Monday, January 20, 2025

 Monday, January 20, 2025

    I got up on the late side. I have been since I started taking the Seroquel.  It improves my sleep but messes with my usual sleep pattern.  I needed a nap after my walk. I was still exhausted from the fear generated by the leader of the grief recovery program. I had a 10 am appointment. I woke from my nap when the alarm went off at 9:50, giving me time to get myself together for the session with fourth-grade GV.

   We started out working on the dictation and spelling activity. Before we could get started, I noticed GV glancing to his right.  His younger brother was there, disturbing him.  His grandmother was about to remove the younger brother from the room so GV wouldn’t be disturbed.  I told her not to.  It was an opportunity to help GV learn to control his attention. 

   In the past, GV had led me to believe his attention was easily diverted.  Today, GV told me he was only distracted by his younger brother. Ah! I asked him if he felt that way since his brother was born. Yep!  Ah!  “You suffered from older brother syndrome.”  Really, it is firstborn or older sibling syndrome. GV learned he was not alone in resenting the intrusion of the baby into his family, who demanded a lot of attention from his parents.  GV didn’t know that. He thought something was wrong with him. The knowledge that he was not alone offered some relief.

   I pointed out that he had needed less of his parents’ attention because he was pulling away from them.  The big difference wasn’t in the amount of attention but in his ability to get it when he wanted it.  Everyone is that way. Growing up healthy means making your peace with the human condition.  It’s even wider than that. Even the amoeba wants what itwants and doesn’t want what it doesn’t want.  Even plants feel that way, moving toward light and water and away from things that don’t feel good. 

   His brother was particularly annoying partially because GV was annoyed with him.  I helped him through exercises that helped him feel less annoyed with his brother’s behavior. As we worked, his brother was provoking him.  He was snapping a metal tape measure and grinning at GV.  I told GV that he had trained his younger brother to behave this way with his reactions.  I couldn’t guarantee his brother would stop annoying behaviors. Still, I could ensure that it would become less and that GV would be less bothered regardless of what his brother did.  

  I’ll see him again on Wednesday. I was interested in knowing if this session had any impact.

   I took care of watering my 42 fledgling shrubs after the session.  I hadn’t watered yesterday.  I took down one of the connectors for the irrigation tubing.  I had no success with it.  I have to stop off at the shop and get instructions. I collected some dead fronds for my next green waste load for Darby.  Then, I lay down for another nap. 

    The phone rang.  It was fourth-grade MH’s father., asking if we could meet at 12:30. I usually meet with her on Sundays, but she had today off. He had texted me, but I hadn’t seen it.  It was a few minutes before 12:30. I got up, went to the bathroom, brought up her file, and sent her a Zoom link. 

    MH wasn’t as depressed as she was in our last session.  She was always a little off the mark.  She was doing much better, but I’ve never found the key to turning her around.

       Besides her depression, there is her cognitive problem. She often interprets a passage in a way that seems nonsensical.  I have found different keys at different times, but I’ve never solved the problem. I may have today. 

  I applied the WbyW procedure, which involves applying sentence diagramming using questions. The sentence was, “Young men of the eighteenth century used bear grease to groom their hair.”  What is the sentence about? Bear grease.  Oh, dear.  When I pushed and pulled on her, she could give me the full meaning of the sentence. It shouldn’t take that much work.  I have never fully solved this problem.  I have never been sure how much is cognitive and how much it is just plain ole insecurity.

    Then, we confronted a different problem.  When was the 18th century?  What century are we currently in? Not a clue.  When I told her we were living in the 21st century, she asked a good question.  Why was it the 21st when the date was 20-something?

    I wrote this:

             1      thru                           99                                             1st century

         100,    thru                         199                                            2nd century

         200     thru                         299                                            3rd century

 Once I got to the 11th century,  I asked her to identify the pattern.  She had a hell of a time with that.  I uncovered a problem she has for sure. She thinks she’s always supposed to ‘know’ the answer and never have to figure it out.  A lot of the kids I work with have this problem. Has it always been a problem, or is it worse now that the  Internet provides instant information- no thought or effort is needed?

   At the end of the day, I had fourth-grade LG.  That turned into a lesson on comparative adjectives.  It’s tricky because the suffix -er can also convert a verb into a noun.

   Darby dropped by for our evening walk. It’s not every night. Sometimes, she prefers to stay home.  She talked about her work as a piano tuner. Today, she tuned two grand pianos for a performance.  I learned a lot.  Each key strikes 3 strings.  The three strings have to be in tune with each other.  The two pianos have to be in tune with each other.  A  piano has to be tuned in its performance space. The resonance of the space changes the impact of the piano.  Two pianos can be in tune with the space they’re in but not with each other.  Holy moly! Darby loves the challenge.