We can’t believe that January is already coming to an end! We’ve had a very busy month with lots on the go. We always appreciate everyone’s support and all the kind words of encouragement which we receive weekly. We thought it was about time to update everyone on what’s new with Madison and Jack.
Jack
Jack continues to love his time with his caregiver Jackie, as well as the days he spends at preschool. He is an active little guy who is keeping busy these days with swim lessons, music class, hockey and ski lessons. He is currently planning his party for his upcoming 4th birthday – his champagne birthday! He has picked a spiderman theme and will be going with his friends to SkyZone to bounce like crazy. We have been monitoring the issues he has been having with his throat and sleep. After xrays, observation and assessment his doctor has decided it is best to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. They believe this will help with the frequency he is sick but most importantly the issues with his airway when he sleeps. His surgery is booked for February 24th. He has enjoyed reading about the surgery with Madison who got him a special book about it and he is looking forward to a week of resting at home eating lots of popsicles and jello.
Madison
Madison is enjoying her year in grade 1. She has made some nice friendships and her confidence continues to grow. She keeps busy with Girl Guides, physio, conductive education, swimming, piano and skiing. More recently she has expressed difficulty with the content she is learning at school and the pace she has to work. Grade 1 has been a completely different experience then kindergarten! The good news is her reading has exploded and she regularly participates in class and works hard. She has less support, as her EA is only with her for transitions and outdoor time. She has began learning keyboarding skills and writing in google documents. Due to her changing vision and concerns with learning we followed through with the following assessments for her.
Binocular Vision Assessment
Madison had her assessment and they confirmed that she has binocular vision disorder. They advised us that this is most likely impacting her ability to learn at school and issues with coordination and balance. They have decided to give her a new prescription that will act as both correction lenses and therapeutic lenses to strengthen/relax specific parts of her eyes. Once they can evaluate the impact of the change, they will then decide about vision therapy. She will be wearing bifocals once they arrive. Her therapists are concerned as they feel this may set her back in terms of her walking and balance and are worried they may also cause some safety issues – she will not have depth perception and they will take a very long time to get use to so she will need to have someone watching her closely.
Psycho-educational assessment
Madison participated in a condensed psycho-educational assessment on January 18th and the report was reviewed with us today. The assessment was conducted as part of the Childhood Cerebral Palsy Discovery Network to help develop a registry to better understand the causes of CP and to develop treatments that are effective. This part of the study was to assess Madison’s cognitive functioning.
The tests administered:
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition sub tests
-Verbal Comprehension – 93%ile – Superior Range
-Perceptual Reasoning – 77%ile – High Average Range
-Working Memory – 18%ile – Low Average Range
-Processing Speed – 21%ile – Low Average Range
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Fourth Edition
-Receptive vocabulary – scored High Average Range with a standard score of 122.
Madison’s skills are significantly stronger in the verbal processing areas with comprehension of language, concepts and vocabulary in the Superior and High Average Range. However, her visual processing ability is much lower. During the processing speed tests she missed items and a complete line. It is possible that she is impacted by her vision.
Madison was challenged by her auditory recall, particularly of non-meaningful information. Providing her with tools to make information meaningful will benefit her learning. Furthermore, she would benefit from using repetition when learning information this form of information.
The psychologist recommended a full assessment at the start of grade 3, when she turns 8 so we will be putting her on the boards list for assessment.
Recommendations that the psychologist made:
-extra time on in class activities and assessments.
-preferential seating: by the teacher for independent work time, facing the board straight on for whole class lessons.
-use of technology to take advantage of her strong verbal abilities. Apply for a laptop from the board.
-other options for extra time: bring home for homework, break tasks down into smaller more manageable chunks, prioritize learning, don’t miss recess to finish work.
-provide cognitive breaks
-prioritize homework: don’t assign what she finds easy(reading), use the time to work on areas of need (math)
-processing speed is slower because of how much she has to focus her eyes (vision issues) so avoid copying from the board – provide with information on her desk for any copying
-look for opportunities to accelerate her learning in the areas of comprehension, vocabulary, reading.
-attach verbal information to visuals. She doesn’t retain information that is not meaningful. This is especially important in math when working with numbers.
-find ways to motivate Madison when she faces challenges in her learning. She will take risks when she knows something really well. When she is aware that something doesn’t come as easy to her, she is more likely to disengage and will be hesitant to start a task, look to what others are doing or get frustrated.
We will be meeting with the school to add these strategies to her IEP.
Madison has an upcoming audiology appointment to check her hearing now that she is in grade 1 and the board is sending a speech pathologist to her school to do an updated screening of her speech, particularly with formation and articulation with ‘r’.
Madison continues to do well with her Hypervibe and stretching program at home. We feel that a large part of her recent progress in walking is attributed to the work she is doing daily with vibration therapy.
Some exciting things we are looking forward to in the next few months:
-new cooking class
-Para swim camp with Swimming Canada
-Family Day weekend at Nate & Evelyn’s new “Gregoire Cottage”
-March Break!
Thanks for everyone’s continued support!
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Madi Moves 
Hi….please tell Jack I am 83 and still have my tonsils so I will be interested in hearing what gets done and what kind
of popsicles he likes best. Good luck Jack.
Madison – you are certainly a busy little lady….I love hearing about your adventures. I also have a vision problem and
can relate to you on that. Keep up the good work.
Loved seeing the photos of you both…you are growing pretty tall now. You are so lucky your Mom and Dad have you
as their daughter. You all make a great team.
Take care. Betty
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