Katie has Physical Therapy at the Playground

On thing that concerned me when we started this new journey was how Katie would respond. Before we left home, she had Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and other people in our home working with her. However, I know that when God calls to you to do something He will equip you. I am just having faith that He will meet all of Katie's needs and that she will continue to progress with out the help of therapist for this season in her life.

Today, was a prime example of how Katie is doing. Joshua and Hannah climbed up the slide and Katie watched them. A few minutes later, Katie grab hold of the slide and started walking up. She slide back down. She tried again. She slide back down. She hit the slide and banged her head on it. (Katie gets frustrated when she can not complete a task that she wants to do and because she has a limited vocabulary she reacts in this way.) I got up went over to her and said, "Katie want to climb up?" She responded, "yes". I showed her where to put her hands and how to get on her knees. Then I moved one knee and moved the alternate hand as I said, "pull". We did this until she got to the top. Once at the top, I gave her the reinforcer of praise with tickles and hugs. She came down the slide and she tried it again. This time I just put my hand on her bottom to keep her from sliding down and said, "pull". She went up the slide with 4 prompts from me. Again at the top, I gave her praise and hugs. After a short break, I had her try again. This time I only had to catch her bottom from sliding one time and she was saying "pull". The last time she tried, I caught her one time from sliding but my hand was not resting on her bottom. When she starting sliding, I placed my hand there so that she would not slide all the way back down. I gave her encouragement and Woo-Hoo she made it to the top. She knew what she accomplished because she was giving herself praises.

I thank God for today. Katie is progressing!! Just like all of us, she is learning things that we could not learn staying at home.