Where did it come from?

My friend asked me.... why the title "To Catch a Bird?"

Simple.

Deb, my mother in law said we really should write down the activities we did/do to help the boys.
Nick and I were discussing what she said on the way home and he said, he didn't know how we'd start it but he know what we would title our writings.
"To Catch a Bird."

He said having children who were non-verbal was tough.
Teaching them to talk was tougher, as tough as trying to catch a bird.

I loved it, so I used it.

It made me tear up, but we have our little birds by the feathers, just need a bit more to pull them down.

Cookie Cutter.

Okay my dear friend and I found ourselves saying this term more than once.
"cookie cutter."
"Our kids are not cookie cutter and that's A-Okay."
Both our children are Receptive-Expressive.

We know the hard up's and down's but we don't give up.
We are our own self-proclaimed "Mommy Warriors."
Here that Miss. Winfrey, there are tons of us EVERYWHERE!

And it brings me to this.

Just because our kids are not "Cookie Cutter" doesn't mean they can't achieve it all.

While watching a football game with my hubby and father-in-law I heard something that made me do a double take and make my ears grow ten times larger!
I had to soak in all the info I was hearing.

A NFL quarterback, Nate Davis who has such a severe learning disorder was there, right there playing NFL ball.
This non-cookie cutter guy is a pro player.
He learned his plays by looking at special pictures.
I was floored....PICTURES!!!
How many of us are doing that like right now with our kids!?
WOW! That could be any one of our babies.
OUR BABIES!!!

Okay so your reading this thinking...ppfffttt.
I don't want an NFL player.
Well he/she can be a doctor, diagnostician, lawyer.....anything!

That's what I tell Z & E everyday.
They can do anything!!
I constantly tell them "Your brain is so wonderful...I love your brain!"

I get those toothy grins and you know, they know it. They know they have it, they just need a little extra "pictures" to look at to help them along the way.

Here's the link if you want to read more.
And mom's and Pop's don't give up, work with them, they will surprise you.

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/09/03/49ers-qb-nate-davis-embraces-his-learning-disability-earns-nfl/

Hopscotch

These photos were taken in 2007, Z was 4 and E was 3. Both were non verbal and I was working hard to pull words out of their little mouths.

This particular day I decided to take a fun lesson outside with hopscotch.
I let them doodle on the side walk having them repeat the words of the pictures they drew.

Next came the super fun part.

I drew the hopscotch squares with their help and had them help me draw in the numbers.
Next I rolled a rock and demonstrated what was to be done.
Little smiles scrolled across their faces and I knew they got it.

Of course I had to stop Z from running away a couple of times, that child loved to run and when trying to catch him he thought it was a game of chase.
Nope hun just want to keep you out of the streets!



This not only helped teach them about interaction but helped them with grasping. The big chalk was great with the motor sensory in Z & E's little hands.
And lets not forget music.
Yes, I sang.
Anything I could think of while they were giggling and jumping from square to square.
I felt if I could incorporate music in little by little maybe it would be less painful to Zenon in the future.

Afterwards I remember us going in all hot and sweaty for a drink and a snack.

They still love chalk drawing and playing hopscotch with mommy.

Beany Bean Beans!

Z and E both had motor sensory issues.
Z's a bit more severe than E's.

There's was in a form of their hands, Grasping a pencil was tough. Making the simple task of correctly holding a crayon almost impossible and extremely frustrating on them.

Someone dear to me said writing for my boys was like if they were trying to write on the ceiling with a pencil attached to the end of a bamboo stick...YIKES that does sound frustrating!

So I played games with them to help them ease into the process.

I started with textures. Allowing them to jump in there and get in there with their little fingers!

I started with beans.
I allowed them to transfer beans to and from bowl to bowl.
I eventually took away the measuring cups and stuck my hands in the beans as if sticking my hands in sand.
I giggled the whole time making it seem like I was having a ball.
Of course monkey see monkey do and they jumped in on the fun.
Not only did I let them play I encouraged conversation.
Mommy:"Ooohhh do you like this game?"
Of course Z would just echo.."Do you like this game?"
Mommy: "No I say do you like this game you say, yes."
Z would smile and continue on his beany mission.
You know I never gave up, repetition, repetition.

You don't give up either.














Back to the bean....They made a terrible beany mess but I didn't care. To me this was a step in the right direction.
I was told the touch and feel sends signals to their brain.
So if their sensory felt pain from the feeling they could slowly train them selves with activities like this.
Again this is what I was told, I am not a therapist.
I was actually told to use anything and chose beans, you could also use rice.
Another fun thing the boys loved was crushing leaves.
Their Pop's came up with this one.
On a family walk pick up leaves and let your little one just crush it in their hands. In the beginning I think it bothered Z to do this. But after a while his boy instincts kicked in and he loved it!
We'd walk he'd stop pick up a leaf show us his finding then CRUSH!
I was happy to see he was coming along, even if he did sometimes sneak into the house a leaf or two.