delayedtoddler

photo by MoBikeFed on flickr.com

Figuring out how to incorporate different sensory activities into your child’s day can be a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it can be a lot of fun for both you and your child.  One activity B really enjoys is riding her tricycle.   She’s not actually a very good rider, but she tries very hard.  There is a lot of heavy sensory input in pushing the pedals and moving her feet around.  B got to the point over the summer where she could actually get the bike to move under her own pedal power as long as it was in a straight line.  It never occured to me how much there actually is in riding the tricycle–figuring out which foot to push down when and how to keep your feet moving around is just part of the whole thing.  I give B a verbal reminder along with a tactile reminder of which foot to move.  I tell her to push down with her knee that is high, and then I’ll touch that knee so she can actually feel which one to move.

We don’t generally ride for very long because B gets tired and frustrated easily.  After she pedals for a bit, she likes to push the bike around, and that’s fine by me because she’s still getting heavy input.

Now one more thing I have to mention here, because it’s not in the picture.  B wears a helmet whenever she’s on her trike.  First, because it’s the law for kids under 18 to wear a helmet and second, because I want to keep her safe.

I’m looking forward to the day when we can take a family bike ride together. 

and speaking of tricycles, how cool is this one??

with a cool helmet, of course!

photo by lepiaf.geo on Flickr

In one of my most popular posts I shared about B’s delayed echolalia which she displayed when she asked me to pick her up (B would ask, “Carry you, mama?). Then I posted a celebration when she asked, “Mama, you like you carry me?” Well today, we can have an all out party, because B asked me today, “Mama, can you carry me?” We’ve been working in speech therapy on asking for things (”can I have?”) and we’ve started working on directing her questions to who she is talking to (either with eye contact or by name). I’m so pleased to see this progress! Tomorrow is her last speech therapy appointment for this session. I’m really amazed what a difference eight weeks has made for her. I really believe early intervention has had a huge positive impact.