Christmas 2014

Jingle Bells

day It is a beautiful day. 
Dog My dog is coal.
duck egg The duck laid an egg.
hill Home The home was on a hill.
I go to sleep at night.
I eat breakfast in the morning.
I go to church on saturday.

Sunday Lesson Week 20

The Christmas Story
Mary will be Jesus mother. 
Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem.
Jesus is born.
The angels tell the shepherds.

Sorry, no video today.  Joshua fell asleep upstairs so Mark and I worked downstairs on the couch and there was just not a good way to set up the camera phone.  Also, not so sure if Mark is feeling well...he went to bed at 5:30PM on Friday afternoon.  Then, on Saturday afternoon, he looked really sleepy and felt a little hot to me....maybe got what Joshua has been fighting the last couple of weeks.  Anyway, we kept it simple...Merry Christmas!

Slower day

Corn We eat corn on the cob in summrer. 
cow Cows like to eat grass.
day

Did so good today...

...and then I forgot to forward our typing progress to my email!!!

Seriously, we typed like 6 sentences and did several spelling words.  He was working really well today...ugh!

Oh well, I guess there is always tomorrow.  He is using the word prediction to finish typing words.  I really like seeing him start to use this feature.

Working...

bread I like to eat bread. 
brother my brother has a concert tonight. 
cake Mom makes cake for my birthday.

Using Dolche noun sight words for conversation...

Today, I asked Mark to type "bell" and he just spelled it out loud orally.  I really enjoy looking at the Dolche sight words and coming up with a sentence to use with one of the words.  It is introducing lots of new words into our typing and that keeps it interesting.

boat We use a boat in the summer. 
box What is in the box?
boy The boy likes apple juice.
bread I love bread.

Sunday Lesson Week 19

Jesus came to us as a baby. Mary is Jesus mother. Jesus, Mary, and joseph are the holy family.

Had a little trouble getting into the groove at first.  Finally got through some work...we all attended a Family Advent Celebration at church last night after church which was very nice.

Pretty gummy bears

pretty Look at the pretty gummy bears.
ran We ran to school. 
ride I ride in a car.

We were a little late getting started this morning.  Having some ladies over tonight for a Christmas party so trying to get things set up for that!  So excited!

Motivation

It snows in the winter. i opened presents on my birthday . I eat dinner in the evening . i see the moon at night. I pray before going to bed.

Motivation is difficult for some people.  I know that Mark has trouble with motivation and sometimes does not want to sit down and "type/work".  Last night, he was being silly with Mr. Dan and so I told Dan to use more motivating sentences for him to type.  So, they were practicing the spelling word "little" and then they wrote: "Mark ate a little McDonalds"  I think they also typed something about Walmart.  Yes, it may be a confusing phrase but it got him through it because Mark just loves to talk about McDonalds.

On a positive note, I really noticed that Mark is getting much faster at typing words that he uses a lot and knows well, i. e. words like the, my etc...

Mark does everything on Friday...

bird Birds fly in the sky.
little I saw a little bear. 
make i can make pizzza. 
said i said yes.  
where. Where is the coat?
I take a bath in the morning. 
I feed Coal after school.

...because the only "When" question we have taught Mark is "When do we eat pizza?"

This is usually how it goes...Mark yells "pizza" at you several hundred times a day (no, I am not exaggerating).  So, we started asking, "When do we eat pizza?"  (We have pizza every Friday night...) so then he started to learn to say "On Friday" and we would look at the calendar to see if it was a Friday or not.  This does help a little with the pizza demands but then he will move on to "apple juice!!!"...

Starting "When" questions

I go to Walmart on saturday. I sleep at night . i eat at dinners  . The sun comes up in the mornings .


This morning started rough...Mark would not cooperate and sat on the floor and said "Help".  I had started recording and then turned it off because it looked like I was not going to get anywhere this morning.  It seems that he had a stomach ache yesterday and so maybe he is just a little off still from that.  Finally, he came around and did some great typing once I backed off a little...

Work with Dan:
I sleep at night. I eat at dinner. the sun comes up in the morning i eat. pizzza on Friday. I go to church on sunday. I go to Walmart on Saturday. 
zero who

Difficult Sunday lesson...

Jesus learned stories about God. Juan Diego meets mother of god.

Picking the first choice...

An apple is a fruit. a fish lives in a pond. a muffin  is food. Milk is a drink. Tomato is a vegetable. 
pretty. ran 
I ran to school. 
ride
I ride my bike.

...I have been concerned that Mark always selects the first item offered to him when given choices.  For example, if I write on the board:  apple   pig   house
and then ask him "Which on is an animal?" He will start to say apple because that is the first choice.  So, I have been trying to make sure I have his attention and ask the question very purposefully.  I think twice he said the first word but then changed his answer when I asked him a second time.  I could tell he took more time to listen and then considered the choices before he gave the answer.  Maybe next week, we will move to open ended questions...

