- play games with Joey that will help him understand some social cues. They gave us a list of a lot of silly games we could do. They seemed fun and like something Joey would like.
- find groups of kids for Joey to try to join in playing. Practice talking to him beforehand about things he could say and how he should react if they say no.
- we already are in an organized sport, so I need to begin trying to make friends with the other parents. I thought I was going to make friends with one of the parents at the first practice but I must have done or not done something right. She sat at the other end of the line of parents when she arrived to the next practice. Prof. Mikami suggested that I make some treats and bring them for everyone. I might consider that. I need to think of something I can make or buy that would be "normal"...if only I knew what normal is. I think I have more problems than Joey!
I need to do some special times with Joey this week. I pulled out a box of cake mix today and was going to see if he wanted to do that with me but then I put it off until it was too late in the day. I will try again tomorrow or another day.
I will still try to do the attentive listening. I probably earned a "B" on that yesterday. I did manage to stand still and listen to him for a little while but then I noticed that I would be late to the parent training if I did not hurry the heck up! I could tell his story was not going to end so I interrupted him and said, "okay. I need to go now but you can finish telling me about this when I get back." He seemed fine with that.
I will also look for a good time to talk to Joey about a secret signal before Tuesday. I think it will be a good conversation if I can just find the right moment.
AND I need to practice game playing skills with Joey by playing some board games with him. He does really good when he is playing with me though. It is when he plays with others that he might lose control and throw a fit when he gets frustrated. Hopefully, us playing together will open up more opportunities to talk to him about how other kids like to play.
I am continuing to praise Joey every chance I get. I started a notepad on Monday where I have been writing down everything he does good for each day. He seemed happy when he saw it. I told him I wanted to remember all of his good things he does and I wanted him to write down any good things that I forget about. I thought it might help him to see the long list of things he did right for the day and for the week. It also helps me remember the good things because I forget those little things too quickly and then forget to praise him when I see him again.
