Sunday, June 1, 2008

Progress, etc..

First, sorry it's been forever since I've posted. Ella's been continuing to make progress, but it's lots of smaller things, with no "big items" since my last posting.

First, her special educator has shifted our activities towards increasing Ella's sensory stimulation. This tactic has been fairly successful. In the past, Ella alternated between making progress in motor and communication, completely stalling progress in one while progressing in the other. With the stimulation exercises, she seems to be progressing in both at the same time.

On the motor front, Ella has progressed in skill, but her courage levels have devolved a bit. Her maximum walking distance is much shorter than it was, only 5 feet or so between parents. However her skills are increasing. She's now readily getting herself down from standing onto her hands-and-feet using inanimate objects to brace herself with one hand. She's also fairly regularly letting go with both hands to play with toys while she stands.

However, she's still not willing to stand without being near a hand-hold, and she's not walking around freely yet.

On the communication front, her sign vocabulary is continuing to grow. She's got 5 signs she uses regularly, and is "close" on another 3 or 4. Her babbling is increasing constantly, but she doesn't yet use any of it with apparent intent.

Anyway, I hope you're all well, and I'll hopefully post again soon.