Suggestions for 3 y/o with Down Syndrome

[sonya_post]

I do daycare for a 3 y/o with Down Syndrome. She comes to my house about 7:00am, takes a nap around 9:00am wakes and eats lunch around 11:00am. Goes to preschool at 12:15 and returns about 3:15. Mom comes sometime between 3:30-4:45. I have three good hours with her a day.

We are currently using LR and doing Jones Genius Matrix Math with her. She will pay attention to LR as long as the words are words she wants to know. Otherwise she sits down and won't watch. When we work on numbers - if I say "This is a 2, can you say 2?" She will say 3, even though she can say 2. I usually try to make a game of it, but she is quite stubborn. Her parents have bought into the idea that the best we can hope for is that she is sort of independant and will live in a local D.S. community. Their hopes for her aren't very high and she hasn't been stimulated very much. They love her to pieces, and she is a snuggler extraordinaire. That is what she's done for most of the last 3 years. I've had her for about 4 months. Her parents were a bit shocked when she read the word "brown" on her mom's shirt.

I just ordered Children of Dreams, Children of Hope. I am concerned that she is really very lazy. Her main interest is music. I use that as leverage to make her use LR. She does enjoy picture books, but doesn't really pay attention when I read to her. She would be content to just lay on the floor doing nothing for hours or snuggling. I know she is very smart though. She gets humor and uses it. When she was 2 she hurt herself and I used the sign for pain. She intentionally signed ball and giggled. She signs pain for her parents and uses ball only for me. When I ask her if she is my best girl she will sign ball even though she can say it now.

Any ideas on how to get this little pumpkin interested in stuff. How can I get her to be curious about her environment? I cook with her. We go outside and I will point out things, but she is still very fearful of walking on unstable ground. She started walking about 6 months ago, her preference is to remain on the sidewalk.

I have "Slow and Steady Get Me Ready", we do the activities in there. Other than that, what should we be working on? The school is pretty unhelpful. Her parents are just following along with what everyone tells them to do. Any moms out there who can give advice, I'll take it.

Sonya

[luvn4]

Wow, what a wonderful concerned care giver you are.  Children of Hope is and amazing book and it will inspire you.  My daughter is 2 and a half and has down syndrome.  I would keep working on the little reader but also may flashcards so children perfer flashcards over the screen.  My daughter has learned a lot form kids tv 123 on You Tube and the signing time videos.  I blog about the actviities we do everyday.

 http://wecandoallthings.blogspot.com/

Sandy   

[temteach]

I think it is wonderful how you are working with her. My daughter is 2 1/2 and also has Ds. She loves picture flash cards. Downsed.com has free pictures and matching cards you can download.  For signing we love Signing Times. They are one of the partners of LR. My daughter picks up signs just from watching the video. We started signing with "more" and favorite food. I started physically taking her hand and signing it and the gradually reducing the prompts. She was much younger so you may not need as much physical prompting.

[sonya_post]

C. already knows and uses about 100-130 signs or so. She is speaking fairly well and is picking up words so fast we quit counting them. We're really not signing that much anymore. I still use some signs with my 15 month old but he is speaking fairly well also, so we don't use them as much as we once did. Maybe we should continue.

I will try the flashcards and see what she thinks. I am game to try anything and my toddler will enjoy them also..he loves his "eards and mumers".   

Sandy,

I just looked at your blog! It is wonderful. Thank you so much! I have a 15 month old and these activities will be great for him as well. I have been wondering about working on fine motor skills and just generally getting her interested in something...anything. I think she will enjoy these. That is what I want. I don't want this to become a struggle. Do you have an overall plan for what skills you want to work through and in what order? I have pretty much stuck to the Slow and Steady Get Me Ready program but we are doing it at a much slower pace.

Thanks,

Sonya

[glitterusagi]

Sounds like she may have some hypotonia? Nothing much to do about the fearfulness that comes with it other than exposure and patience! She'll probably get more revved up and braver the longer she's exposed to whatever the "scary" thing is, so the longer you can let her stay at it the better!

