Jason's Friend Joel

Joel the Occupational Therapist, from Early Intervention came today to play with Jason. He is a really nice guy and sits right down to play with the kids and start the therapy session.

Of course I had to show off my AWESOME find with Jason's new swing. I found it at laceandfabric.com, he confirmed that it was a STEAL!!!

The first thing Joel did with Jason was "Brush" him. You take a soft fingernail brush and with long strokes brush his arms, legs, feet and back. Then he did joint compression. You just push his joints back together. That one seemed a little weird but he seemed to enjoy it.

Next he brought out an exercise ball and just bounced Jason on top of it. Jason thought this was pretty cool. This might be a purchase I will have to make in the near future.

Next he brought out some therapy putty. Which had the look and feel of silly putty, except silly putty is a bit more stiff. Jason thought this stuff was great, and Joel just played with him as he talked to Brett and I. Joel then put some beads into the putty and Jason and Joel pulled them out as they found them and then put them back in to play again.

Then Joel pulled out a puzzle, Jason's very good at puzzles. It was a different kind of puzzle, with big tall blocks. Since Jason seemed to have the puzzle aspect down, Joel tried to switch it up and build blocks with them. That didn't go over well. Jason had his first melt down here.

Then he brought out a Pound-A-Ball toy. You put the balls on top of the toy and have to actually push them to make them go down the maze. He had good eye contact with Joel as well as saying please for Joel to give him back the blocks. When Joel put away this toy, again Jason had a Melt down.

After that he pulled out a Pop Tube. You stretch them and they make a loud popping noise. Jason liked this for a few minutes, but only if Joel would help him with it. He did have a really hard time getting it to stretch.

Last he pulled out a Slinky. A big plastic pink one. Jason thought this was cool and played with it for quite a while. We discussed our focus until his next visit, which is to do the Brushing and Joint compression. We'll see if this helps to settle him down a little.

I love Early Intervention!!!