Page 1 of 9 24 th January, 2009 Periods 38-39 By Hira Manzoor, Rushna Shahid & Mehreen Raashid Circulation restricted to Program Volunteers to respect Zain’s privacy Every one has been dealing with their individual challenges during the play time recently along with the general flow of the program goals. The evaluations this time round were absolutely riddled with questions and observations which were discussed in a major chunk of the meeting. Hafsa has been getting better with the novelty of the various new situations that come her way. It is very challenging indeed to match words Zain’s Volunteers! Melanie Mary Ann Saniya Aveen Maheen Fatima Rushna Hira Hafsa
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He puts his fingers in ears randomly. Are his ears hurting or is he becoming more
sensitive to sound? If it doesn't happen that often then perhaps it could be a physicalissue. At times when you make an excited sound he makes that gesture. Fatima thinks it’s
more like an ism and is perhaps isn’t really sound related. But there is certainly some
sensitivity in effect here. If he gets upset, covering his ears calms him down and
sometimes he even takes Mehreen’s hands and uses them to cover his ears. Mehreen has
noted that when he is very upset, she covers his ears and it calms him down.
I suggest that we keep the tooth brush in the bathroom so that he can get used to
it there. They are already there actually. It is true, toothbrushes in the shelf are just
like another toy while in the bathroom it is more like a tool for brushing teeth. The idea
is that by having them there we are helping him become more comfortable with them.
Tooth brushing is still quite a challenge for us.
We could keep a bunch of toys in our pocket one of which we could pull out as and
whenever he makes a sound…This was Fatima's suggestion and though it didn’t quite
work for her the first time there is no harm to try again. Persistence and patience! It
just might pay. In any case it is worth a try!
Reminding myself of the love that I have for Zain helps me have the right attitude!
A nice thought… a story by Raun in a park employed a like philosophy where his sister said
that ‘I love you no matter what’. Even during a tantrum making a very conscious effort at
staying calm and having an open accepting and loving
attitude does pay off. Zain can pick up our cues when we
are ill at ease. Hence he would certainly be able to pick
up our loving attitude as well. If you become calm, your
calmness affects him and he becomes calm too. Also
thinking of a time when Zain did something that
triggered a great connection can also help with the
attitude and to stay focused.
Did not know how to position myself when he wanted
to do shooshoo all over the room? This was Saniya’s
dilemma. This is something that makes most people
uncomfortable. Maheen shared that she just sits on the
dressing table or table. A loving attitude, afore mentioned can unlock many doors. It
makes the situation more manageable which other wise dangerously starts resembling
button pushing. It’s a case of conditioning yourself, learning to deal with a situation that
makes you uncomfortable. Essentially a lesson in life…
What to do if I can't find the toothbrushes? This is usually a situation that Maheenfinds her self stuck in… no worries. Simply pretend you have one and practice on that.
I need a word to match "ayenyanaye" Since Zain used this word a lot during this one
particular session, so perhaps it is not simply an ism because he was interactive at the
time. Maybe he just likes the sound of the words that he uses in this manner. It’s about
how comfortable you are substituting words for the sounds he makes. How quickly you can
do it while celebrating him for the sound(s) that he making. Fatima has gotten beyond
that phase, for what matters more are good reactions. Its an acquired through practice
and Maheen is progressively becoming better at it. Mehreen re-emphasized theimportance of listening to the language webinar! Listening to it again and again does pay
off…the language part needs a lot of focus. It is after all Zain’s primary challenge. It
simply starts with listening and then eventually becoming attuned to what is being said.
There are days when Zain is very animated and then there are other quieter ones. You
just have to attune your ears to it and respond accordingly. Of course remember that we
have to celebrate all his efforts at attempting to speak
What to do if he is tearing paper and he does not let me join in? Pretend to tear,
do it in your mind. Position that you are tearing so he is able to look at you, pretend andmaybe you will get a connection. It is at times heart wrenching to see those lovely stencil
books being tattered without mercy! The point is, if he is isming, its not the time to
distract him. Just be interested in what he is doing and what is fascinating him so as to
hold his attention so. Introducing should only be done when there are strong green lights.
Exclusivity interrupted may lead to tantrums, pinching and perhaps more exclusivity.
Think of the time when you were
really trying to concentrate on
something and someone interrupted
you… maddening wasn’t it!? Fatimasuggested that a good strategy
Saniya uncomfortable was the demise of the book. She even tried to salvage some part of
it by hiding it under the pillow, but alas! Plans don’t really work around Zain… he rules the
show!
‘He was comparing my long nails with his…’Zain was intrigued by Fatima's nails when she
had them all nice and polished up. Eventually he did push her hand away which Fatimathought was because he was horrified. Mehreen thinks he was probably just done looking
so it need not be under a negative connotation.
The abacus rope is fun and Zain also likes it. We can make a word train out of it.
Saniya told everyone about how Zain was dragging the abacus rope all round the room. He
just loved it and there is so much that could be done with it. Melanie made the rope for
Zain. We could certainly employ this in our play time.
Is the plastercine non-toxic? Zain likes to eat it…Non toxic it is, but eating a lot of itmight give him a tummy ache. Zain does like playing with it. Minaa and Zain used to go to
this art class and the first time he was given the plastercine, he literally gagged…
probably didn’t like the feel of it. We have come a long way since…
We need to have more stickers and in pairs if possible. Stickers…we can certainly
get some more. Maheen however is not that crazy about stickers, they stick every where
she says =). Getting a greater
variety of stickers is a bit of a
problem too for Mehreen butshe is going to try. Anyhow,
even if you join in it doesn't
necessarily have to be with
stickers as well. Hafsa however
just loves the stickers, they are
more her style.
He was scratching his bottom
a lot and eventually he pulleddown his pants… Perhaps this
How not to get bored when Zain is being exclusive and the session is very slow?
