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September 1991

 

This daily correspondence between schools she attended and us gives you a glimpse of our daily life. Most parents of typical children do not communicate on daily basis with the teachers. This gives a reader an insight to how important daily communication is for a child with autism.

Kat has attended school since she was 3 years old. These are school notes that were result of correspondence with her parents and her teachers. We have made comments at a later date reflecting back on the impact of these events. Kats School Notes Index

 

Date

Notes

Comments

1991-09-05

 

Hi Danuta &Tom,

Kat was very well-behaved today (no crying !) She did puzzles & math ( number I.D.) .

Thanks for all the toys ... very helpful !

K.

9/5

K.,

I talked to M. about reinforcers &parties etc, the parents will try and get together next week to talk on how we will split the duties. Until then, I will provide the snacks . Let me know how much you need daily for next week. Kat did fine last night.

Thanks for the reinforcers ! Plenty of chips / popcorn for next week . Maybe more juice

Thanks,

K.

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1991-09-09

 

9/9 Hi, Kat had a good weekend . Sunday morning she flipped her schedule to school pictures and brought it downstairs. I guess she's adjusting well, but we have to teach her about weekends . Let me know if Sundance worked out or if you prefer juice boxes .

Danuta

9/9

Glad to hear Kat was ready for school. She is following the schedule well here & saying " I want " w/ minimal prompt. Didn't get to try juice yet ( bad 2 juice boxes left ) .

Thanks for all your help !

K.

 

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1991-09-10

 

9/10 Hi !

Kat found me from acrossthe room , walked up & said "I want (pretzel) " (<--- helped her w/ label) a few times today ! ! She also independently drew on blackboard ! (looked liked a " C " ) .

I gave her little pretzel pieces. Can she eat them ? I didn't want to punish all that language !

K.

Also to all parents .

Please don't send microwave lunches (no student access) . Also , please pac utensils when necessary & napkins always!

Thanks !

(P. S. Kat ate chicken cold & seemed to think it was OK) .

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1991-09-11

 

9-11 Danuta ,

Thanks for all the juice & snack (We have enough for at least the mid of next week) . Kat is using her language often to tell us what she wants . Also , the computer is working & is a great motivator !

K.

P . S . Thanks for you co - operating w/ lunch ! !

9-11 Hi !

Kat had a great time on the playground. The O.T. observed & interacted during lunch & was pleased. I sent receipt in note book. Hope all works out . Hope to have your data summary by next week . This week I've had lesson plans &IEP summaries to do ! Thanks , again for all your help w/ reinforcers.

 

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1991-09-13

 

9/13 Kat seems to enjoy school . We are going through the schedule mornings and evenings the mid day varies because the activities vary each night. That will be hard until she learns calendar.

Yesterday morning Kat did not like the dress I put on her. She took it off and gave it back to me. I gave her a choice of two other dresses, she picked one and as she put it on by herself she sang from one of the videos "I can get dressed up all by myself, I don't need help from anyone. I open up my drawers and pick out all my clothes . . . "

We are going through the charts each night. She counts through 10 (sometimes mizes 2 & 3, 6 & 9 ) and names howmany of each. The alphabet we started to go through letter by letter naming each object after a letter . I thought of adding a new chart with days of the week . What do you think ?

Thanks for the paper , have a good weekend. We ("mom's) are planning to meet next week to talk about reinforcers , parties etc . Can you make a list of items that would be helpful in the class so that we can work on fund raisers. Anything else ?

9-13 Danuta ,

Kat really enjoyed our Friday event (movie & popcorn -her favorite! ) I'm so glad to hear she is doing well at home & picking her own clothes ! She is so smart ! If she is doing the other charts independently , I think adding the Week Chart would be good. Can you take pictures of your different week night activities & put the day of the week as a label ? Would that work ?

I'll think of some ideas for holiday events & fundraisers. Thanks for organizing that for us!

Have a great weekend !

K.

 

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1991-09-16

 

9-16 Hi !

Kat has been very consistent in using " I want " . She even came to visit me as I was working 2 different times today ! She also having fun in the gym & coming up to other children ( social Butterfly ! )

Hope the weekend went well !

K.

 

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1991-09-17

 

9-17 Hi, Kat is riding her bike really well. she learned how to stop by herself . she lowers one foot and drags it on the ground , then stops and gets off !

Danuta

9- 17 Hi Danuta !

I'm glad to hear Kat is still enjoying riding her bike . She's been doing well in school ( using her language often to tell us what she wants) . Today, she came up to me & hugged me & then stood by me & held my hand ! Another "first"! She also began singing "Mary had a little lamb " ( the part about " school one day " ) when she started working !

