Part of learning to eat is to learn what can fit in the mouth. Until now if Nathaniel's food is not cut into bite size pieces, he would just put the entire item into his mouth. However, one Friday night, we gave him a piece of challah with a spread. He took appropriately sized bites, until the very end, when he tried to shove the last large piece in his mouth.
At the physical therapy gym, he was on the therapy bed. His right arm was at his side. As he waited for the therapist, he picked up his right arm with his left arm, bent the right arm, and put it on his belly. He recognized a problem/discomfort, figured out what to do, and fixed it. He was able to bend his right elbow with no problem.
Nathaniel does not yet have a way to get our attention, so unless we ask, we don't know if anything is bothering him. As part of speech therapy, Nathaniel is learning to blow a whistle. It helps him regulate his breathing. We decided to hang a plastic whistle around his neck and start to teach him to blow it when he wants to get our attention. He often bites the whistle, so plastic ones sometimes crack. A metal whistle could break his teeth. We are still working on a solution and hope to find a way for him to be able to get people’s attention when he needs it..
Because of the security situation, horse riding therapy has been cancelled. One day, Nathaniel went to visit and feed the horses. He seemed to enjoy being with the big animals and was not afraid to stand in front of them. Hopefully things will quiet down, and riding therapy can resume.