Another good day

Don't have a lot of time to type today...Mark did well this morning!

three.  I want 3 gummy bears. 
went We went to walmart. 
birthday My birthday is January 11'
did I did it!
please Always say please.
There is water

Good day!

I can see a bird in the sky. A pig lives on a farm. Four is a number. snake slithers on the ground. An apple is a fruit. 
little bird

Great day today.  Mark worked well and answered lots of questions!

I want to thank everyone that braved the cold weather to come out and listen to my presentation about Support Typing last night!

Presentation tonight!

A bee is an insect. A square is a shape. 
zero walmart jams. mcdonald. w

I am giving a presentation about Mark's typing tonight.  I am very excited to share this information!

Last weekend, we drove past Jamms (frozen yogurt place) and Mark ALWAYS says "Jamms" when we drive by...it's his way of saying, "Let's stop and Jamms and get a treat"...but in reality, he just yells, "Jamms, Jamms, Jamms, Jamms,...." about a hundred time.  Sometimes, he says it so fast that I cannot make out the words that he is saying.  It probably took me a few months to realize that he was even what he was saying..actually, I think Henry figured it out.  Anyway, sometimes when I cannot figure out what he is saying, I ask him to spell it...well, he actually did phonetically spell out Jamms yesterday!  He said, "Ja....aaa....mm....ssss", then he repeated that about a hundred times...I get it Mark!  You want to go to Jamms!!!   LOL

Then, we practiced spelling McDonalds...that is going to take a little work... 

Today in our lesson, he spelled Walmart almost perfectly...I think there was only one correction...

Sunday lesson...Advent begins...

...now the waiting, waiting, waiting for the birth of Jesus on Christmas!

Advent is getting ready for Jesus to come. There are 4 weeks in advent. mary is jesus' mother.

We are being watched...

...this morning we had a visitor.  He is observing our family interactions as part of his  URLEND training.  URLEND stands for Utah Regional Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities....yes, that is a mouthful...I have put more about this project down below.  Also, you can click on the link above and go to their website.  IF you want more information, let me know...I would be happy to share.

Mark did well despite being "watched".  We got started a little late because I was busy talking with URLEND trainee.  I did not ask to use their name so I am going to leave it out for now...

am 
I am happy. 
three went did pleases
Shells are at the beach. A refrigerator i...

Welcome to the URLEND Program

The Utah Regional LEND, or URLEND, is a LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities) training program that covers five states: Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota. Our program uses state-of-the-art technology to connect groups of trainees across our partner states. Professionals are trained to move beyond discipline boundaries to provide optimal services to child and adolescents with special health care needs. Because families are essential to well-being, this program emphasizes the role of family-centered care in all we do.

Their is a LEND program in most states.  When I went to Washington DC last spring, I spoke to my Congressmen about the importance of supporting the LEND program.  If I remember correctly, funding for the LEND program is linked to the Combating Autism Act (which I think has been re-named...)  

The name of the program that we are participating is the Family Mentorship Project:

The Family Mentorship Project is designed to provide URLEND trainees with a better understanding of the impact of a child with special health care needs on his or her family’s life.

Through completion of the Family Mentorship Project, URLEND trainees will:

v  Experience the day-to-day life of a family who has a child with special health care needs

v  Gain a better understanding of how children with special health care needs and their families function at home and in the community

v  Understand the impact a child with special healthcare needs may have on the entire family

v  Recognize similarities between families with and without special health care needs

v  Hear about a family’s successes and challenges in accessing community resources, partnering with professionals, and advocating for their child within educational, health, and other service and support systems

v  Acknowledge the importance of cultural and linguistic competence

v  Gain increased knowledge of the principles of interdisciplinary, family-centered, and culturally-competent care

v  Reflect on how he or she can be a better professional based on experiences gleaned from observations and perspectives shared by families

Mark leads Pledge of Allegiance at school

The moon is in the sky. A cow lives on a farm. Two is a number. An airplane flies in the air.

Today was a crazy day...we started our session a little early because I had to go to the school and meet with Mark's teacher about his IEP at 8:15.  So, we tried to start a little early so we could get some work completed before we went to school.  I was planning on working until 8:15 and then heading over to the school.  However, the phone rang and it was his teacher.  She said that Mark was to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at 8:15.  She called at 8:08!  So, we threw our coats on and ran over to the school and got their just in time!  I tried to record Mark but he talks so softly that I am not sure you can hear all of it...enjoy!

