Gearing Up...

We are gearing up to start the Institutes program this Monday and it's going to be a lot of work.

We will be patterning Joaquin 6 times per day in a truncal pattern for up to a minute each time. He will be on an incline crawling track starting 10 times per day and building up to 30 times per day for a distance of 1 meter each time and the majority of his free time will be spent on the floor in different stimulating environments. We have put a checkerboard wall up on one wall in his room. We will be stimulating his light reflex 20 times per day and having him locate light in a darkened room 5 times per day. We will have him look at black and white images 3 times per day and read stories to him with books that have large colorful images. We will stimulate his startle reflex 15 times per day with loud unexpected sounds as well as introduce him to different interesting and household sounds 15 times per day. We will stimulate his sense of touch 20 times per day with hot, cold, warm, cool, soft, rough stimuli on his arms, legs, hands, feet, etc (stimulating both his vital sensation as well as his gnostic sensation). We will also get him to grasp a pole 10 times per day and work up to having him hang on it using two hands and throughout the day we will work on different balance activities around the house (spinning, rocking, swaying, etc). We will also start using a choice board (basic yes/no board) and some basic sign language (milk, eat, more signs) with him 10 times per day.

Whew.......I think I can fit it all in. We WILL fit it all in!