She may get really tired at first and need a lot of breaks. I'd say try some tag in a soft grassy area - you can do a lot of up and down! We also introduced play heels early, I think they've been great! If she's not too big for you, swinging her around and physical play helps to get the adrenaline going!

It's a shame she's being moved from one thing to another so fast, any chance of cutting out that morning nap and switching to after-school? Oh, also mini-trampolines with handle bars - these are great!! My low tone kiddo does best with lots of different physical play options easily accessible - my normal tone kid likes it better this way too of course, haha.

Monster feet, roller skates that lock as a first stage, rain boots for inside dress-up only, anything like this helps I think!

[Paddy Jim Baggot MD]

There is an organization in orange county that gets materials from great britain.  I think they have a website.

Glen Doman and company say two things of interest
Thos with DS can do much better than many other neurologic problems

and that with all of what they call brain injuries
That they can learn well but need more exposure to do the same amount of learning
if you are as ambitious as you seem
this could be a very encouraging thought

[Paddy Jim Baggot MD]

More exposure meaning
two to three times the effort to learn same amount

[luvn4]

Sonya,  As far as a program I don't follow something specific but I do use a copy of the HELP checklist.  This is a checklist that all therapist use to keep track of skills in all area.  It breaks down ever skill you can imagine and puts them in catagoiries such as, speech, gross motor, social, cognitive etc.  I also just purchased the e-book Montessori At Home.  This is an amazing almost three hundred page e-book that breaks down the steps of montessori and how to implement a program in your home.  I used the book How Smart is Your Baby when Adeline was younger and I feel like this has been an addition to the information I received earlier.

I agree with the little tramp idea.  Adeline has a little tramp with a handle and love it.  If you can't find one with a handle I have seen people up a chair in front of a small tramp.  We also use a scooter board a lot in our house.  We have wood floors so that works.  Dance around with scarfs anything to get the feet moving.

Sandy   

[stargirl396]

Her fearfulness may be in response to many factors. I have been to the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (Glenn Doman's group) for 3 lecture series and my daughter has Williams Syndrome. Hypotonia is an issue with DS but how is her vision? I attributed my own daughter's fearfulness to her poor vision and poor balance awareness. (And what the doctors comment about vision is not always accurate.) We walked a mile a day over the summer months and she achieved cross-pattern walking and began running. She can also hike in rougher terrain. You can set up a balance beam (tape on the floor, or just 1 inch high, and a width she can handle) or set up short obstacles she has to step onto or over to get around. My child is very mobile and doesn't stay anywhere too long so things like this have helped. You are very caring to take on such a challenge and feeling responsible to help this little girl out. Thank you for having the courage many others don't have to help.

[sonya_post]

Thank you all for such great ideas. She does have some hypotonia issues. I am not sure about the vision but I've bombarded the parents with so much stuff I don't think I could push more down their throats without them feeling inadequate. We have a large DS population in a small town of 10,000, There is a group home here that is well supported by the community. All the things I am suggesting are going against what they have been told. I think they are amused by my high expectations of C. I know they appreciate that I care so much. However, mom doesn't even read all the articles I email to them. It might be that they are afraid to get their hopes up. They work in the school system, so anything I'm suggesting would be bucking the system that they earn their living from.

So, quietly we will keep working. We do have a tramp which she will use. Mostly she pretends to fall. She can't get "O Gracious" out, so she says "O Gracie". Which is too cute for words. 

We're working on the balance and obstacle course type activities, at this point she remains uninterested. Today she plopped on the floor and informed me she was all done before we even started. Of course, she will then sign "ball". Stinker.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions. I am looking forward to getting the book Children of Dreams.... I ordered the Montessori book.

Sonya

[kmum]

How wonderful that you are able to work with this little girl.  It is sad to me that her parents don't have such high expectations themselves.  Hopefully that will change as you are able to teach her more.

My dd with DS is the most curious child that I have ever met.  We fostered this from an early age, so it is hard to say if it is just natural for her or if we helped cultivate it.

