Raquel or Kengkay came and conquered us all.

Lynn and I got to the venue around 6pm and waited outside. Then there’s Feng who was already in the restaurant, Burgoo at The Podium Ortigas Center.

Then she arrived, with her husband and two daughters! And I think I said, “Raqueeeelll!” Then I gushed how beautiful her two daughters are.

Dine and Noemi arrived together.

Then there’s Wenchie and her kids.

Rachel who traveled all the way through SLEX from the South.

Then Cookie with her big little girls.

The food we ordered arrived and guess what? Out came the cameras so that we could post something like this:

My fish and chips platter.

Talk, talk and more talk followed.

Raq with MC and IC, Dine, Noemi, Cookie with Gaby, Wenchie with Bea, Feng, Rachel, Lynn and me.

It was like a high school reunion (really?) but more. We know a lot about each other than maybe our neighbors combined,or even updates about other friends. We know each others’ children’s names, husbands’ names and even some of the intimate details of our family lives. We read each other’s thoughts, fears, dreams and opinions.

I am glad to have met these wonderful ladies. Thank you for a great time. Till our next get-together

Milan Kundera wrote in the first part of his book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” about burdens. What he wrote were these words (with some lines omitted):

Classic in drama would be the main character being besieged by so many problems, battling so many demons and fighting for his existence. He will, at the end of the story, emerge victorious, stronger than ever and able to danger at bay.

He fought, he learned, he became stronger, he took responsibility and he believed he can defeat whatever it is that is against him.

But in the end, when all is well and good, what’s next?

We see ourselves in these characters.

We learn how to fight our own battles by learning to cope and keeping sight of our goals. We learn to take responsibilities for our actions. We reward ourselves for a job well done. We are proud of our trophies and recognitions.

At the end of the day, can we say that we are ready for yet another round?

Or do we throw the towel and say “I have had enough, thank you.”

Why is it important to teach the nonverbal child Approach-Request skills? Nonverbal children especially those diagnosed with autism, would often resort to pulling an adult’s hand to get the object that the child needs.

Or the child would at times resort to tantrums if his wants are not given.

Or the child would grab from wherever and whoever is holding the thing that he wants to hold.

But how would an adult know since the child did not express his wants? How would one teach approach-request to a nonverbal child?

By taking his hand and holding it to touch the adult’s hand or arm. This way, the child will learn how to reach out to others. This way the adult knows that the child is trying to reach out to her. Accompanying this would be the adult saying her name. It goes like this: Take the child’s hand and tap to adult’s hand saying the adult’s name.

Alongside this skill, it is important to establish eye contact with the child. A child with autism will have very limited eye contact. A fleeting gaze would be a small triumph so this should always be kept in mind.

When the child has “mastered” this skill of initiating a social interaction, next to be taught is to include the gesture of an open palm, which means  “give me” , which the adult would have to verbalize along with the gesture. At all times.

More often during therapy, the children are shown toys that they prefer to play with (or maybe the child’s favorite treats) which is perfect for teaching these approach-request skills.

Remember: first the approach technique with calling the adult’s name, then the palm up for give with the words “:give me” by the adult.

Then we wait for the child to finally say “Give me” This would take days or weeks or even months. Take heart, it can be done.

For more info on the different approaches to treatments and interventions, click here.

Colin is one blogger who is very generous, not just with his sweet comments but with the awards that come his way. He has shared these awards to me and several other bloggers. Thank you Colin, from the bottom of my heart.

Colin joked that he should be changing his blog’s name to the Awards Blog

Now I want to give these awards to the following people who have inspired me, from whom I have learned valuable lessons from and who in their own unique ways, contributed to the growth not just of this blog but to my personal growth as well.

Analyse | Ann | AnnaManila | Arlene | ArleneC | Auee | Bambie | Bang | Belle | Berna | Chateau | Cheryl | Christianne | Colin | Connie | Cookie | Dana | Dexie | Dine-SexyMom | Dom | EmmyRose | Feng | Ferdz | Geraldo | Geri | Jane | Jing | Joni | JMom | Jun | Kathy | Kim | Lady Cess | Liza | Lovelyn | Luiza | Lutchi | Lynn | Marcia | Martoon | Mary | Mayi | Megamom | Melanie | Melai | Mitch | MM | Mott | Mousey | Niceheart | Nikoy | Noemi | Pinky | Princess | Rachel | Racquel | Raq | Rhoda | Salen | Sasha | ShielaMarie | Soloops | Tina | Trina | Trixie | Turtles | Wenchie | TNChick | Ipanema | Toni | Patricia | Andree | Pat | JMB | JC | Napaboaniya | Barbara H | Becci | BengBeng | BlurMommy | Bobbie | BonggaMom | Caroline | Carver | Criz Lai | Dragonheart’s Human Mom | Eastcoastlife | ExpatTraveler | Heather | JamsODonell | JHS | Karen | Liz and Harvey | Mar | Pelf | Sabine | SabineM | Sara | PinoyMomsNetwork and all its memebers | Monaco | Lana G | Sandy | Femjo | Natalie | Bing | Ellen B | Liza | Sue | Anni | Janet | Julian | GreenBucks | Ricky
I may not be able to email you personally to tell you that I have these for you, but if you do happen to drop by, feel free to get these awards.These are given for free, with a sunny smile on the side

We are ready to welcome summer in just a few weeks, so we will be having our summer program planning this Sunday in this place. Would have love to have the whole family join me and my co-workers but we are saving for the children’s summer vacation. So its just me and Julian (free entrance fee for him) to have him smell fresh sea air because he has been having asthma attacks recently. I have written in reference about this place in this post specifically the last photo.

Off to this place we will go for the center’s summer program planning: