Jaymie McCanna

 Annotation 6 & Experience

3.) Objective: Plan a session and develop materials to be used in Early Intervention in-home therapy.

  Activities and Resources

               The therapy session was planned specifically for one child. The child is 2 years old, and has been with Children's Friend since November 2011. I was fortunate enough to be present for the intake of this child into the program and for all the steps of the process. From the initial intake and evaluation (Mullen) to the the planning of the IFSP and all related services in his IFSP, I was able to experience each step of the process. I chose to focus my therapy session on this child because of the extensive amount of time I was able to spend with him. We worked with him once a week for the entire time I was interning. I was able to become very familiar with this child and was eager to plan a lesson that would encompass all of his needs and focus on continued development. For privacy reasons, names have been omitted from this lesson, the IFSP, as well as the Mullen assessment.

       The child is a loving and extremely playful little boy. As of his latest (which was also his evaluation administered on 11/15/11 with the Mullen,) his receptive and expressive language, visual, and fine motor scores were all well below average. His gross motor skills were about average. However, I have been working with him since this time and his skills have come a very long way. His overall cognition has improved as well as his attention to task and play skills. His development appears to be on a “typical” path, but is significantly delayed. When we first began working with this child, he was a bit too violent and would express himself through hitting and biting his family and other children. He does not appear to be as violent any more and is able to express himself in a more verbal and appropriate manner. He comes from a very loving family, who has been extremely cooperative, his development. However, there is not much structure within the home itself, which appears to be hindering the child's growth. People are always in and out and not much “direct” attention is paid to the 3 young children that live in the home.

           Based on my knowledge learned through my academic classes and also time spent with the child, I believe his next step would be to further increase his expressive and receptive language.  Whether it be for getting his wants and needs across or for his own use during play, He needs to develop a more effective and appropriate way to express himself. I have already seen a drastic change in him as a child since we first started working with him. He is much more eager to work with us, and even more so, he is much less aggressive.

           Two goals that I would like to see the child accomplish over the next 6 months would be:
                         1. He will follow two-step directives during play, given the example of SLP.
                         2. He will use 2-3 word utterances to identify objects within his home that he wants and needs.

             I have planned two activities that I feel would be beneficial to the child’s further development. The first activity I have planned is a stacking block set. I have created all of these boxes myself, based on the model often use in speech therapy with my Supervisor Joy. I asked the child's mother a few weeks ago what some of her son’s favorite shows were. She informed me that they were “Dora the Explorer” and “Yo Gabba Gabba.” I chose to use a show that was of interest to the child in hopes that his attention to task would be increased and also that he would enjoy the activity.
       

The stacking blocks all display difference characters and things from Dora that correspond with the different letters of the alphabet. The blacks are also made with many different colors, are different sizes (decreasing in size as the tower is built), and there are 6 of them. My plan for this activity is to have him be able to imitate my model of what each block displays, each sides different color, identify which blocks go in which order (based on size) and then build the tower. This will target his expressive and receptive language as well as his fine motor skills.

          The next activity I have planned for him is a matching board. I picked out 10 different pictures, all displaying characters from one of his favorite shows, “Yo Gabba Gabba” and pasted them to a piece of paper. My reason for creating this activity was to address the child’s cognitive skills and visual skills. I will give him one picture at a time, state the character’s name, and ask him to find the other one on the board that is the same as the one in his hand.

          The next activity I have planned is a numbered puzzle set. The puzzle is of the numbers 1-8, but I will only focus on using the numbers 1-3/4 at this point in time. Then, as the child masters the puzzle, I will continue to add more pieces. Each puzzle piece makes up one piece of a specific number. For instance, the number one is in the shape of a one and is only one piece. The number two is comprised of two pieces and makes the shape of the number two (and so on). To further interest him, I have put pictures of characters from Dora on each puzzle piece. The number 2, for example, there is a matching picture of “Boots” on each puzzle piece. Each number puzzle piece is the same color as the corresponding pieces to further assist in the matching.
    

   Both of these activities can be done in a “turn-taking” manner so that his older brother, as well as whatever other child is in the home, can play with him. This will encourage him to follow the model of his older brother, whom he does so anyway. His brother seems to be one of the biggest and most important models in his life so by having his brother involved, I hope to evoke more expressive language from the child.

            One of the goals established by the family when we first started working with them was that they wanted him to increase his expressive vocabulary by knowing the names of things and being able to ask for them when he wants or needs them. I have created activities that I hope will be of interest to him so that he will willingly engage in them and imitate my model of what each picture displays in all the different activities, and eventually working towards not
needing to imitate a model but rather being able to identify the pictures on his own. I will encourage the family to engage in this sort of play with their child when we are not there as well. The activities don’t need to be extremely structured to the point where
they are no longer fun with the child. However, the child needs to understand and carry out what are appropriate play skills and behaviors and what are not. For instance, when doing the activities with he and his brother, taking turns will encourage him to wait patiently, and also hopefully decrease the need he feels to hit or bite someone when he does not get what he wants.

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