Update 09/01/2008

After a rough couple of months behaviour wise thing are beginning to settle. Steph's crying, screeching, arguing, fighting and bossing aroung her siblings had me at my wits end! I thought I'd have to check myself in some where that caters for mental health issues. But now, I am hoping to send her to school without medication. But we will have to see how she copes. I am not so sure she has ever done one of the exercises properly. She burps, farts,chats, fidgets and fusses, falls over and off things, even forgets whats she doing! In fact the dore visit before the last they told us she would most probably be on the program for a lot longer. (I was not shocked by this.) Thankfully at last visit she should be finishing on time if she continues on this path, (I am a tad shocked by this!) We'll see! I am amazed we have come this far, sense of humour barely intact.

Dore Assessment 13/06/07

I have posted Steph's latest Dore Results below. She is doing extremely well and moving ahead in leaps and bounds despite me marking most of her exercises hard. The Dore lady, Jane, said she is obviously doing the exercises correctly as it shows in her results. Jane also commented that she had read through Steph's file and has noticed an improvement in her concentration and fidgeting just in general observation. We have also received Steph's school report and it shows her gaining strenth in most of her weak areas. Steph's teacher also reports that Stephanie is generally a quiet student in class. Yay! Concentration and organization are still very concerning. Yet we do expect great things as we continue on our Dore journey. We are on the right track!

Good News

Stephanie no longer has to attend learning support! She was told by her learning support teacher that she had finished everything she needed to do and well done! she was done! I would assume this means that she has caught up to her peers. She is very proud of herself. School reports are due out in the next few weeks so this is where I expect to see an improvement. This time last year Stephanie could not spell. Is this all too good to be true? I have to go and pinch myself!

The Last Few Weeks

As promising as Dore is, we sure have had our ups and downs. Steph is just coming out of a very hyperactive stage. I think the combination of her grandparent's visit and a change of exercises has worsened her behaviour temporarily. Our perfect record of daily exercise compliance has been ruined...due to the dreaded rotavirus. Hopefully the worst is over and we can begin to focus on the exercises and school again.

Morning Routine Improving!

Our morning routine hasn't altered much over the last few years since Steph started school, so by now you'd think things would be running smoothly. So as not to add pressure to our already hectic am schedule we all get up a little earlier to fit in the Dore exercises. At last a breakthrough, in the last week, Stephanie has gotten herself out of bed, dressed, brushed her hair, and prepared breakfast for herself and her siblings. This makes life so much easier. Gone are the power struggles over breakfast! In the past Steph would not have been able to organise herself consistently over the period of a week. Yes, things are happening for Steph. Our next Dore assessment in on the 26th.

Social Skills

At about this time last year(prior to starting dore) Steph found herself a best friend, so she was beginning to develop the necessary skills to maintain a friendship. Something which had eluded her in the past. This best friendship has continued on into this school year and the two girls have kept up their friendship. (Thankfully the school took into consideration our, Steph's, and the guidance officer's request to keep them in the same class.) I believe that the combination of keeping the two girls together and dore has helped Steph to continue developing these very necessary skills.
Another reason to be proud of Steph's developing social skills is she has made friends with a girl who bullied her and a few others last year. I recently asked Steph how she was going with this particular girl, knowing that Steph had been scared of her. (She is in a grade higher than Steph and a lot bigger) Steph said "oh she's my friend now" I asked how that came about, and she said that she just asked her if they could be friends and the girl said ok. End of story hopefully . I don't know if would have been as forgiving as Steph!

Dore Results

17/1/07 Sensory Analysis - Equilibrium scores in brackets.
(94) Somatosensory 87
(83) Visual 65
(61) Vestibular 7
(7 ) Composite 47


7/3/07 Sensory Analysis
(93) Somatosensory 94
(87) Visual 53
(49) Vestibular 47
(44) Composite 57


26/4/07 Sensory Analysis

(86) Somatosensory 98
(85) Visual 80
(70) Vestibular 38
(33) Composite 60

An improvement in eye tracking has been noted and Steph's synkinesis (movement of fingers on opposite hand) has disappeared.


13/06/07 Sensory Analysis

(88) Somatosensory 98
(86) Visual 84
(74) Vestibular 55
(48) Composite 67


01/08/07 Sensory Analysis

(92) Somatosensory 91
(84) Visual 74
(68) Vestibular 46
(42) Composite 63


12/09/2007 Sensory Analysis

(86) Somatosensory 91
(78) Visual 77
(66) Vestibular 72
(62) Composite 68


29/10/2007 Sensory Analysis

(83) Somatosensory 99
(82) Visual 89
(74) Vestibular 61
(51) Composite 67


17/12/2007 Sensory Analysis

(92) Somatosensory 96
(88) Visual 82
(76) Vestibular 65
(60) Composite 73

Some synkinesis.