Welcome to Part 3 of a 10 part series from our parent contributor, Beth Lattime. You can check out part 2 here.
Listen to your other offspring
Ethan
has a big sister, Cecelia, who is wise beyond her years. She has helped me pack
Ethan’s “outing bag” for social gatherings. I have heard her tell me all about
the things that baby bro enjoys. “Mom, Ethan loves all of the VTech vehicles
but not the tracks. He loves tub toys. Can we buy him some that we can just
keep in his bag?” These are just a few of many things that we have learned.
I
mentioned the bags and the Tupperware lids. I know. I know. You don’t want your
child playing with things that aren’t toys, right? It makes them look freaky
and out of place. I get it. Think about this for a minute though. Can you
interchange appropriate with inappropriate items? Let your child have
opportunities to play with both preferred and unpreferred items. Involve their
siblings in this process. Tell their sibling to teach Aunt Sue how to play with
your child with special needs. Not everyone knows how to play let alone play
with a child that gets exhilarated by a Grandma’s Potato Salad lid.
*Beth
Lattime, M. Ed. is a developmental specialist and intervention specialist. Her
professional experiences span over classroom, clinical, home-based, and
recreational environments. She can now proudly add her own natural environments
to her list of experiences. Ethan was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms in 2012
which is a rare type of epilepsy and had a former diagnosis of dysphasia. He is
currently undergoing intensive therapies at LLA for apraxia and deficits in the
arenas of physical and occupational therapy as well. For more on Beth’s story,
visit www.lattimeinterventionservices.com
Labels: Parents