Think of something fun, laugh, smile, try a fun way of joining, and love the ism. Fatima
has this head joining thing going on… she talks to Zain in her head, tells him about her day
and it is actually therapeutic! As a matter of fact you can do it loudly as well! Mehreen
uses another fun tool… she smiles ! She gives Zain the biggest sunniest smile possible and
sometimes it actually works or you can just start to giggle and then laugh like you haveheard the funniest joke. Last but not least you can jump for a bit to chase the cobwebs
of sleep away. You never know Zain may join you.
Most of the time that he wants to go to the bathroom, he needs to go do his
shooshoo, so what to do? If he wants to go to the bathroom, if you can handle it
yourself then take him but otherwise ask someone to help you out. Signs of wanting to do
shooshoo: Looks uneasy, stands in a particular way, expression, goes to the bathroom,
stands near the bathroom if door is locked, and takes his clothes off, scratching and
sometimes just becoming very, very still.
What to do if your 3Es are low? Too much on your mind, tired sleepy…?! Its ok, all of
us have our individual challenges to work on. Maheen jumps on the trampoline. For Fatima
too doing physically active stuff builds up her energy. Think of something fun, laugh,
smile, do something fun, focus, singing. If you are tired and on top of that hungry too, eat
something before you go in. Zain did something very interesting when Hafsa was drinking
water, he made her gulp it down in one go and at the end he made sure by checking the
cup! (Also see the answer for what to do when you are getting bored)
Zain likes being cuddled and will sometimes sit in my lap. Sometimes he is
interactive and sometimes he is not but when he sits in my lap he is facing the other
way and then you don't get eye contact. What to do? Let him be because most of
the time when he does this he is avoiding eye contact. He is being very clever! This is
low level of interaction. Then try in a while to see if he will give you eye contact and of
course persistence always pays. Most of the time he is just in a good mood, so don’t worry
about it. Even if he does it just to avoid eye contact, there is still a connection there.
We can use colorful paper to play with Zain! Of course… glaze paper perhaps. Wehaven’t hence far consciously employed colors. Maheen still got the impression that
perhaps Zain was aware of the colors. He can sort things color wise, but not necessarily
according to colors in isolation.
What to do if you get hurt while playing with Zain? Hummm… this transpired when
during the initial phase of the program while we were keeping the doors locked, a
volunteer and Zain both got hurt in the process. Fatima thinks that it might help to gain
sympathy from Zain, could even play it up a bit. This once when Fatima was stuck under
the bed Zain tried to assist by pulling her hair. It did hurt, but it is the intention that
counts! In any case, call out, the door is open and there is always someone around. And
God willing it will not happen again.
Facilitating goals focused on in the 38th-39th periods were primarily persisting (21), joining (16), 3Es (15) andhaving fun (41). There were also some requesting (11), following his lead (10), and celebrating (5). Some of the
programme goals that need to be focused on more are Language Clarity, Self Help Skills and Frequency of
Interactive Attention Span.The frequency of Zain’s interactive attention span is still in the ‘2-6 times per 2 hours’ zone for these
periods but there was one ‘continuously interactive’ and three ’10-12 times per two hours’. Since thefrequency is spread over a large range there was only 13% progress towards the goal which is slightly better
than the previous four periods. The duration of the interactive attention span was also spread over a large areawith lots of ‘3-4’, ‘5-9’, ’10-20’ and ’20-30’ minutes. The good news is that there were three instances of
‘Typical 30-60’ minutes which is obviously our ultimate goal. There was 86% progress towards the goal for
duration in these two periods.With regards to spontaneous eye contact, the duration on average came out to be about 3-4 seconds
(73 times) but there were notable instances of 5-6 seconds (23 times) and 7 seconds or more (3 times). The
duration still seems to be hovering around the same number over several periods now with a 70% progress
towards the goal. The frequency of eye contact continues to be ‘2-3 times per 1 minute’ on average although itis spread over a larger range of ‘1 time per minute’ to ‘5 times per minute’. There were 9 instances of ‘5 times
per minute’ in the 38th-39th periods. Progress towards goal for frequency was 64% still following the trend ofprevious periods.
Zain’s favorite method of communication continues to be moving us physically (14), taking us by the hand
(15), pulling us (15) and pointing (16). There were also some instances of pinching (3) and biting (2) in these twoperiods. Techniques to make him use words to substitute non verbal communication are modeling, pronouncing the
word slowly, clearly and repeatedly; acting dumb when he uses nonverbal communication and most importantly to
celebrate whenever he uses words to communicate! Words that have been used by\with Zain in 38th-39th
periods are ‘roti’, ‘down’, ‘hand’, ‘water’, ‘toys’, ‘nice’, ‘up’, ‘down’ and ‘hug’. We’ve also been monitoring some ofwords he uses and coming up with appropriate substitutes. There was 21% progress towards the goal of trying
to substitute Zain’s nonverbal communication with verbal responses. In these two periods, there were a total of48 clear words and 40 words in context recorded by volunteers. Out of the words given to focus on, most people
focused on ‘tickle’ (6), ‘yes’ (14) and ‘water’ (8).Zain has been welcoming us to the playroom although there have been some resigned acceptances and
some sessions where he has been initially resistant but he eventually accepts our presence. The progress
towards goal is back to 62%. He sought our help in most of his activities (41 [44%]) although there were some(27) instances where he let us help a little bit only.
Zain‘s sessions have been a mixture of going out of the room and either having playtime outside or
responding to us by returning to the room. He hasn’t been doing a lot of thing with his toothbrush in the self
help section. There is a need to find new and innovative ways to make the toothbrush interesting for Zain in
order to achieve the goal of Zain brushing his teeth regularly by himself.