Retaining Information

We try to ask Kayla a lot of open-ended questions about her day to encourage communication and also to work on those memory skills. To help her recall what she did that day, or something in the movie she watched, or the book she read. I find that I usually end up asking 'yes' or 'no' type questions (especially when I know the answer) to see if she was paying attention and will give me the 'right' answer. But I'm trying to not ask so many of the 'yes' or 'no' type questions ... to make her think more about her answers, and to encourage the use of  longer sentences.

Sometimes Kayla looks at us like she has no idea what we're referring to, or she'll give us an answer that we scratch our heads and wonder where did she come up with THAT?! Other times she shows that she did remember what happened and can tell us some about her day.

This past Saturday the local Miracle League organization held their first-ever 'movie night on the field.' The field is a specially-designed rubberized surface (so those who use wheelchairs or walkers can move easily around the field) so we weren't sitting on hard dirt/grass. They had a big screen set up and provided kettle corn, peanuts, donuts, and hot chocolate. It was a little chilly that night so we spread a blanket on the field and bundled up with a few more blankets around us.

We watched Everyone's Hero - a cute animated film about a young boy who figures out who stole Babe Ruth's bat. He recovers the bat and is on a quest to return the bat to Babe Ruth.

On the way home I asked the kids some questions about the movie and what happened in the movie. I asked Kayla, "and who was the boy trying to give the bat back to?" not really expecting her to remember a detail like that.

So you can imagine my shock when she said, "Babe!" I exclaimed, "Kayla! Did you just say 'Babe'?!" She confirmed that's what she said and Joe said it sure sounded like Babe to him.

I know it seems like a small thing, but I love those moments when she surprises me and shows me that not only was she paying attention but she retained some information as well.

Here we are getting settled in for the movie night: