[maggiethecat]

Susan, that's the best news I've heard in a month. Brava Heidi, and the positive effects of peers.

[Terrasanct]

I'm glad that this thread was brought to the top. I'm disabled, and I look forward to reading the whole thread.

[snowangel]

Time for an update on Heidi, who is now 11+. She now in middle school (6th grade).

Her class has a full kitchen and laundry room. Range, oven, nuker, dishwasher, blender, etc. Three times per week, she has in-class cooking lessons. They started with opening tupperware-type containers and spooning out pudding. Lest you think that those food choppers that you push on the top and they chop (the kind advertised on late night TV; the ones that most laugh at but do have a place for those with limited abilities) have no place, let me tell you that they do. Heidi has become a pro at chopping stuff to put in her breakfast yogurt.

We added some meal stuff to her IEP this year. She now carries a tray to the table in the cafeteria this year (albeit it has only an unopened milk carton on it; her aide carries the food tray), but she has only lost it once this year soo far. She is required to make her own meal choices, and it is becoming obvious that she makes the choices that she will actually eat. Since no trading of food at lunch is permitted or tolerated, she no longer is grabbing at other's food items.

She is, via hand over hand, leaning how to load the dishwasher. Next year, she will have FACS (home ec to those of my age, food and consumer science to those younger) next year, and we will soon make plans for what part of this she will take. She shows a penchant for washing dishes, so that may be her part in the class.

Heidi has just come off a food moritorium, which is great. She is now wearing size 8 (kids) clothes and weighs 63 pounds. Keeping weight on has continued to be a battle, but she is hungry, so we are keeping her fed with lots of high calorie, high fat foods, combined with her protein sources of choice (fish and beans). Seizures remain under control.

Her school program is the best, and includes plenty of field trips. There is a supermarket not three blocks from the school, so going to the market and getting snacks (teaching fruits and veg!) is prominent. Tomorrow they will take the light rail to the Mall of America and eat at the Rainforest Cafe. The restaurant was generous enough to offer that they could have a reserved area, and that the kids could either order off the menu, bring a bag lunch from home. Heidi gets to order off the menu, and if she wants Coca Cola to drink, she can.

[lovebenton0]

this is great news for Heidi and for you! thanks for the update on your princess. will be looking forward to a report on her mall trip too.

[lovebenton0]

wow, it's been a year... thought i'd bump this up for a quick update and suggestion for those of us that love to make bread, but are having trouble getting that kneading done.

update first... i'm in wisconsin now, on lake michigan with my service dog quinn. that's us in the avatar shortly after the big move from texas this july. we have snow now, but we're loving it up here and with quinn i'm able to get out to walk to the deli and market on my own. that's an incredible improvement.

now for the suggestion... i've made bread for mumble mumble 35 plus years. i started having too much trouble kneading bread this fall. turns out i've got a severe case of carpal tunnel and kneading is not on my list of doables in a brace 24/7 right now. snowangel mentioned the minimalist/no knead bread thread to me. this is a major step beyond the old batter breads i learned as a young teen and i'm in love. i've been making my bread using this method exclusively for the past few months.

there's been lots of action on that thread, hope some of you will get a chance to try out the no knead method. i've been incorporating my sourdough barm/starter into the method and find i can do almost anything with this. it really has saved my hands and my daily bread.

[Marlene]

Judith, how lovely to hear from you! I've been meaning to try the no knead bread for a while now. I'm glad it worked for you and you're baking again!

[Dana]

I wonder if, those of you that we know have disabilities, or loved ones who do, know how much we cheer for you when we hear of these triumps. Sometimes we think we may have issues, but when we hear that your or yours have made such strides, our petty problems pale in comparison, and we are truly humbled. Thanks so much for sharing. We love hearing about you.

[snowangel]

Big news!

Heidi not only carried her lunch tray to her table today (again, with only a carton of milk and the silverware -- yes, they use the real stuff in our district), for the very first time ever, she didn't tip the tray so much that her carton of Kemp's very best chocolate milk didn't tip over, and she used a fork.

She also ate red food!

And, she used the shaker for the sprinkles for the Valentine's cookies appropriately. Figured out that "righty tighty, loosy Lucy" and knew which end holds the holes.

Let's hear it for peer pressure and repetition! THey work hard on cooking skills in her classroom, and although she has learned how to open the dishwasher, getting the dishes in is another storey, but she has learned to love taking the wet clothes out of the washer and putting them in the dryer.

We are about to move to a voice box for her, somewhat similar to the Big Mac, but with two choices of things to say.

