Right... a little more time now.... so here goes This might be a little long
Hi Blossom/Jayzmummy - it is great isn't it?
Our main therapist was Jo (she was lovely), but all the therapists seemed equally nice.
Dh is really like a changed man, I just cant quite get over it...I've asked him what his main objection for going was in the first place. He said that he was just very sceptical and felt that he couldn't believe that we would learn anything more about ds2 than we know already. He too is prepared to admit he was wrong now....he says that he was really impressed by the profile' they create for your child, which is a multi-disciplinary assessment sheet which plots exactly what skills your child has (and by default shows which ones they have not yet acquired). I think this graphical representation really impressed my very logical andscientific' husband and proved in his mind, Jayzmummy, that it wasnt a lot of `mumbo jumbo '
Chonky/Pages - We have come away with a programme which requires me to do two, half hour sensory sessions with my son daily. This apparently is the longest programme they would recommend - I just felt that as I was looking for instruction/focus it was something that I could do. What is absolutely clear is that they will create a programme that will fit in with your own time constraints whatever they may be.
The sensory programme which was designed for ds2 (who does crawl and stand, but is very passive, needs lots of motivation, does not babble and still dribbles and whose tongue lolls out rather a lot - but is very beautiful ) was as follows.....
Tactiles [like massage but with soft and rough materials and an electrical massager (only real purchase necessary for us - Chonky)] to improve manual function, increase sensation and help ds2 to learn to recognize by touch.
Rolls (ds2 has never rolled) - a fun activity which requires two of you to roll your child up and down a length of carpet/duvet.
Crawl Challenge - A little obstacle course, over a variety of different textured surfaces.
Sniff and Smell type stuff - to improve ds2's sensory awareness
Oral exercises - mainly with an electric toothbrush to improve chewing, reduce dribbling, improve articulation and tactile awareness.
Walking exercises
Standing exercises
Sausage Roll = a hilarious one, where you calm or arouse your child through pressure and active movement by rolling them up like a sausage roll in a duvet!!
Garden Swing - increases head control and spatial awareness
Suspended Roation - Rotating your child on a garden swing to improve balance and awareness
ALSO....
they examined ds2's diet (it looks like he may have an intolerance to yeast which could be making him more sluggish than norm... which obviously might be contributing to his passiveness... so we will try this... wont be easy... any suggestions where I can get yeast free bread?!!!!!)
AND...
they created an Individual Learning Programme for ds2 where the target areas were communication, manual function and social interaction. This basically consists of loads of ideas and activities and could easily be built in to my sessions with the portage worker
and finally....
The story behind the Coke (Socci) is that there is a fantastic nutritional therapist at BIBIC and she just lays out the facts in front of you about various foods... now I was watching dh out of the corner of my eye on this one (thought he was going to be the number 1 sceptic here!) but no, after hearing various, horrific facts about Coke - do you know that if a steak is left in a glass of coke for 2 days it will completely dissolve? and that the neat Coke concentrate has to be carried in a vehicle with a dangerous substance sign on the side we will never touch the stuff again...
Anyway, hope all this stuff has helped....if anyone wants to ask me more questions please feel free to post again or CAT me. Obviously Jayzmummy is a bit of a seasoned pro with BIBIC and Blossomhill is a recent convert too, so I'm sure one of us will be able to help with any questions...