I used to tell my husband that I did not want to go into special ed because I knew I would bring it home with me. I'm not sure that is a bad thing exactly, but it can make you tired.
One of the students I service is a kindergartener who has visual problems, cognitive problems and CP. I disagreed with his placement in a regular class, but now I see some benefits. He is way behind his agemates in every way, but eons ahead of where he was this time last year.
One of my assignments with this student is to eat lunch with him. We don't think he gets the concept of eating. He knows that when he is hungry he gets food, but he still grabs his food with his fist and shoves it in his mouth like a baby or young toddler. Sometimes I don't think he distinguishes between different kinds of food, and I know that he doesn't really realize that there are methods for eating. When he is hungry, he gets the food in his mouth in the quickest and easiest way.
Obviously, this does not work at the kindergarten lunch table for serveral reasons. First of all, it presents a choking hazard. When the class was given peanut butter cups as a treat, my student shoved the whole thing in his mouth. His teacher was quick to say something because she was afaid he would choke, but when she did, he just reached in his mouth and took the whole thing out. Secondly, it makes him a spectacle. With no help, at the end of a meal my student's face and the area around him are really really messy. His classmates this year have been understanding, but soon such eating will isolate him more than it already has.
My student's teachers wanted me to work with him on opening his own lunch containers, and he has made some progress there. He can open his lunch box or lunch bag and get eveything out, but the job is hardly done then. He has CP, so he lacks muscle control in his hands and elsewhere. He can't open a ziplock bag to get his sandwich out, so we open the bag hand over hand. The next problem is getting the sandwich out. He doesn't have a pincer grip, so he grabs with his whole hand, and more often than not he just grabs the top piece of bread on the sandwich; so once we get the sandwich out, we have to reassemble it. Every other bite or so, he needs to be reminded how to hold the samdwich so that he doesn't shove it in his mouth. That is easy on days he isn't hungy because he waits, but the little guy is hungry by 11!
Today I got the OT to help me watch him. He doesn't bite food off; he rips it. Consequently, today's lunchmeat and cheese sandwich was a messy disaster. The OT observed, and then I found an article on the web which says that poor cheek, lip and tongue control is normal in kids with CP. Neither of us know what to do about it, though. I called my resources at the school for the blind, and they are looking into it. They were amused in a way because usually people want to find out how to STOP their students from biting.
The developmental charts say that my student's biting and chewing skills should have evolved between the ages of 9 and 18 months. He will soon be six. I am convinced that he needs to eat in a socially acceptable manner, but this is something I have never encountered. The visual "piece", as my boss would say, does affect his understanding of eating. But so do his cognitive deficits and his lack of motor control. Until today, I never even knew people received therapy to gain oral motor control. My more handicapped students all eat soft food, and now I am beginning to see why this boy's mom usually packs PBJs for him. Less mess, and less choking. The OT says that the parents need to teach him this at home but if we, the professionals, don't know how to teach it, how would his mom?
I think working in special ed is beginning to teach me to count progress in baby steps. I need to learn how to keep it from breaking my heart.
One of the students I service is a kindergartener who has visual problems, cognitive problems and CP. I disagreed with his placement in a regular class, but now I see some benefits. He is way behind his agemates in every way, but eons ahead of where he was this time last year.
One of my assignments with this student is to eat lunch with him. We don't think he gets the concept of eating. He knows that when he is hungry he gets food, but he still grabs his food with his fist and shoves it in his mouth like a baby or young toddler. Sometimes I don't think he distinguishes between different kinds of food, and I know that he doesn't really realize that there are methods for eating. When he is hungry, he gets the food in his mouth in the quickest and easiest way.
Obviously, this does not work at the kindergarten lunch table for serveral reasons. First of all, it presents a choking hazard. When the class was given peanut butter cups as a treat, my student shoved the whole thing in his mouth. His teacher was quick to say something because she was afaid he would choke, but when she did, he just reached in his mouth and took the whole thing out. Secondly, it makes him a spectacle. With no help, at the end of a meal my student's face and the area around him are really really messy. His classmates this year have been understanding, but soon such eating will isolate him more than it already has.
My student's teachers wanted me to work with him on opening his own lunch containers, and he has made some progress there. He can open his lunch box or lunch bag and get eveything out, but the job is hardly done then. He has CP, so he lacks muscle control in his hands and elsewhere. He can't open a ziplock bag to get his sandwich out, so we open the bag hand over hand. The next problem is getting the sandwich out. He doesn't have a pincer grip, so he grabs with his whole hand, and more often than not he just grabs the top piece of bread on the sandwich; so once we get the sandwich out, we have to reassemble it. Every other bite or so, he needs to be reminded how to hold the samdwich so that he doesn't shove it in his mouth. That is easy on days he isn't hungy because he waits, but the little guy is hungry by 11!
Today I got the OT to help me watch him. He doesn't bite food off; he rips it. Consequently, today's lunchmeat and cheese sandwich was a messy disaster. The OT observed, and then I found an article on the web which says that poor cheek, lip and tongue control is normal in kids with CP. Neither of us know what to do about it, though. I called my resources at the school for the blind, and they are looking into it. They were amused in a way because usually people want to find out how to STOP their students from biting.
The developmental charts say that my student's biting and chewing skills should have evolved between the ages of 9 and 18 months. He will soon be six. I am convinced that he needs to eat in a socially acceptable manner, but this is something I have never encountered. The visual "piece", as my boss would say, does affect his understanding of eating. But so do his cognitive deficits and his lack of motor control. Until today, I never even knew people received therapy to gain oral motor control. My more handicapped students all eat soft food, and now I am beginning to see why this boy's mom usually packs PBJs for him. Less mess, and less choking. The OT says that the parents need to teach him this at home but if we, the professionals, don't know how to teach it, how would his mom?
I think working in special ed is beginning to teach me to count progress in baby steps. I need to learn how to keep it from breaking my heart.
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