K.

P. S. Parent back to school night is Sept . 25. Hope to see you then!

 

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1991-09-18

 

9 /18 Hi K. ,

(1.) Which reinforcers are you running out of?

(2.) We are meeting with parents tonight. do you have any suggestions of how we can send reinforcers in to make it easier for you ?

Danuta

9/ 18 Hi Danuta ,

(1.) Reinforcers :

chips

bubbles

small manipulative toys

(2.) I can make a form letter & send it to who's ever week / turn it is . Send me a schedule if you decide at your meeting ! Thanks for all your help !

K.

 

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1991-09-19

 

9/19

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Highet,

I am sending a letter home about Kat's OT Times . I started working with her on 9/12 and have been assessing her skill levels and sensorimotor development. Thank you so much for returning the "Sensorimotor History" so promptly - the information will be very helpful . I have been very pleased with Kat's response to gross motor activities and use of equipment . I am working with all the children to learn to use scooterboards, theraboard, and other equipment appropriately so we can have them move it into some small group play .

Sincerely ,

J.K., OTR

9 / 19

Thanks for all your efforts in organizing the parents ( as well as the new toys! ) The parties for holidays sound great ! Do we have any birthday plans or are the families handling that individually or do we do that at school ? We'd like to honor birthdays ( especially since we're doing calendar) .

I'm enclosing info on parent night !

Thanks,Again

K.

P. S. Kat joined in as I was wrestling w/ Kvn. ! It's great to see her initiate socially!

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1991-09-20

 

9/20 Danuta ,

I passed the list of foods on to Mry. Great idea for a check system ( leave it to an engineer ! ) .

Kat did a great job in art. She cut out rectangles & glued them to a picture outline of crayons .

When she came to show me she had a huge smile on her face , looking proud of herself !

I apologize for not completing the data summaries of you . I feel terrible about it , but I just could not juggle it between organizing the new class schedules , etc . I'm setting a new deadline for myself ( this weekend ! ) - I hope I can meet this one! Sorry , again!

Have a great weekend ! Kat is doing super at school ! She's really a pleasure in class!

K.

 

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1991-09-21

 

9/21 Hi, I am sending in two sets of balls with numbers . Kat likes them. I had her identify "what number " and she got 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 10 right consistantly. 9 she called six , and 8 & seven she needed a partial prompt .

She has been using "I want _____" consistantly this weekend . When we go through the alphabet she can identify some of her letters by herself , especially from 0 to 7 and names objects next to the letters . The schedule works out great in mornings and night, it's the inbetween that I have trouble with .

I attended a service on Friday with O.I. Lovaas who wrote the " Me book ". I thought it was excellent and I hope we get a chance to talk about it .

Danuta

I did not forget bubbles. I was looking for 1 of the big containers and they are out of season now . But I will get them ! Any other items you are running outof ?

 

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1991-09-24

 

9/24 Danuta ,

Thanks for the giant bubbles! I knew you didn't forget !

Here is Kat's Data Summary for the district , Hope it's helpful . Sorry it's handwritten, but I lost my original Copy & had to redo it ! ! J. said she would call you about O.T . IEP goals !

K.

P . S . Hope to see you tomorrow at 7 : 30 ! !

P . SS . S. said the speech goals are on the IEP . She will call you , also !

 

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1991-09-25

 

9/25 Sorry about the notebook mix-up!

K.

9/25 Hi , thank you for the data . When you give us Kat's schedule can you tell me which items she is working on at this stage. I have bought more juice boxes & cookies for class reinforcers let me know when you need them . Danuta

PS . Great meeting last night !

 

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1991-09-26

 

9/26

Danuta,

Thanks you , both, for coming to the meeting ! I'm glad you enjoyed it ! Kat is working on matching number sets 1 - 5 , shapes (reading words) for "triangle," "rectangle, " "square," "diamond," "heart ," "star" (she's been calling diamond "kite" - logical ! ) . For calendar, we are working on days of the week and the year. For personal info, we are working on " What's your name " ( first & last ) . She gets the Katherine part w/ out a prompt . Handwriting is still tracing name .

K.

9/26 The trip to Johnson's farm sounds great, I'll be there. It was great to see the classroom. Your work on the calendar is paying off. Kat walked up to the kitchen calendar & started counting the numbers.

Danuta

 

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1991-09-27

 

9/27 Thanks for volunteering to help w / our trip . It should be great . Also, thanks for all those great juices . We're stocked !

 

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1991-09-30

 

9/30 Danuta ,

She (Kat) is really getting skilled at cutting & saying her whole name when we ask. Are you practicing at home ? If so , it's paying off !

K.

 

 

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