[Kouign Aman]

Thats some serious accomplishment. Congratulations to Heidi! ( and you).







editted to add: I've been reading thru the course, preparing for the future and out of general interest. It strikes me that Part II is also a great primer to teaching very young children kitchen skills, which I can use now. Thanks.

This post has been edited by Kouign Aman: 14 February 2007 - 08:00 AM

[snowangel]

It's been well over a year since an update on Princess Heidi. She's now 14 and in high school. And, still as big (or tiny) as a minute -- she continues to wear size 10 girls clothes.

But, high school brings many changes. Big ones. She's only at school 2-1/2 days a week. On these days, she needs to bring a lunch. For her, usually a sandwich, some little cookies and plain yogurt with cut-up fruit. The other big change is that the bus arrives at 6:40 am, so it's an early day, and my oh my, it's really dark that early up here in Zone 3.

One afternoon, they are out in the community. It could be at a store, shopping for supplies. Or at a retirement home; my, the do love having the kids come in. The local Lions group frequently hosts them for picnics (which do move indoors as the weather changes.

One day a week, she's at a vocational center; she's apparently a wiz with a shredder.

The other day, she's at an apartment with her class. Our school district rents an apartment so these kids can learn some daily living skills. She hates making beds, apparently, and is not permitted to clean the tub (she just wants to get in an have someone turn on the water. Although I said above that I send her with a lunch three days a week, that's not really true. I send ingredients. I have sent a loaf of bread (which they froze, so it's warmed or toasted in the toaster), cheese, mayo, P/B and J, fruit, and a mess of yogurt containers. So, she's learning how to make sandwiches and open yogurt containers. A bonus of the apartment is that they have a microwave (my other two school-age kids would kill for a nuker at school), and she's learning to transfer the contents of the plastic container into a Correll bowl. She can't quite reach the nuker yet, but bangs on it when the buzzer sounds, and is responsible for finding an aide to help her get it out. She also has every other week table washing duty. I could not ask for a better educational program for her, and the staff is beyond belief.

I've noticed that the original pictures of Heidi disappeared during a server change, so I'll have to take some pictures of her this weekend when we're at Cabin, and post one or two.

She's quite the charmer!

[Kerry Beal]

That's wonderful Susan. I'm so pleased to hear about Heidi's progress.

My litte toad is still working on the self feeding thing at school (at home we are just on survival mode) and continues to expand her repertoire of foods. She's never had any texture or flavour issues which is helpful, but has a tendency to choke on meats, so we need to go soft on that. But nice tender chicken is now easy to eat.

My EA keeps coming up with suggestions for all these packaged foods that Kira will eat when she goes over to her house. I hate the whole excess packaging thing, but I've got to say some of them are quite handy - for example the little 100 calorie packages of baked Cheeto's (she loves the crunch), the Presidents choice cereal bars and the Dole Squeez-ums (flavoured apple sauces in a great squeezy container).

[snowangel]

I come seeking advice on how to pack some calories into Princess Heidi. She is on a new med, Adderall, which leaves here without much appetite, except during dinner. She continues to drink beverages, which leads me to think that perhaps I should try Ensure. This med is administered in the am, and I am experimenting with different breakfast foods, but heck, she gets on the bus at 6:40 am, so there is limited time to pack a punch. We're working on oatmeal and nuked scrambled eggs, but it's a frantic time of day for her.

So, since she will no longer eat during lunch, any ideas?

She's hungry at dinner and I need some suggestions on how to achieve maximum "bang for the buck."

She's still little -- small of frame without an extra ounce of fat. So, she needs to eat. And, remember, there's no reasoniing with this profoundly mentally retarded child. No saying "if you don't eat your peas, you don't get dessert."

What does the wisdom of our members know about nutritional suppliments, etc.?

[snowangel]

Time for an update, and what a school and age can do.

She can't punch the numbers into the nuker, but she can hit the "start" button.

Heidi's now in 10th grade (and still tiny!), and is only in school 2.5 days/week. 1/2 day per week, she's out and about in the community. It might be shreding paper at the VFW. It might be a trip to the local grocery to get supplies for the classroom.

1 day/week, she is at an apartment. They are learing to cook, clean, make beds, etc.

1 day/week they are at a vocational center. She is learning to tear movie tickets and give customers receipts.

But, because of the day at the apartment, and learning to cook, she knows how to turn on a Magic Bullet. We've learned, thanks to the school folks, that if we want her to be involved in meal prep, measure everything out in custard cups, and hand over hand, she can add them, and stir, with assistance. She's even helping to make her lunches every day. I wedge the apples, but with assistance, she can get them into the container (BTW, 7-UP or Sprite work just fine to keep the apples from browning).

She reminds me every day that there is a reason for pre-cut broccoli or ready-to-go wedged apples.