Goals
Greg left for home this morning, and we were sad to see him go. I remind myself that his departure marks the end of the beginning of our time here, and when he returns we'll be celebrating the beginning of the end. We're not wishing the time away, but the days are a bit tedious and we'll be glad to be back home together.
Today, a lizard broke the tedium. I was hiding out in the bedroom and he jumped onto the desk where I was working. For a while, I was locked up here with the lizard, not wanting to disrupt Ella's activities in the next room. But the lizard was jumpy, so I finally went out to ask Sarah about lizards in Alabama. She said she hadn't seen too many and then she actually caught him. Add that to her many talents because he was pret-ty quick. I snapped this photo before he jumped off into the woods. It's not as good as a photo of Ella, but it's what we've got today.
Ella had a great day. She's getting better at grasping and releasing objects. She was in a very good mood and Sarah commented on how fast the session went.
When we arrived here, they asked us what our goals for Ella were. We've been asked that question by many therapists before and I always find it so hard to answer. I want to say that we'd like her to be confident and brave to explore her world and discover her abilities, but that isn't much help to an occupational therapist. So we break it down. We want her to be able to 1) open her hand, 2) close her hand, 3) move her left hand independently from her right, 4) point to objects with her left hand, 5) fully extend her thumb, 6) have a full range of motion in her shoulder, 7) use the pincer grasp, etc. I resist itemizing it this way. It's a checklist, and there's the danger that some things won't be checked off. I wonder how much any one of those items will contribute to her happiness in life. How obsessive could we become over her fine motor control? It doesn't feel like the right approach, even though it's the reality of an occupational therapist's job. So we make the list and then try to forget about it and concentrate on Ella as a little girl who is about so much more than fine motor skills, and who will want to do a lot more in life than hang out with therapists. When I think about our real goals for her, she's meeting them every day. That helps break the tedium, too.
Today, a lizard broke the tedium. I was hiding out in the bedroom and he jumped onto the desk where I was working. For a while, I was locked up here with the lizard, not wanting to disrupt Ella's activities in the next room. But the lizard was jumpy, so I finally went out to ask Sarah about lizards in Alabama. She said she hadn't seen too many and then she actually caught him. Add that to her many talents because he was pret-ty quick. I snapped this photo before he jumped off into the woods. It's not as good as a photo of Ella, but it's what we've got today.Ella had a great day. She's getting better at grasping and releasing objects. She was in a very good mood and Sarah commented on how fast the session went.
When we arrived here, they asked us what our goals for Ella were. We've been asked that question by many therapists before and I always find it so hard to answer. I want to say that we'd like her to be confident and brave to explore her world and discover her abilities, but that isn't much help to an occupational therapist. So we break it down. We want her to be able to 1) open her hand, 2) close her hand, 3) move her left hand independently from her right, 4) point to objects with her left hand, 5) fully extend her thumb, 6) have a full range of motion in her shoulder, 7) use the pincer grasp, etc. I resist itemizing it this way. It's a checklist, and there's the danger that some things won't be checked off. I wonder how much any one of those items will contribute to her happiness in life. How obsessive could we become over her fine motor control? It doesn't feel like the right approach, even though it's the reality of an occupational therapist's job. So we make the list and then try to forget about it and concentrate on Ella as a little girl who is about so much more than fine motor skills, and who will want to do a lot more in life than hang out with therapists. When I think about our real goals for her, she's meeting them every day. That helps break the tedium, too.
posted by Rachel Box at 3:38 PM
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