Our exercises were fun this morning - we had a repeat of walking in a figure of 8 round 2 cushions and another throwing a bean bag in the air using 1 hand. Harry thought I was joking when I told him he had to do with his eyes closed as well, and we had a laugh about that! :)

He's very happy today as they are having an India Expo at school and the kids are exhibiting all the tie-dye stuff they've been making this term. Harry has really enjoyed doing this. He's made a lovely cushion! He's very excited about going on holiday tomorrow and tried to pack all sorts in his case last night - thank goodness I heard him zipping everything up - we had the tennis racket, football and loads of pants and pyjamas!

O.T. Appointment

Harry had his OT appointment this morning. Surprisingly, he scored average in all areas of motor skills. They felt he had become lazy, knowing we would do a lot for him - washing, cutting up his food etc., They suggested a merit system and he would get an award if he cut up one piece of food per meal. I commented I was already doing a merit system for DORE, so maybe sweets at the end of the week.

I showed them my Dore report and their findings were similar, although they commented the scores could be explained better. They asked if he received any OT help in school, along the lines of what Dore are doing, and were surprised (they said it was a shame) when I told them the school seemed disinterested. They have offered some advice and he will hopefully get a "move and sit" cushion and some ultra grips to go round his pencil. They gave Harry some nice exercises to do and he seemed to enjoy himself, although he became fidgety towards the end (we were there over an hour).

Happier

Harry has appeared much happier these last few days. He is socialising more and playing with school-friends. New words: Sarcastic, Realise - to name a couple. Can't remember any more right now, but when he says them, I laugh as it is so out of character for him to say them. Today he had a spelling test - unfortunately he left his contact book with the spellings in them at school all week - however, my very clever boy got them all right anyway! 10/10.

School Testing

I asked the school to do another WRAT test on Harry. Results for reading and spelling have progressed "commensurate with his age gain", but his comprehension "has made a big leap from below 70 (off the scale) to 86 which is within the average band". I am seeing more and more signs ... language " I didn't REALISE ..." etc. I have also requested they do a numeracy test as the last one was done in 2005 - Senco haven't done one as ..."I have not re-tested him in this area as I do not feel it is a great issue". I asked that she do one when she can.

New exercise today - walking and bending. Quite easy, but we need to bend more to the side than to the front. After a bit of a moan, it was done ok. Marked it as hard though because of the bending sideways motion. Walked to school, but Harry still talking about dying. He says he has no friends, and his cousins weren't playing with him at the weekend. I told him he should've told me at the time - not 2 days later. Not sure where this is coming from. I told him we'd miss him and wasn't he looking forward to the holiday? He said he would still be there looking down - not to swim and have fun though I said. I hope the holiday will improve his mood.

Exercises

We were back to the bouncy ball and eye tracking today. Harry very happy and pliable - even did a speed grid afterwards before leaving home for school. He asked to do another speed grid, but we just didn't have the time! What a turnaround - even John has commented on how different Harry is now. Thank god the broom and tin has now gone - never did manage an "easy" tick for that exercise.

Maths Update

OK. Some more good news. I spoke to Harry's teacher last night and she commented that he is really good at doing division. She has also given him a sheet (much harder) that he can try if he wants. He has sailed through the sheet he was given and then went on to do some speed grids. This is such good news - that he's so keen to do school work is amazing. He shies away from literacy, and we have just attempted basic punctuation, but Harry got very upset as he didn't understand the text and struggled with capital letters and question marks etc. I think Trevor Davies of Balsall School told me literacy and spellings is the last thing to improve, so hopefully this will improve in the future.

Maths

Had an email from Harry's school today. He is doing very well with this maths work (speed grids) and at the end of last week could only manage these in over 6 minutes. Yesterday, he got 100% correct and did it in 4 mins.36 secs. He is very pleased with himself. Another step in the right direction!

Exercises

Tuesday 13th March

Started on the new book of exercises today - broom and tin can was one - and that didn't go down at all well. Harry was tired and you have to hold your arms out at a 90 degree angle - very hard. Lots of moaning and crying. The eye-tracking seemed ok. He usually manages those without any fuss.

Wednesday 14th March

Much better today - we had the broom again, and although Harry's arms go out at the sides, he is at least making more of an effort and managing it ok. First time on the bouncy ball - not sure how fast we're meant to be bouncing (I'll have to ring Dore and check), but very enjoyable. All in all, this morning's exercises were a vast improvement on yesterday's!

1st Follow-up Assessment

Had our second check today. What a different set of results.
Initial Assessment
1. 86 (red)
2. 92 (green)
4. 64 (red)
5. 61 (green)

1st Assessment
Click on the image to zoom in.

This is what it all means:
1 = Eyes Open (Visual, somatosensory and Vestibular altogether)
2 = Eyes Closed (Somatosensory and Vestibular)
4 = Eyes Open + Platform moves (this makes the feet unstable) (visual and vestibular - somtosensory removed by moving floor)
5 = Eyes Closed + Platform Moves (vestibular only as visual and somatosensory removed)

This score is what was expected - what they call the reconstruction phase.

We've got a few new exercises, but basically we are sticking with the first phase. We are repeating some too. Dore are happy with the way I'm marking them - putting "hard" and sticking to them for longer, rather than "easy" to please and moving on quicker than we should.

We have a few with the ball, so we are juggling the exercises around so we don't have to pack it when we go away @ Easter!

Our story so far

Hi - this is my first ever blog - I just wanted to tell you about my son's experience with Dore.

We have only been doing the programme since January 2007. The results from our initial assessment are on the left. The exercises are fun to do and change regularly, so it doesn't become boring. Fitting them in twice a day has become part of our daily routine, although some of them can be quite difficult. We haven't missed a session yet and have our first assessment next Monday.

Had a Parents Evening on Feb 20th (about 4 weeks into the programme), and his teacher tells me Harry did well in his NR/NVR test (average), but unfortunately, in class, he appears to be "away with the fairies" - more so than usual. I explained that this is a period children go through when they first start with Dore, and hopefully we will notice subtle changes soon.

After about 6 weeks, I now notice some language improvement and he seems happier to hold a conversation now, using "bigger words" that were unheard of previously. I think the fog is starting to clear and he tells me he feels different ... not quite sure what that means !!!!

Difficult Exercise: One of the exercises involves balancing on one leg - you're supposed to stand on the spot, unfortunately this isn't happening - and he hops about all over the room. Rather funny.

I will post again after our check-up on Monday.