Friday, September 20, 2019

Age 5 Growing Pains

Man, we got too comfortable with Hannah’s behavior... 

Literally right after she turns 5, the school reports trickle in...

First were some concerns from her therapists: 

  • Hannah was chewing her fingers which is new behavior – and is a health risk (germs)
  • Hannah has been toe-walking – not great, we want her to have a typical gait


We were able to look into Hannah’s mouth and found that one of her missing incisors (#3 in the top row) was coming in finally - ouch! That may explain the finger chewing. 

Her therapists gave her a “chewy” – it’s super common for kids with sensory needs. The most common one looks like a silicone lego that kids chew on to keep busy. 


Hannah sort of uses it, but we need to make it more regular to see if she really needs it or it’s a temporary “teething” need.

Then there were some reports of just plain ornery-ness; taking shoes off, throwing glasses off and darting out of the classroom. What the heck Hannah! I followed up with the best we can try; distraction, redirection and praise for good behavior. Reprimanding Hannah and reacting to negative behavior only reinforces the bad behavior. 

There was a 3rd report, but I don’t want to publish it for Hannah’s future privacy sake. Let’s just say it was more sensory exploration that should be done alone in her bedroom - sheesh. Actually quite common at this age for kids with Ds. I’m just not sure if she understand it’s not a public activity. 🙈

Hoping this phase passes quickly - !!

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