The return

It has been a while, hasn't it?

We are about to embark, once again, on the Listening Program journey. So, I thought I would catch you all up on where Firstborn is in his journey.

It's been a tough year for him. The teacher fit was far from perfect. I'm not saying that 3rd grade was without its learning. The body of knowledge just didn't include the things I was really interested in him learning.

As a result, he has done some backsliding in his ability to listen and comprehend and he seems less concerned with compensating for his inability to understand than I had hoped he would be by the end of 3rd grade.

Let's face it, Firstborn appears to be a blond. That's right. Tell any blond joke, and it would fit Firstborn right now. Nothing verbal makes any sense to him at all. If I tell him to do something, I can put money on the fact that he will get it wrong. On the one hand, it is frustrating to see him backslide so badly. On the other hand, it's kind of funny and DH and I have had a very hard time not giving him directions just to see how he will Amelia Bedelia it. Amelia Bedelia is not a very good example. She hears too well. Firstborn can't take things literally.

Rather, this is somewhat like asking my DH a question that requires a full sentence answer before he has ingested his first cup of coffee in the morning. Good sport, but obviously frustrating to the subject of the test.

Sigh.

This year, we will be doing the condensed version of the listening program (TLP) starting Monday. That means, Firstborn will listen to two modules of gated music every weekday. It should work well as he will be commuting to the AFB with his dad for camp and the commute takes a few minutes longer than listening to 2 modules takes. During that time, he can draw or play with clay, or even just look out the window though I think that might make him a bit queasy. This still leaves him the homeward commute to read.

The first two weeks are plain classical music. The second two weeks are in a band that should help his sensory issues, the third two weeks are in a band that should help his speech issues and the last 4 weeks are in a band that will help executive functioning and listening comprehension.

The condensed version was recommended by his therapist after I concluded that he had taken on little ground witht the extended version last summer (15 minutes/one module per day). She also announced at that point that the first run through rarely provided noticeable improvements especially when it was in extended format.

The things I would love to see him take on:
Better voice volume control (though he has not lost too much ground on this)
better pronounciation
More relaxed vocal tone
Recognition of sounds that bother him
Recognition that he is distracted by background noise
Ability to identify where I am in the house when I call him
Ability to identify when he has missed part of a communication
Better coordination and balance
Less rigidity of movement
Riding a bike without training wheels (yes, we are still stuck on that)

The truth is, Firstborn finds this therapy very difficult. BY the end of the 20 weeks last year, he was so miserable to be around that DH and I were counting the days along with him. He becomes weepy and tired from it and he is always looking at the glass as being half full. Therapist lady says that the condensed version should get him through the weepyness more quicly, and that it is not typical for them to be lethargic and weepy when on the program.


In addition to TLP this summer, Firstborn will attend a camp that includes daily swimming. This is very organizing for SI kids. We should see some improvement with just the swimming.
I will also work with him on executive function issues. I hope to give him the day's events and expectations and have him write them down and refer to them through the day. Hopefully, this exercise will help him with his homework log at school. We failed miserably with the homework log in 3rd grade. We really need to remediate this one.

So, starting Monday, will keep you all posted.