Afterschool program lost several staff members who knew P well. Enrollment in the program nearly doubled, increasing P’s stress. He continually misses events as they are only announced over a loudspeaker and the environment is noisy and chaotic. Despite repeated pleas, the staff was not consistent in helping P with tactile or written cues.
P really enjoyed drama in afterschool program. He was part of a play and rehearsed diligently, memorizing his lines as well as everyone else’s. Without warning, the staff member in charge of the drama program leaves and the play is scrapped. We located a community resource for a weekly drama program. He really enjoys the class and is looking forward to the end of the year play performance.
After reading some info on the net about cod liver oil (www.megson.net), we begin P on Vit A supplementation. I had a vague sense that it was helpful, but couldn’t say way. A few months later, we ran out and it took me a few weeks to pick up some more. In that time, P’s sensory sensitivities increased--he refused to take showers (they were ‘painful’) and he was increasingly volatile. We put him back on the cod liver oil and he seemed to ‘even out’ again.
After struggling with P for 3 years over handwriting (he never wrote his letters the same way twice, and wouldn’t write more than 4 or 5 words at a time), suddenly writing is not a problem and P is writing stories in class.