10/27/10-New day, new attempt

Today Kenz walked into the drs office on her own. I'm realizing if I hold Jaxon then she realizes I cannot hold her and she will walk in on her own. Her doctor wanted to try something new today. For the first ten minutes I sat next to Kenz like usual on the couch. Her dr said on the other side and was playing with her light up shoes. After a few minutes I turned my back to them but stayed in the same spot on the couch. Every few minutes I slowly inched my way towards the end of the couch. Then the dr brought me his chair and I sat in that still with my backs to them. Again I slowly inched away but this time it was towards the door. Jaxon and I remained by the door while Kenz and her dr played catch. I swear shes going to play baseball soon! She was catching every throw from the dr and she was throwing far. Only a few times did Kenz come to talk to me, but it was more talking to Jaxon. At the end of course she asked me for a picture. I asked her if she could ask her dr for one. She did the finger in mouth and was grabbing her tag. So her dr said if she could point to where the pictures are made then they will. Of course she pointed to it. He picked her up and as proud as can be she put both hands in the copier.

10/13/10-Pictures, pictures, and MORE pictures!!

Today was such a blast for Kenzee at therapy!!! Her dr showed her a copy he made of one of the toys. She thought that was so neat. She picked out a toy for him to make a picture of(copy). She was just cracking up at the pictures of toys she was holding. Kenz picked out another toy and let her dr pick her up to put it in the machine. Before I knew it she was the one pushing the buttons to make a copy. She copied sooo many toys today! She spent majority of her session talking to her dr about the pictures of toys and about the toys details.

10/06/10-Kenzee the elephant

We talked about different ways we could work on exposure with Kenz. He again emphasized the importance of hierarchy; comfort people and comfort places. Kenz had a hard time focusing and wanting to play with her dr. Once Fred started playing with the wind up toys, that got Kenz's attention. They played together with them on the mat. The saying is an elephant never forgets, well then Kenz is an elephant. Of course she was asking me for a picture at the end of therapy.

9/29/10

9/22/10

9/15/10

9/8/10- Just Dance

Today was Kenz's first therapy since she started dance classes. Even though she wasn't very involved in dance, she absolutely loved it! She had so much to share with the doctor. It was good to see even though she wasn't involved like the other girls, she was still absorbing everything they were doing. She remembered certain moves and songs they sang. It gave me hope because I knew deep down she was enjoying herself, even if she wasn't showing it

8/25/10

Kenz's excitement for her 3rd birthday was just building up! She had so much to share with her doctor about her  "birthday coming soon and her turning 1." Yes, Kenz used to alway say she would be 1 even though we would correct and tell her no you're going to be 3. She was having a horse themed party and was thrilled about it. She was telling her dr about Aunt Rose's horses, Mekka and Midnight(sorry Rose if I misspelled ).

8/18/10

8/11/10

8/4/10

7/28/10-Sucess!!

Yahoooooooooo!!!! Today Kenzee finally went all the way under the desk and back by the bookcase to get a ball. The best part was it wasn't just a one time thing, she did it a few times! I just love seeing her being so outgoing there. I just hope one day she will be that outgoing with everyone.

7/14/10-Will she go?

The goal of today was to get Kenz to go back by the bookcase and underneath the desk. It seemed like such a silly goal but it was something that Kenz needed to do. With SM I now realize how sometimes I take the simple little tasks for granted. What seems so simple to some is quite complex for others. I can easily ask another coworker for help with a lesson plan yet Kenz cannot even tell daycare workers that she wants to do an certain activity. A simple task like taking Kenz to the park can lead to a total shut down from her. However the importance of exposure is the key. We cannot force it upon Kenz but we need to slowly work it in. Sometimes it will be inch by inch, literally. Today the dr was slowly rolling the ball or at times the wind up toy so it would inch closer to underneath the desk. Once it got to a certain point, she refused to go and get it.

7/7/10-Exploring new boundaries

The dr wanted to test out Kenz and how far she would go within the room. He was curious if she would go anywhere within his office. Its a typical office with two desks, chair, and a couch. It's not overly big. He decided to do this by playing catch with her. He would throw the play around with her and throw it to different areas of the room to see if she would go get it. My first thought was of course she will, its a ball which she loves playing and shes been in this office numerous times. To my surprise as the dr threw it around the room, there were certain areas she wouldn't go to for the ball. If the ball rolled under the desk or at the very back, she wouldn't go get it. She would just look at it and ask Fred or I to go get it. Now the dr had a goal to work towards in therapy. At the end of therapy Kenz put her hand on top on Freds for a picture. I just love how she still calls copies of the hands pictures :)

6/23/10-Hopefully its the right decision

The dr did inform us prior to the IEP that we did not have to sign it at the meeting and if we would like then he would look over it before we did sign it. However we did sign it because I agreed with it. Once I explained the the dr about the ECDD classroom for next year the dr also agreed with our decision. Kenz would benefit from the teacher in ECDD because of her experience and knowledge of SM however the students in the class wouldn't give Kenz a good speech role model, which is what she needs. Another option we had was preschool but that is only 2x a week and her dr agreed that wasn't an option because it isn't consistent enough. I never thought the process of sending Kenz to school would be so difficult. We live in a school district with great schools.

