“Thanks for the golden retriever day”…these are the words of Sam as we finished our session today. He is the little guy I wrote about in the blog titled “Golden Trader”. NIKKI and I visited Sam again today to continue work on the playground. Nancy, Sam’s physical therapist, tells me that since NIKKI’s last visit when we worked on the playground Sam has maintained the skills that he demonstrated with NIKKI. Nancy also tells me that when Sam is walking in line with his class his teacher will occasionally remind him to walk like he did when he had NIKKI and her leash. Apparently this little reminder helps him to increase his speed and keep up with the class. On the playground Sam no longer needs to hold on to Nancy or other adult to climb the ladders and slide down the slide. Nancy said that it seems that once he realized that he could do these things with just NIKKI’s leash he started to do more. So today Sam maneuvered the uneven terrain of the playground and the equipment with just a little verbal prompting. He was happy to have NIKKI watch from the bottom of the slide or ladder. Since NIKKI seems to be such a motivator for Sam, Nancy wanted to work on the bus steps again. She wanted Sam to use just one hand on the banister to come down the steps. Since holding the dog and leash are difficult in the tight space, we gave Sam one of NIKKI’s “favorite” treats to hold in his left hand while using the banister with the right. He then could give her the treat when he was off the steps. The top step was the hardest but the last 3 he did really well and with just one hand on the banister. It was really neat to see the improvement that Sam has made on the playground and with walking in line with his class. Perhaps NIKKI gave him just the little confidence he needed to be more independent.
I have to tell you that I work with some really awesome people that totally support what I am doing with NIKKI. Amy is a speech therapist and assistive technology specialist. She has created many of the educational activities that we have been using this school year. She has developed a social story to teach the students in a special education classroom how to approach a dog. She has developed several activities that focus on the educational and speech goals of the students that NIKKI visits that don’t have the need for physical therapy. Today, along with Julie, a speech therapist who is also very supportive of NIKKI, we worked on prepositional concepts – like over, under, beside and inside. Amy read a story about clothing items that we wear in the winter (in the format similar to Brown Bear Brown Bear). The kids hid the Cheerio in/under/beside the clothing item and Julie prompted the students to use an augmentative communication device or their voice to command NIKKI to “find it”. Once NIKKI found the Cheerio, Julie prompted the students to say where NIKKI had found the Cheerio (under the sweater, inside the shoe). It’s a wonderful and fun way to learn those needed concepts.
Another wonderful person that I work with is Amelia. She is a teacher of children with autism. Amelia has developed some really awesome activities for her students and NIKKI. My favorite and one I have used over and over is the Venn diagram. A Venn diagram is two large circles that intersect in the middle and is used as an educational tool to sort items (in this case what humans can do, what dogs can do and what they both can do). Amelia developed card that depicted all of these different things and the kids sort them into the appropriate circle. She even further developed this activity for the Smart Board. Today’s activity focused on winter clothing, colors and where the clothing items belongs on the body….in this case the model of NIKKI. The students listened to a story set to a familiar song. They had to find the colored clothing item and “pin” it on the dog. This activity was awesome.
So today was a “golden retriever day”. Golden because I got to use a cool dog to help kids gain needed skills. Golden because I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work with such wonderful, creative people that truly love the students and their jobs. And golden because we made a lot of kids smile today. Just another golden retriever day.
Sharon
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