Saturday, November 10, 2007

Just checking in

It was a busy week, but not much really happened. I kept Micah home from school on Tuesday because he started getting a cold too. Sofia was fairly stuffy-nosed all week, but she is progressively improving now. Sam was actually ok this week; minimal screaming, occasionally agreeable. Micah stayed healthy enough to go to school the rest of the week, but he stayed home last night (the rest of us had a dinner at shul; fortunately my mother's helper could stay with him).

Today we just hung out all day (actually, David went to work for several hours!). I sorted through lots of the piles of junk I'm storing in my room - Sofia's progress reports from Early Intervention, the boys' arts and crafts from school, etc. So much STUFF.

Now I'm working on HOMEWORK. I just finished the 2nd review (only 2 weeks late), and am about to launch into this week's lesson (last week was a make-up week, whew). I was supposed to have a phone conference with my teacher on Friday morning, but she didn't answer the phone when I called, I left a message and tried again, but she didn't call back, and then she emailed saying she'd been in her office for an hour waiting for my call. So obviously we didn't connect. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up for real and not have to do special sessions with her, just the regular conferences with the class.

David has mostly lost his voice (that doesn't stop him from talking, of course!). He sounds like Brenda Vaccaro.

I updated Sofia's word list. She's got more than 100 signs and 40 verbals! Woohoo! She's so funny. She likes to use PlayDoh. The Developmental Specialist always has her use the Rifkin Chair (ok, I could not find a link TO a Rifkin Chair, but here is a similar chair. I did, however, find all sorts of links about kids with Autism being put into Rifkin chairs as punishment! That surprised me - Sofia loves to use her chair!). Anyway, so whenever Sofia wants to use PlayDoh, she says "roll-roll" and then climbs into her chair! She looks like such a big girl. When J first gave the chair to us, more than a year ago, she was so tiny, I couldn't imagine her using it. Now, it's just great for her. Thanks, J! (I'll get a photo up here soon).

Ok, back to Hebrew Homework. Tomorrow night, David and I (and several friends) are going to see The Police! (You know, Sting's other band...).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

THANK GOD YOU HAVE A HUSBAND AND THE FUNDS TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN.

MY NAME IS ANNETTE AND I HAVE A FOUR YEAR OLD SEVERELY AUTISTIC CHILD JOSEPH'S FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS ONE AND LEFT US PENNILESS.
THANK GOD WE SHARE A HOME WITH MY SENIOR MOTHER IN CAPE CORAL FLORIDA WE STRUGGLE EACH AND EVERY DAY ON A VERY FIXED INCOME. OUR MAIN CONCERN IS WHAT HAPPENS TO JOSEPH WHEN WE ARE NO LONGER HERE ??? WE HAVE NO FAMILY SUPPORT. WE PRAY CONTINOUSLY TO GOD AND HOPE FOR A MIRACLE.

JUST TODAY I WAS LOOKING FOR A RIPKIN CHAIR (SPECIAL NEEDS CHAIR) AND THE PRICE WAS $600.00 APROX. MIGHT AS WELL BE A MILLION. WE ARE SO SAD MOST OF THE TIME NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE HIM WITH OFTEN THE MOST BASIC OF THINGS.

ENOUGH OF MY RAMBLING. SORRY I WENT ON SO.

PLEASE HAVE A NICE DAY AND KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS PLEASE.

SINCERLY
ANNETTE LITTLE JOSEPH AND DONNA

FBF Rothkopf said...

Annette and Donna,

I did a little research for Joseph. Have you contacted Medicaid? They might be able to cover the expense of the Rifton chair, if you could get his Occupational Therapist or Physical Therapist to write a "prescription" letter saying he requires this Durable Medical Equipment (DME) for his condition.

We were able to get Sofia's Trip Trapp Chair covered this way through our private insurance. It is certainly worth a try. Also, you did't say how big Joseph is right now, but there are many differnt sites that sell Rifton Chairs and similar types of specialized seating.

If you come back, please email me - I can send you a bunch of the websites.

Hugs,

f.