My advice is to show smaller amounts of materials more often. Go very quickly & trust that she will learn it.  One of the worst things you can do is to bore her.  Also, don't ask for feedback. Be patient & it will come.  Many kids will refuse to cooperate if they think you are testing them. 

I think someone else already suggested this, but I would try printing off some flashcards, then laminating them so that you can flash them quickly.  Although my 4 year old has been reading stories for quite a while now, she still loves her old flashcards.

Here is a link to a page on how to fast flash cards.  This is a great way to keep a child's interest long enough to get the set of cards read because it is so quick.

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/2011/05/fast-flashing-method.html

As for her wanting to only walk on the side walk, have you tried any vestibular exercises?

Glenn Doman's Physically Superb book will explain this better.

And just because I'm sure you must have an unlimited budget for buying books,    I would also strongly recommend How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence book, also by Glenn Doman.  It gives an overview of the reading, math & encyclopedic knowledge programs.

If it helps convince this little girl's parents, you are welcome to show them the videos of my dd on my blog.  I have videos of her reading from age 2 until almost 4. 

http://downsyndromeupupupandaway.blogspot.com/p/videos-of-k-reading.html

Thank you for having so much faith in this little girl.  You can make such a difference in her future!

[sonya_post]

Well, I read Veras Children of Hope, Children of Dreams. If it weren't for the fact that I am a believer because I've seen the Doman methods work with children who have RAD, this book would not have convinced me. It really is a history of how he got to where he is and there isn't anything under How To Make Mongoloids Normal. Not really. You can tell these guys really care, but when they write a book it would be helpful if they included a lot more information. Encyclopedia Knowledge is not much different than Teach Your Baby to Read.

So question...should I purchase How to Help Your Brain Damaged Child or the Physically Superb book. Are any of you familiar with Brain Gym and have you used the exercises? I don't buy into all of it but I have seen those types of therapies work with ADHD and Dyslexia, I do notice that Shichida uses some of the same exercises - like the figure 8. Diane Craft has the book Brain Integration Therapy, which doesn't have the silly exercises that Brain Gym has.

At this point, I am a bit overwhelmed tying to decide the best plan of action. I have four total kidlets here, two of them my own. I need to organized with a plan or life just seems to fall apart.......

Help?!?! 

[kmum]

The What to do About Your Brain Injured Child never does get around to telling you what to do! It is another history type book - ok if you want history, but I didn't find it at all helpful. The Physically Superb book gives you activities & guidelines for kids up to age 6. 

I'm not familiar with Brain Gym.

I find it best to add one or two things at a time. We are doing a program tgat my dd's neurodevelopmentalist has created & it can still be overwhelming at times. By slowly adding things, waiting until I get it under control, then adding more, it is not so overwhelming.

In your position, I would try to make many of these activities into a game & include all of the kids.

Hope this helps!

[sonya_post]

I just want to thank everyone or all the wonderful suggestions.

At the beginning of the month little Miss C. could not crawl without dragging her back legs along the floor. She is now cross pattern crawling across the living room floor and back. She gets fatigued but she does it. She can hang from a chin up bar for 8 seconds. She is also letting me hold her upside down.

We switched to flashcards. Wow! what a difference. I wasn't sure what she was getting from LR. We were beset by several plagues so I didn't get around to switching all her words to flashcards until a few days ago. Today we played some games with them - she can accurately recognize 45 or so words. So LR was working, however, she begs to see the flashcards the way my 16m/o begs for little reader. But he likes the flashcards also.  She has all her numbers memorized for 0-9. We are working on Jones Geniuses Math. We started Soft Mozart a couple days ago and she enjoys it with great enthusiasm.

I think she was startled today that she knew so many words - it was a great ego boost. She wanted more, more. more.  Her mother cried when we played our words games for her. I think she might be converted.

All this and Little Miss C. just turned 3.

Thank you all,
Sonya

[kmum]

WooHoo!   How wonderful that all of your hard work is paying off! 

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