I was sent a trial to a new ipad app for children on the spectrum called The Social Express. If you click on the link it will take you to Social Express Lite which you can try out on your ipad or computer. The characters are Zack and the aptly named Emma with her dog Sunny. There are a series of vignettes where your child is encouraged to identify the character’s emotions. I tried both levels with Emma. She was amused when she purposely chose the “wrong” emotion and then laughed when the voiceover says – “Hmm, look at Emma’s face…” then it says, “Can you try again?” To which Emma would choose the right one, while saying out loud – “Look! She’s sad. She lost her ice cream.” Em particularly liked the scene with the boy who is terrified of the dog, something Em can relate to, and when the girl mistakenly lets go of her balloon, another situation that has caused Em great upset.
GFCF diet update: We are officially off the diet, with the naturopath’s approval. We are trying some other supplements and will continue with Dr. Blank’s literacy program. Interestingly, because of the GFCF diet, Emma is now so happy to eat a wider variety of foods, she has expanded the foods she’ll try considerably. As I am reintroducing foods one at a time, I made her a GFCF cream of pumpkin and carrot soup with coconut milk the other night. She had several spoonfuls of it. I also prepared scrambled duck eggs, which she had a few bites of it. She is eating a wider variety of fruits, was ecstatic to have some pancakes for breakfast Saturday morning, even though I made them with duck eggs and rice milk. During our literacy session, Emma seemed focused and a bit more attentive than I’ve seen in awhile. Meanwhile the rest of us are so happy to be able to eat regular food again, without the constant worry of whether there are trace amounts of soy, corn or potato.
A couple of nights ago while supervising Emma’s teeth brushing I noticed she has an extra tooth growing in back of her upper incisor. I showed Richard who commented, “Shark tooth. She has the mouth of a shark.”
“What a horrible thing to say! Aren’t you worried?” I asked.
“No. She’s going to the dentist Wednesday, he’ll tell us what needs to be done, then I’ll be worried.”
Typical.
For more on Emma’s journey through a childhood of autism, go to: www.Emma’sHopeBook.com
Ariane, YAY to more foods that Emma will try! As for the extra tooth, Spencer had that also. He had to have it surgically removed, but otherwise it didn’t cause any trouble.
SURGICALLY REMOVED?! No, I’m kidding. I’m pretty sure the dentist will tell us that, or at least that’s what I’m preparing myself for. We had to have her hospitalized just to have a cavity filled. I figure we’ll have them put braces on her teeth since she’ll be unconscious anyway. She tolerates having her teeth cleaned, but that’s as much as she’ll put up with.
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