back on board slowly

Just a quick note to say sorry that has been so many months since I last wrote. On April 10th 2011 Keith and I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy: Curtis Calum McVilly.

We’re all going well.

The experience has made me think about the developmental model that we often use to aid our understanding of adults with PIMD. Curtis at 4 months has communication skills that far surpassing the communication skills of many of the people with PIMD that I meet. He has intact vision and hearing, which contributes to his ability to gaze, smile, socially reference, and perceive distant cues. In these things the developmental model clearly does not fit in applying to adults with PIMD. However, I think some of things I do to engage with him could make sense in engagements with adults with PIMD: visual tracking of close items, locating sounds in space, using touch to reassure and calm, the use of sounds to share emotions together, the swiping of close objects.

I think I need to keep thinking about this – where the developmental model is or isn’t helpful…

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *