January 20 2009

Today Raffi and Mik went to the bank, Let's Play, and St Joes. Raffi raked the branches in St. Joes, Had lunch and played music at Mik's house and played sports at Let's Play.


Some notes on today:
Writing:
- Words he has difficulty with: labels (labls), Brunswick (Brnswck), live (lve), Richmond (Rhmond)
- Letters he has difficulty with: B, 5, 6, d ,n and h
- Can recognize the need to write his name and his penmanship with writing his name is good (My name is ____)
- ALWAYS IN A HURRY TO FINISH SO HE CAN HAVE A BREAK (skipping lines, writing fast, not thinking before writing)

Reading:
- Word he couldn't read or needed help with: oranges, sandwich, these, tuna, clean

Discipline:
- When he was left alone for a couple of minutes while he was finishign his writing excercises he played video games instead
- Nonetheless, he is more responsive and patient now when he is asked to do things
- In fact, he didn't even hit me today. :D

January 13 2009

Today Mik and Raffi did some reading and writing, played video games and went to the grocery, went to Let's Play and had fun!

Some notes on today:
Writing:
- Still "goes to the water" ever so slightly
- He also has a really hard time writing his address (Brunswick) and phone number
- Difficulties with 'd,' '6,' and 'B'
- Identifies the need to write in the line now without being reminded
Reading:
- Still really good except for a couple of words (finally)
Discipline:
- Today he was very distracting while driving, he needs to realize that poking, touching and shaking the driver is not safe
- Today he also was not listening when asked to finish his food
- Still continues to shake and grab out of impatience, but it does occur less now

January 6

Today Mik and Raffi did some reading and writing, played video games and went to the bank and grocery

Some notes on today:
Writing:
- Still continues to forget to add the first 'c' in Francisco
- Unless asked, he forgets to start in the left side of the page (begins in middle of the line) and forgets to write with in the lines.
- Difficulty either reading or writing the letter 'd' for it looks more like a '9' (It might be a writing difficulty because after repeated attempts I saw that the natural motion he takes causes him to make a downward like therefore forming a '9' rather than a 'd.' Try re-teaching him how to write the letter 'd' by first making the o part then finishing the letter up by doing an upward motion to create the line rather than a downward. Better to have a really long 'd' than a '9' ;) )

Math:
- Strongly capable of identifying coins and processing numbers and coin types at the same time ("Give me 4 quarters")
- However when given more than one type of coin in the patterns (2 dimes and a penny) or a complex numerical value that requires him to realize that he needs two types of coins ("Give me 15c or $1.oo in quarters") he still finds it difficult.

Reading:
- Reading has really improved with him since I first worked with him. He can read faster and also can read words that have more than 5 letters easier.

Social:
- Today there was minimal if there was any at all hitting.
- He is more patient with things now.
- Loves to shake my hand to get my attention, especially when I'm writing.
- From what I'm understanding still tries to 'match-make' me with people.

A Rainy Day

Saturday, January 10

Today, Raf and Sam took the C93 bus to Riverport to go bowling. The bus ride cost $1.75. Raffi played one arcade racing game, then Sam and Raf bowled. Raf scored a 83 and Sam scored a 100. Next week, Raf will go bowling again with the Richmond Special Olympics.

On the way home, they took the 403 to Richmond centre. Eric was on the bus. Raf knows him from Monday night basketball and eric also plays in the Special Olympics Bowling League on Saturday mornings. Raf will see him next week.

At Richmond Centre, Sam and Raf had their lunch and Sam got them some dessert from the Chinese bakery. They made quick stops at the pet store and the Sony Store.

Then, Raf and Sam took the 407 to Steveston. They went to Blenz and worked on their notebook to work on this blog and to practice writing.

Later, they are going to play pool!

Raffy with KABA

Saturday, January 2, 2009

Sam and Raf have a jam-packed day! First, they went to the library to practice printing and reading magazines. Then, they had lunch and played pool in the games room of the Steveston Community Centre. After, they went to the gym for a quick work-out.

cool!

Then, Sam and Raf drove to the KABABAYAN UBC winter retreat near Seafair. There were a lot of pretty girls! Raf's favorite was rea-mae. It's too bad that Mariel wasn't there.They played pool and darts, had some more food, and hung out with the kaba execs. It was a fun day!

Program Suggestions

Hey team,

I'm posting this on behalf of Tita A. Happy New Year!


