So it’s been a LONG time since I’ve done a thorough update of Kellin’s progress. He’s been home over 4 ½ years now and just turned 8 years old. He will enter second grade this week. So here goes . . . my best attempt to summarize where his skills are at this point.
Eating: As you know, eating has been a challenge from the day I met Kellin. At that time, at 3 ½ years old, he ate absolutely NOTHING but bottles of formula. And the bottles - as is common practice in orphanages - had a large hole in the nipple so he didn’t need to suck. This made the formula pour out faster so it didn’t take as long for him to eat (a common strategy in orphanages where there are many children to feed with limited staff). It’s been a very long, difficult road to teach him to eat, but I’m beyond thrilled to report that we’ve taken some huge steps forward in the past few months. Kellin will now eat nearly everything I put on his plate, as long as it is cut up in bite-sized pieces. This includes many fruits, veggies, rice, potatoes, beans, oatmeal, and sometimes even foods like pancakes and bread (these textures are the hardest for him). He has not thrown up ONCE this whole summer (remember this used to be a daily occurrence). He still does not consistently feed himself, although he is mostly independent with his morning oatmeal. He still does not seem to get much enjoyment out of eating, but if I had to pick his favorites, I’d say orange juice, peanut butter oatmeal, and veggie straws. His weight is around 38 pounds, so he is still small for his age. This is most likely due to the fact that while he now eats a good variety of foods, he still only tolerates small quantities at a time.
Toileting: Kellin is fully toilet-trained, even at night, and rarely has accidents. He is becoming more independent in the bathroom but will not initiate using the bathroom on his own. If we don’t remember to take him or ask him on a regular schedule, he does not let us know that he needs to go. Once in the bathroom, he can pull his pants up and down (with help with snaps and zippers), use the toilet, flush it, and wash his hands. When given enough time, he can do most of this without reminders. So I am hopeful that eventually he will be able to be fully independent with his toileting needs.
Communication: Kellin is still nonverbal. He has developed some means of communicating, including a few signs (all done, more, blankie, yes, no) and using his tactile communication board and communication device. His board has tactile cards for his favorite toys and he can scan them with his hands and find the one he wants. He is working on bringing it to someone to request the toy (he will often sit and wait to be noticed), but this is getting better. On his communication device, he will independently and spontaneously use three of the buttons - “I want juice,” “all done,” and “I want to listen to music.” I do believe has the potential to use this device to communicate more things in time. Kellin is good at answering yes/no questions by nodding his head for “yes” and shaking his hand for “no.” He is making sounds often and tries to imitate when asked - but usually just uses the same sounds for everything - “ma,” “puh,” or something that sounds like “mee-yah.” When he says it repeatedly, it sounds like he is saying “yummy yummy yummy.”
Likes: Kellin’s absolute favorite thing is to listen to music. He has his clear favorites - the Okie Dokie Brothers are his first choice most of the time. He also enjoys Caspar Babypants and a variety of other kids’ songs. This summer he got to hear the Okie Dokie Brothers at an outdoor concert and loved it. He also loves playing in water and being outside (swinging, bouncing on the trampoline). He still has his favorite music toys that he chooses often. For a toy to hold his interest, it generally has to have buttons that play music when pushed. We have tried to interest him in other kinds of toys but with limited success. He will play with flashlights or other brightly-lit toys sometimes. He enjoys looking out the window, especially on sunny days.
Family/Attachment/Social Skills: Kellin’s favorite person is still his daddy. He chooses Daddy over everyone else any time he gets the opportunity, and he prefers that Daddy is the one to put him to bed each night. Luckily, he’s just fine with me (or big sister) putting him to bed if Daddy isn’t home, so it’s not really an issue. Kellin is becoming much more aware of his brothers and sister and gives them plenty of hugs, smiles, and giggles. He loves to be outside with them, especially when they bounce him on the trampoline and play catch with him. He is SLOWLY increasing his awareness of others but is still often in his own little world and only rarely acknowledges peers. He will wave to others when prompted, and when approached by a new adult, he will reach for their hands, smell them, and then usually push them away (we think that is his way of determining if the person is familiar or not). He definitely distinguishes between people he knows and people he doesn’t. He still tends to shift personalities depending on who he is interacting with. He will react differently to me than he does to his daddy, and change it up again for his teachers and paras at school. He is very good at figuring out exactly how helpless he can be with each person, and he will often do the minimum that particular person allows. He KNOWS each person that spends a significant amount of time with him and what their expectations are. Little stinker can be quite good at manipulating people into over-helping at times.
Mobility: Kellin is getting better at using his cane and at navigating around at school. He is able to walk a couple of familiar routes in the school without physical guidance. He generally hangs on to his cane when walking in public but does not consistently use it to figure out what’s around. He tends to walk wherever he is led, with little awareness of where he is going or what obstacles are around. He is not at all motivated to move around on his own and is perfectly content to stay in our living room all day with his music and toys. He generally doesn’t like new places or new experiences and prefers the familiar comfort of his usual routines. Trips are often challenging with him because he doesn’t want to walk around new places, touch new things, or explore.
Kellin has come a long way - and we have high hopes that he will continue to progress and learn new skills!
