Colorado Rockies

Saturday evening we went to a Colorado Rockies MLB game. We rode the train to downtown Denver and then took a pedicab to the stadium. 

It's was a cool night for a game, but we dressed warmly and brought a blanket too. Everyone else was in long sleeves shirts but no jackets. You could tell we are not as acclimated to the cool weather. 

As you can see from Sam's smile, he was enjoying the game. We are seeing a more relaxed Sam shine through. Typically he would be anxious and want to leave right away to go home. Last night he watched the people around him, entertained himself, laughed, and seemed to really enjoy the time at the stadium. We are so happy to see a more relaxed Sam again. We are so thankful for STAR!!

Apraxia Awareness

Today, Saturday, May 14 is National Apraxia Awareness Day!  The day is designed to help raise awareness for Childhood Apraxia of Speech. 

Here is some interesting information about apraxia. 

Today I wear blue to raise awareness for apraxia!

Rainbow Room

Sam loves the rainbow room at STAR. Here's a not great picture of the room. 

 

The hammock looking fabrics are staggered at different levels so he can climb up. It takes a lot of coordination and strength to climb from level to level. 

The space is so confined that it's hard to take a good picture. I'll try again another day. 

Sam also got messy today playing with foam soap. What a creative idea. I would have never in a million years thought about playing with foam soap with your toes while hanging from the ceiling. 

Headphones Update

So we got the scoop on the headphones. They are special headphones that have a small disk in the band at the top of the head. The disk vibrates to the music and helps to stimulate a kid's developing vestibular system. 

What does the word vestibular mean?  The vestibular system helps our body know where it is in space, coordinates movement, and helps us control our head movements. It's one of our senses found in the inner ear. 

Kids with sensory issues, like Sam, often have an underdeveloped vestibular sense. The headphones with the vibration at the top of the head is helping to develop the vestibular system that coordinates bodily movements.  Other ways kids develop their vestibular system are through spinning, swinging, jumping, sliding, climbing, and anything else that uses big movements when they play. 

Interestingly, if an adult was to put on Sam's headphones for a few minutes, we'd begin to feel sick, much like motion sickness or car sickness. Since our vestibular systems are much more developed, the input from the disk in the headphones would mess with our already developed system and make us sick.  Now we know the science behind the headphones!

In this picture Sam is playing a light game. You can see two of the three light towers in the picture. Lights alternate flashing and making sounds. Sam has to hear and see which light is on and hit it. He's wearing Hulk hands in this picture to hit the lights. You can also see his headphones and backpack in use here!

 

Resting Up

We are in between sessions today, so we are taking a break in the car. It's hard work to have fun during OT!

Our start at STAR

We've finished two days at the STAR Center, and Sam is having a great time. He was so excited to see Lindsay, his OT. When she came into the waiting room to get us, Sam started acting shy. When she suggested that we go to the gym, Sam jumped up and followed her quickly. It seemed like he didn't remember the gym at first, but once he saw the rainbow room (a bunch of hammock looking stacked colored climbing fabrics) he knew exactly what to do. Then he remembered many of his favorite activities. 

Sam has also tried a few new activities right away. Here he is ziplining. 

Here he's playing in the ball pit. Last time the ball pit was his favorite spot. This time it seems to be the rainbow room. 

More ball pit. 

 

As you can see in the above picture, Sam is wearing headphone and a backpack. This is new to Sam for this trip. I'm not sure what is supposed to accomplish. In this picture the headphones were not playing music. Tomorrow some music will be added. I'll get the scoop on the purpose of the gear and report back. 

Of course we've had some fun adventures too. We went to the Denver Aquarium on Monday morning. It was a great aquarium. 

 And we've had ice cream too!

Denver here we come!!

We set out for our second visit to the STAR Center in Denver tomorrow. We are stating for two weeks this time for intensive OT for Sam' sensory processing disorder. We know what to expect this time around, so we are really excited for our trip. 

Jason left this morning to drive up to CO so we have a car while we are there. He will pick Sam and me up from the airport tomorrow evening. It's a long drive.  We appreciate his willingness to drive up and back to make it more convenient while we are in Denver. 

I'll post updates here to let you know how the therapy is going. 

Denver to bust!!