Recommendations:

1. It is good for Raffi to continue the program he is following now. He is getting adequate social/recreational exposure, daily living skills as well as life skills/vocational training (e.g. job at carwash). He also attends reading and math lessons every Saturday.
2. It is highly recommended, however, that instead of continuing to focus on developing basic academic skills, Raffi's tutors could make the shift towards developing functional skills in reading, writing and number concepts.

• Instead of reading primary books, Raffi could be trained to sight read important words in his life correctly and consistently. For instance, he could read his name, the neames of his parents and siblings, his address as well as "survival" words important in his daily functionaing (including warning signs). Functional reading skills also includes being able to read simple manuals and simple written instructions and carry them out. His therapists could initially make these manuals and written materials themselves as teaching materiales.
  
• Raffi could be trained to write his name, the names of his parents and siblings, his address along with other important words in his daily life. He also needs to be given a lot of practice in terms of writing legibly. This would include giving him activities that will address fine motor coordination such as tracing and copying tasks, coloring within boundaries, manipulating and forming with clay as well as picking up small objects that would require him to use his pincer grasp and so on. Although these activities may look like they are for very young children, care must be taken to make present these activities to Raffi in a more age appropriate manner. Raffi is quite sensitive and self conscious, typical of an adolescent.
  
• Raffi's command of number-quanitity relationships also needs to be further established. Focus could be placed on improving ability to manipulate money concepts specifically the cents (e.g. 1,5,10,25 cents), $1, $2, and $20. Math concepts of addition and subtraction could be taught under the practical context of computing money under different situations (etc. purchasing at a store, paying on a bus). Raffi could be taught to use a calculator

1. It is important that the training of these functional skills be done in a practical, on-the-job setting using concrete and familiar objects under structured, repetitive and routine situations. Rote memorization, repetition and practice as strategies of training could be employed, rather than deep processing, when teaching these skills.
2. Visual aids/prompts that show the sequence of steps of an activity Raffi is learning to do are one teaching strategy that could be used by his teachers. Raffi could be taught to deal with simple problem solving situations through self-instruction. "self-instruction consisted of statements that represent a verbalization of various aspects of the problem and its soluation." For instance, when faced with an unplugged light fixture, the self instructions involve the following: a) stating the problem ("light out"), b) stating the generic response ("gotta fix it"), c) stating the specific response ("plug in"), d) reporting the response ("fixed it") and self-reinforcing ("good"). (Mental Retardation: Nature, Cause & Management by Baroff and Olley).
   
3. Raffi's parents/teachers could also teach him "habits of employablity" or develop work-appropriate behaviour or values. These habits include: a) regular attendance, b) punctuality, c) getting along with co-workers and supervisors, d) accepting directions and correction, e) maintaining an adequate work rate, and f) showing concern for the quality of his work (Mental retardation: Nature Cause & Mangament by Baroff and Olley.) Raffi could be helped to develop these habits at the level he is capable of. Such values could be incorporated in all of his sessions by his various therapists.
4. It is important that meal preparation and simple cooking as well as taking the bus (for short and frequently taken routes) continue to be part of Raffi's goals in developing life skills.
5. Raffi could also be helped to expand his fund of vocabulary words. Again the vocabulary words could be made up of names of objects he sees in his environment, action words and names of places familiar to him. One way this could be done is to show him pictures and asking him to name them. If speech articulation is a porblem he could be encouraged to use gestures and demonstractions to "name" them.
6. Raffi could also be taught to define words more effectively using the following strategies: defining by means of physical characteristics (e.g. a bicycle has two wheels and a pedal); function (e.g. a bicycle is used to ride on); and category (e.g. a bicycle is one mode of transportation).
   
7. Asking Raffi to generate differences and similarities between objects could develop concept formation ablity. FOr instance, discussions at the dinner table on how car-boat-airplane differ (e.g. car travel on land while boat on water) could be conducted, followed by ways in which they are alike (e.g. all modes of transportation). He could also be asked to group pictured objects into categories and indicate his reasons for doing so.
8. Encouraging him to be curious about objects around him, how they work, where they come from, and so on could improve Raffi's store of general information. For example, dinner conversations could comprise of conversations designed to help increase his awareness of his environment and understanding of why things are done in certain ways (eg. why cars have seatbelts, why policemen have to wear uniforms, wh fatty foods are not healthy.)

It was a pleasure to work with Raffi. Should you have any questions regarding this report or if I would be of further assistance, please contact me at mcrznfernandez@gmail.com or 778.989.7011

Maria Corazon Fernandez, M.A., M.Ed.
Psychologist

Raf's iPhone Pictures