Here's Anthony with his harem therapists.
Betsy is his physical therapist and Sara is his speech therapist. Both are with the Multnomah County Early Intervention Program.
They visit him at home and at daycare.
And here he is with Juli, his Speech Therapist at the Artz Center.
I want to start writing down what we do in therapy so I remember what we're supposed to be working on.
Physical therapy: Anthony is spending more and more time on his feet. He'll walk a little bit holding onto our hands or pushing a wagon or chair. That's good progress! Today, Betsy worked with Anthony on cruising- walking along while holding onto furniture. He's reluctant to move from one piece of furniture to another (e.g., from the coffee table to the couch) because he doesn't want to let go, so we'll practice that until he feels more confident. We're also supposed to have him practice moving all around the coffee table- he has trouble with the corners. He's getting Sure Steps orthotics this week- we're hoping they will help him feel more stable and get him walking with less support.
Speech Therapy: Juli continues to work on encouraging Anthony to make more sounds, and to pair gestures with sounds. She gave examples of how to do this when we're playing-- by creating opportunities for him to have to ask for help with working a toy, and waiting for him to ask before jumping in, and so on. She's also going to create a picture board to help Anthony communicate. We're supposed to take pictures of things around the house, like his favorite foods, Mommy and Daddy, the bathtub, the backyard, etc. Then Julie will laminate them and we'll work on having Anthony use the board to tell us what he wants until he can say the words. I think that's a great idea and look forward to trying it out.
Of course the best therapy is playtime and fun, so we work on that the most!
Time flies- here's A and Z in August 2009- the first time we met baby Zoe!
