In a video we watched on TikTok, one of the occupational therapists mentioned that simple toys and play can help the kids understand better words and instructions.
I went to the grocery earlier to buy some food that I will be cooking this Saturday, it is Dyn's birthday today, and April and I agreed to prepare at least some food on her special day.
After completing the groceries, I bought some colored chalk from a local store nearby. The plan was to draw some shapes and designs and then instruct Dyn to jump, march, or stop at the said shape.
On a smooth concrete flooring outside our home in the compound where we live, April drew the rainbow and trees. On the other hand, I drew a circle, small stars, a square, and a triangle.
We started the game, wherein she just marched on the shapes and designs I mentioned until we progressed to hopping/jumping. It was repetitive as an adult, but watching Dyn having fun made it enjoyable. There were instances wherein she fell from the concrete floor and would say Ay nalaglag ( Oops it fell) and that is a good sign that she is understanding and using words correctly as that should be the case and what we are trying to build lately. We are trying to expound her vocabulary even more through plays, there are instances wherein we just run and play tags across the compound too.
There's a young boy almost the same age as Dyn who sometimes accompanies her with playing, Dyn is quite engaging with him and with other kids which is a good improvement too as back then she didn't have any interaction. The only challenge that we see is the concept of sharing toys. When the young boy picks Dyn's chalk, she will go to the child and say share and utter the phrase sharing is caring, but each time it is her turn to share her toy she says no.
This is most likely because she doesn't have anyone to share toys with, as she always played with us only in the past.
When the young boy left, we just continued playing and reminded her to share stuff with other kids. She doesn't have any problems sharing toys with us, so maybe it is because she's still seeing her new playmate as a stranger, but who knows what's going on with Dyn's mind.
Overall, her social improvements are good and we hope that this continues. This coming Monday, we will have another assessment from a clinic nearby to see what there will be program for occupational and speech therapy for Dyn. We are hoping to have those therapies soon if possible as some centers that we inquired about have a long wait list of 3 months to 6 months wait time before we can schedule one.