Dmitri

December 2011
Dmitri has had a great year. We decided to home school Dmitri this year because we felt like there was so many things he needed to learn and experience that we wanted to provide him with one-to-one tutors in an effort to catch him up a bit. The biggest area of progress we are seeing is in mobility. Dmitri has done awesome moving himself by rolling, modified crawling and supported walking. He loves to move around and will take any chance he gets to get out of his wheelchair. Additionally, Dmitri has been practicing using a power wheelchair. Dmitri's brother, Jeffrey, just recently retired a smaller power chair that fits Dmitri perfectly. Although Dmitri had no previous experience using a joy stick to operate a power wheelchair, he took to it like a duck in water! At first Dmitri wanted to always use the fastest speed which often caused some problems. Now Dmitri understands that in certain locations he must slow down. Dmitri is able to operate the power chair in large areas like a park without support. In smaller areas he can operate his wheelchair with an adult standing by in case he gets stuck. With continued practice I am sure he will be completely independently mobile using a power wheelchair.

July 2010
Well Dmitri has been with us for a month. What a cutie! Dmitri was originally adopted from the Ukraine last August by a family in Alabama. The original adopting family felt like Dmitri would be better off in a state that offered more services and supports for a child with significant developmental disabilities. Dmitri joined our family in late May after he finished his school year in Alabama. Dmitri has been enjoying lots of fun activities with the family. Dmitri especially loves amusement parks and water parks. Dmitri is happiest if we keep him moving. He would much rather be outside playing than indoors watching television or going to the movies.

During the summer we are working on Dmitri's toilet training. Its pretty clear that he has the concept but because Dmitri's communication skills are so limited he doesn't always let us know in time. We are also working on Dmitri's self-feeding skills. While he does have one hand and arm that works well, Dmitri is a very messy eater! We are trying to teach Dmitri how to eat slowly and neatly. Dmitri will also keep eating and eating unless he is stopped. This lack of awareness of being full and his limited self-feeding skills probably come from years in an Eastern European orphanage where the children don't receive adequate nutrition or training to eat solid food neatly. Finally we are working on Dmitri's communication skills. Dmitri is non-speaking, but he does squeal, smile, cry and point. We are working on teaching Dmitri some modified sign language to improve his communication and to reduce his frustration. Currently Dmitri uses about five signs consistently. We are excited to work with Dmitri and to tap into his obvious potential.