Month: July 2017

Central Park Rowboats

Central Park Rowboats

Posted by | Jul 27, 2017 | , |

I have lived in New York City for 14 years now and never did I have the desire to get on one of the rowboats in Central Park.  Well, never say never!  We are taking Dubbers to Disney World and I am trying to think of anything and everything to prepare him for this upcoming trip. With his recent anxiety over different modes of transportation (see The Train), we realized he had never been on a small boat (and several of Disney’s rides involve riding on one). We would hate for him to miss out on these rides, so I was...

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Dubbers’ Special Place

Dubbers’ Special Place

Posted by | Jul 25, 2017 | |

Dubbers received an awesome Teepee from his Nana and Bobby for his 3rd Birthday.  Like many of his “things” the novelty quickly wore off, and it soon become a distant memory and was packed up and stored under the bed.  Recently, Dubbers took a liking to hiding under the covers, either in his or our bed, with a book or his iPad.  While he obviously enjoyed this special hiding place, I did not love the idea of him being under the covers for too long. A couple of weeks ago I decided to re-organize the part of the living...

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Expect the Expected

Expect the Expected

Posted by | Jul 20, 2017 | , , , |

Each morning when Dubbers wakes up, his first thought and word spoken via his Talker is, “schedule.”  Dubbers’ schedule is a book made from a small binder with about six laminated pages and pecs-like pictures or images.  These can be arranged, changed or removed as needed. Knowing what the upcoming day has in store is very important to Dubbers; therefore, it is very important that I prepare and maintain this book. The center where Dubbers receives all of his therapy introduced the schedule book earlier this year. This allows him to visually understand who he will be working with and what...

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The story of the “Talker”

The story of the “Talker”

Posted by | Jul 17, 2017 | , |

Dubbers has a Talker.  For now, this is his voice and his most valuable tool.  It really is incredible… I am not going to lie, it took a few months for my Phil and I to fully get on-board with such a device.  His private Speech Therapist began PECS about 9 months prior, and he picked up rather quickly.  PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System.  It is used for children and adults, with little or no communication abilities, to communicate using pictures.  Below are a couple of pictures if you are unfamiliar. Dubbers received an AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)...

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SNACK Swim

SNACK Swim

Posted by | Jul 6, 2017 | , , , |

Dubbers loves the water!  From the bathtub, to sprinklers at the city playgrounds, to the pool, he has always enjoyed splashing and getting wet!  We tried private swim lessons the summer he turned 3 with a company that had instructors available at various indoor pools throughout the city.  Phil ended up having to get in the pool with Dubbers and the lesson would quickly change to daddy and Dubbers “swimming” around the pool with the instructor looking on. While we did not necessarily have a bad experience, it was evident we would need a group specifically experienced with teaching swimming to children...

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