Happy 42nd Anniversary to my parents!
Dennis and Terry Klenda

Answering "Which" questions

A bee is an insect. A square is a shape.a tiger is an animals. A flower is a plant. 
zero who
Who is here?
help
Mark asked for help. 
here
Here we are.
jump


Mark did a great job answering "Which" questions today...also, did good with spelling words and writing sentences about the spelling words.

Sunday lesson: Jesus shows us how to love...

jesus shows us how to love. Jesus wants us to feed the hungry. jesus wants us to give drink to the thirsty. jesus wants us to give clothes to the naked. jesus wants us to visit the sick.

Talked about the Corporal Works of Mercy today...did good once we got focused.

Mark received his First Communion this past summer.  We are so happy!  He is now saying "Amen" independently when offered "The body of Christ" and when I ask him "who do we receive at communion?", he answers "Jesus"...

Pope to meet with autistic kids to end stigma

Click on picture to learn more

Typed an independent sentence...

...with lots of prodding!  Mark and I were both feeling sluggish for some reason today.  I started by asking Mark what he wanted to talk about...he said "gummy bears".  So, I asked him to type it and he typed out "i like gummy bears"  It took lots of prompting to get him to complete the sentence but I am happy to say that this was definitely his own first, free thought that he had and communicated to me though typing!!!

i like gummy bears.
three went  our out please 
A doctor helps me i am sick. 

Then, when we were going through the spelling words...I was thinking that we would start to write simple words with the spelling words..to give them more context...I will try and remember to incorporate this next week.

Silly day...

orange two new well what 
A dentist ceans your teeth. A bus driver drives a bus. a policeman keeps us safe.

Mark worked well today.  I am starting to cover some words so he has to think about how to spell the words more...it is just WAY too easy for him to rote copy and I am not sure that is really making him "think" enough...did great on spelling words today!

Week 15

Don't have a lot to say...very busy and Mark has an IEP meeting coming up at school soon...

Words Mark knows:

Dolch Site Words Pre-Primer, Primer and Extras:

a

all

an

and

are

at

ate

be

big
black

blue

brown

but

came

can

come

dad

do

down

eat

funny

go

good

gray

green

he

jump

I

Idaho

if

in

into

is

it

look

like

live

make

me

mom

my

name

not

now

old

on

one

orange

pink

play

red

run

sad

say

see

she

so

soon

the

there

to

today

up

want

was

we

white

yellow

you

95 Most Frequent Nouns Dolch Site words

apple

back

Other:

had

milk

school

Slow going Sunday

Everyone has talents. I volunteer at the hope center. 
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you!
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour our death. Amen

Another slow day for Mark...kept running away and would not sit down and focus while the "camera" was running...

Finally, got him to sit and we typing out the Hail Mary which is a good amount of typing.

Slow day...

pretty ran ride saw four 
a mail carrier brings mail. A firefighter puts out fires. a vet helps animals. My birthday is january 11'

Slow going this morning but got through some things...still struggling with the community helpers...

Mark did not have an ear ache...

three went our out please a dentist cleans your teeth. a bus driver drives a bus

...probably just growing pains.  Sometimes, he also gets really antsy when the season's change...we have been in the 50s lately and now it is in the teens!  So, it got cold really quickly.  He seemed fine this morning and we worked well.  The video is a little short because I was using my phone again and I ran out of room...

Typing with left hand...

orange two. new well apple 
a pilot flies an airplane. A hairstylist cuts hair. Mom likes hugs.
I go to moscow middle school. I  live at  408 n Grant street. 
My birthday is january 11.


Had a great session with Mark today!  Got through lots of work and he even started to type some with his left hand...great practice crossing the mid-line.  Still stuck on "Who" questions...working through that...so much to teach!!!

Had to pick up Mark from school at 1:00PM...they think he has an ear ache...have doctor's appointment at 3:00PM to check it out...

New approach to "Who" questions

My teacher is. Ms. bledasoe. A doctor helps me when i am sick. mom loves me. 
zero brown was like must

I realize that I have been forgetting to put the words that Mark knows up...I will do that today.  The list continue to grow and I have started to take words off of the Dolch most common nouns list.

Still playing around with the new Camp Discovery app...just don't have lots of time for both.  I may try to do the Camp Discovery app more in the evenings since we do not have to be seated at a table to do that.

Words Mark knows:

Dolch Site Words Pre-Primer, Primer and Extras:

a

all

an

and

are

at

ate

be

big
black

blue

brown

but

came

can

come

dad

do

down

eat

funny

go

good

gray

green

had

he

jump

I

Idaho

if

in

into

is

it

look

live

make

me

milk

mom

my

name

not

now

old

on

one

orange

pink

play

red

run

sad

say

see

she

so

soon

the

there

to

today

up

want

we

white

yellow

you