Wow! So a bonus of Daddy being a college professor is he's home full-time for the summer. And he likes to ride bike. Grant's finally big enough to sit in a seat behind him and Bernie's still small enough to fit in the trailer, so off they went. This morning we got the shelf and mirror up in Clark's SRP playroom. I've been itching to get started officially so we had the chance! The room is crucial to the method. It's to be a complete "yes" environment where there is nothing off limits to the child. You shouldn't have to use the word "no" at all. Success on that note! It should be distraction free; no extraneous items, nothing on the walls to stim on. Essentially the adult should be the most interesting thing in the room. Success! There should be a shelf high up and out of reach of the child that holds things the child is interested in and motivated by. He should be able to see the items too. The goal is for him to request these things by pointing, which he's never done, or using words. Success! The mirror is to increase self-awareness. Success! If there are windows, they should be frosted so the child can't see out at distractions. We have the material but haven't gotten this done yet. Yes, he spent some time looking out the window. There should be a little table and chair for him to sit at, and you sit on the other side on the floor so you are at eye level. Done! A two-way window/mirror and/or a video camera are useful for feedback. We haven't thought much about these things yet. One thing I'm not sure about is whether or not you include items they stim on, in particular for Clark, his mini-trampoline. In order to "join" him in this stim you would want to have a large exercise ball to sit on so you could bounce with him. In a previous post where I shared the methodology of the program, "joining" is what makes the SRP unique. A child will stim or "-ism" to avoid interaction. The SRP teaches you to join your child in this behavior to make yourself a part of their exclusive world. Whenever I've done this his eye contact is amazing! Once they've accepted you entering their environment you try to add components and encourage interaction We removed his official bed from the room (which made a LOT of noise when jumping-above my sleeping head) and added a futon mattress straight on the floor. No worries of hurting himself or breaking a bed and little bounce. With the bed in there some nights he would jump for two hours before settling down to sleep. The futon has curbed this immensely.
So we're pretty much set up with the environment for little cost. That's exciting! Some people have to build a special room or reconstruct their home. Our biggest expense was the shatter-proof mirror. Since it's his bedroom I wanted something safe. The first session was interesting to say the least! I pulled the futon in front of the mirror and he checked that out for a bit. Not looking at himself but just touching it and the edges and mounting hardware. I took a toy off the shelf...a shape sorter where you put the shapes on wooden pegs and started playing with it...he finished it up! One of his favorite things to do is lay in bed with me and hug on me and pull the covers all snug around us. He likes to flip around and hold my feet. Yes, the kid has always had a foot fetish. Do I get rid of the blanket? Do I wear shoes? Every time I sat up, he'd push me back down. I easily fell. Great! Interaction! Cause and Effect! After a long while of playing this game, he became a bit aggressive with the hugging and tried scratching my arm. I lightly did the same to his arm. He pulled my hair a bit. I did the same to him. This made him LAUGH!!! He poked at my eyes! I would say, "eyes" and he'd approximate the word back. He'd put his fingers up my nose. I'd do the same to him. He didn't enjoy that so that behavior quickly stopped. I'd ask him to touch his nose and eyes, and he'd do it. Suddenly he started a series of repetitive actions. He'd open the door, shut it and then push me down on the futon, fall next to me and hug, and then get up and do it all over again. He'd open the door and I'd say, "OPEN!!". He'd shut the door and I'd say, "SHUT!!!". He'd push me down; I'd fall back. Eventually, I realized at this point I should be saying, "DOWN!!". We'd hug (with AWESOME eye contact during the hugs). He'd get up. I'd sit up and he would open the door again. After a dozen times of this routine (an -ism surely), I'd pause before saying "SHUT!!!". He said the word alone at least three different times!! This is huge for Clark! The SRP says to get super-excited when this happens, and wow! That was very easy for me to do! I was thrilled! So a couple more times of the routine while doing the hugging part, I'd say, "OPEN!!". He got up and opened the door! Again, wow! So we did this for the session. It was pretty damn cool!
Daddy and Brothers got home and I asked him if he wanted to eat lunch and we went downstairs without whining. Most of the time these sorts of transitions result in whining or crying. And very little whining for the rest of the day! He led me back upstairs into the room a couple times throughout the day, so we played a bit more. He loved it!
Here's a link of play-room toy suggestions from the SRP. I'll be adding some of my favorites to my Amazon wish-list!
Toys for SRP!
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