Friday, January 23, 2009

Volunteer Practice Subject

We had a little adventure at the university today! A couple weeks ago, the physical therapy school at Justin's university issued a plea for volunteers. They asked anybody with kids to bring them in to allow their students to practice doing developmental assessments. So this morning we took Elias to school, where a group of 4 PT students practiced doing assessments. We had a lot of fun, and we were glad to see that Elias seems to be right on track (which we weren't really worried about, but it's nice to know). It was actually pretty funny, because our group of students happened to be all males, none of whom had kids. So they seemed to not have a clue where to start, but they were certainly willing and friendly, and Elias is easy to get along with. Justin and I stayed with him the whole time, so we were able to see what they did. Some of the things they did:
- ring a bell behind him to see if he would turn his head to look at it.
- show him how to ring the bell and then put it on the table to see if he would pick it up and ring it. (He did.)
- put a little pellet on the table to see if he could pick it up. (It was too small for him - he hasn't mastered the pincer grasp yet.)
- show him a picture book to see if he could pay attention for a few minutes.
- see if he could sit/roll/crawl/pull up/stand/walk on his own.
- hide a toy under a cup to see if he would pick up the cup to find the toy. (He did - I was surprised at that!)
- see if he could hold a block in each hand.
- see if he looked when somebody called his name, and then see if he answered to someone else's name. (I'm proud to say that my son knows his name is not Sam!)
- see if he knew the words "mama" and "daddy." (He doesn't.)

So we were pleased at how many of the things he could do! His area that he still needs the most development is fine motor, which is usually the last to develop anyways, so he's right on track! The guys all thought he was cute and fun, and I'm glad we did it!

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