In order to practice my PRIDE skills - sounds like team spirit, Middle School type stuff, I have to practice 5 minutes a day with C. 5 minutes of practicing absolutely perfect playing. And it's actually kind of fun. I am not allowed to ask her why she did something or say anything with a questioning tone. I am not allowed to tell her no. And I am not allowed to tell her what to do. Sounds like anyone's perfect time, right?!?! It really is.
I like how I can earn 'points' for praising, reflecting and doing the describing. I am really big into earning points. It just works for me. The first day of counseling it was just me going in to learn about how it all and the counselor and I role-played. Which was amazing. Because it really hit it home to me at how good it feels for someone to be paying so much attention to what you are doing to respond about how, "You have the blue figured girl in your hand." And, "I really like how you arranged the dolls in the doll house." And, my favorite. At the end of the role-playing she asks me, "Did you hear me do any reflecting?" And I say, "Sure." Because of course all of this is brand new to me and I really have no idea what she is asking me and I know that yes is always a better response than a no. She looks at me all like, Nope, wrong answer. And I back-track real quick and I say, "No?" She nodded in approval and says, "You never said anything. The whole time. I had nothing to reflect because you never said anything." I knew I was quiet, but for real! Even when I am pretend playing, I still don't say much! She clued me in that if C was ever quiet like that, like in my dreams!, that you can always reflect sounds and that counts just as well. I will never have to worry about that with this one. But it was good to know. Pretty sure I didn't make any sounds, either. I would be a hard one to work with to get all the points for reflecting.
I took home a homework sheet and started my 5 minutes of perfect playing with C right away. It was too easy. She flourishes, absolutely thrives, on one-on-one attention. Which I knew. After three days of comfortable playing and me looking at my sheet of skills every second that I wasn't commenting on her, I had it down enough to introduce a little controversy. I let Talmage play with us. You do what you gotta do. I had to practice some more skills, like the shaping behavior by ignoring or re-directing. She knocked Talmage's tower over within 10 seconds of us playing. I turned my body away and started playing with legos. When she was done, I returned and let her know how much I liked it that she was letting Talmage make his own tower.
Another epic thing happened. That was the hardest we encountered, so I thought, 'What the heck. I'll have Alaska play with us, too." And that was interesting. While I was describing what Alaska was doing, C realizes that I am not paying 100% attention to her and she says, "Jessica, say, "I have a blue peg." That girl! She's quick. It made me laugh-out-loud in surprise. But not surprise. That attention thing. It's her biggest.
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