teach them and train them the way I want, and continue managing Hayden's Son-Rise the way I want.
I also feel fabulous about the experience the students are getting. I am teaching them about the Son-Rise program, autism, nutrition, communication skills, adopting a "happiness is a choice" attitude, learning how to truly love and accept people, and being non-judemental. I look at the students and I am super excited about teaching them all of these fabulous life changing skills. I also think about all the people that they are going to work with over the years and the impact they will have on them. It seriously gives me the chills in an amazing, exciting kind of way.
Hayden has adapted well to being in the playroom 11 hours a day. Tonight after being out of the playroom for about 30 minutes he asked me to play with him in the playroom. I LOVE how much he loves being in the playroom.
Hayden is changing a lot right now. He is speaking in complete sentences not only to get wants meet but to communicate and have fun in a totally typical way. Hayden has a twinkle in his eyes, dimples in is cheeks, and a smile on his face that melts anyone that sees him. He is such a happy boy!! His average interactive attention span is at 20+ minutes now. Hayden is playing consistently with Ruby and rarely is off in another room playing by himself. He now prefers to be where we are and doing what we are doing. Drum Roll please..............when Hayden is out of the playroom for meals he SITS at the table and eats with us........YAHOOO Hayden.........we LOVE eating meals with you and you LOVE eating meals with us :-) Hayden has become one of the most creative people that I have ever met. He comes up with the best story lines for puppet play and is super passionate about them.
All of Hayden's progress has been made on his own free will. We use Hayden's motivations to teach, model, and encourage him to communicate on all levels. It is absolutely 100% Hayden's decision to be present in our world and boy is he choosing to be present.
I look at Hayden and simply think what an amazing person he is. He has taught several people how to be present, loving, and nonjudgmental in life at the tender age of 5 years old. I am truly blessed to be such an amazing persons Mom. I have learned so much from Hayden. Simply Incredible!!!
Dear Hayden's parents,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Marilena Papoute and I am a student of Macedonia University, attending “Educational and Social Policy”
This year i'm doing my thesis with the subject “The effect of Play Therapy in Social Skills of Autistic children “and i am on a survey for the same matter.
The survey concerns Parents of children that are attending Play Therapy meetings, or are about to do so, until the end of January.
Parents will be asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire that they will receive by email.
The questions are about the social abilities and behavior of the children and how play therapy is affecting them, so parents will be asked to answer the same questions twice, once before or at the begging of the meetings and once more in Spring.
Ι will consider it a great pleasure and honor, if you take a part on this survey or encourage parents to do so, by completing the questionnaire.
Thank you
Marilena Papoute
marilena.p.mp@gmail.com