For the rest of the session Kenzee continued to do great and play with the dr. She was having regular conversations with him. When we first got there she was still not very talkative but she eventually slowly comes out of her shell. It's so great seeing her make such progress.

6/17/10-IEP

I wasn't sure how the IEP was going to pan out. The social worker, pyschologist, and speech pathologist were able to see Kenzee interact with her peers at daycare. They all agreed she didn't interact like a typical three year old but she did show interest in her friends. The IEP consisted of us, speech pathologist, school social worker, school pyschologist, principal, Early Ons worker, and the owner of the daycare. Kenz and Fred played while the rest of us sat at a table to discuss Kenz. One by one they all talked about their observations of Kenz at daycare. Basically they all said how full of smiles and laughter she was towards her peers but didn't usually speak. She did a few times talk to one of the boys. We talked about the benefits and disadvantages to her going into a ECDD classroom. After much discussion we decided it would be best for Kenz to continue at daycare and not enter the ECDD room. We also decided that when she does go to school at the elementary, we will put a 504 in place. The 504 will be so she has friends from daycare in her class and other techniques that work for her comfort zone.

6/16/10-IEP pep talk

The main discussion was what should we expect from her IEP. I knew all about IEPs and how they work, but only from the teacher's standpoint. I was terrified to be on the other side of the table as the parent. Usually Kenzee's dr attends IEPs but because of the driving distance he was unable to make it but talked us through what we needed to do. I felt a slight bit more comfortable after him talking to us.

This week Kenz thought everyone needed a picture done. First Fred made one of his hand. Then Kenz wanted Jaxon and I to make one. But she was still unsure of it and just watched as we did it.

6/9/10

Today we talked about ways to lessen the anxiety level with Kenz is beign dropped off at daycare and ways to get her to open up to the adults there. The dr said one of us needs to stay for a bit when dropping off and get her engaged in an activity that is high on her hierarchy then slowly introduce other adults and children to the play and conversation. During therapy Kenzee enjoyed playing with the toys. She loved it when her dr would wind them up and have them race on the mat by his desk. By the end of the session Kenz was having a blast!! It was amazing to see her interact with another adult who she just recently met. She was so relaxed and engaged :)

6/2/10

My initial fear was beginning to simmer down. I just kept telling myself early intervention is the key and with our support Kenz will make it through this. I will do everything in my will to advocate what is best for my children. I was still always unsure of what to expect at therapy. When we arrived Kenz wanted nothing with wanting to walk through the door. Once we were in therapy room she sat on the couch between Fred and I. She sits so close that I feel like I'm going to slowly tip over because of the pressure shes putting on me. Today it took her only half of the session and then she got down on the floor and engaged in play. She was very intrigued by the wind up toys and how they would go on the carpet versus the mat. At the end of the session she remembered about making pictures but wanted nothing to do with getting near the machine. Fred made a copy of his hand.

5/26/10- Deep breath.... first appointment

5/19/10- The phone call

What's that?

Mackenzee was reenrolled into early ons (speech program ). The lady from early ons had been at our house many times before working win kenzee so she was no stranger. When S arrived kenz buried her head on me and I could tell she wasn't comfortable so I let her go outside. S and I sat at the table so I could watch kenz and discuss my concerns and reasoning for wanting to start early ons again.

Background on Kenzee:
Kenz has always been a "shy" child. She would scream even as a baby whenever left at the church nursery or at someone's house we might not visit often. Kenz started attending daycare a little after during one for socialization and so I could finish up my bachelors degree. After going to the same daycare for over a yr she wasn't talking to the workers or other children and dropoff was still a nightmare.

S observed how Kenzee played outside and wouldn't even come inside since she was sitting right there. We discussed how I knew she could talk and had great language skills now but not many other people were able to see it. S asked if I ever heard of Selective Mutism and prior to her mentioning, no I hadn't. She described characteristics of Selective Mutism and I felt like she was describing Kenz.

As soon as S left I was on the computer googling Selective Mutism. How could I go through getting my degree in elementary education and taking some special education classes and never hearing of it? Unfortunately for me, Selective Mutism isn't googles bff. I didn't find much but what I did find was very eye opening. I just sat there and read over and over about Selective Mutism. I was in shock, could Kenz possibly have this? What would I do to find out if she does? My brain was going a million miles a minute.

On one of the SM sites there was a link for professionals who deal with SM. Wow, there were two doctors in MI that dealt with SM and neither was within an hr radius. I spend days rereading the site and finally decided to take Kenz to the peditrician and discuss with him.

I loved her pedi but wasn't quite sure how to approach the subject matter.