OT: Necessities for Katrina Victims

Tia Mary · 2005-09-03T12:42:22+00:00

I was talking to DD last evening and she said she had been working with the young people at her job to put together "Hygiene Kits" for the victims of the hurricane. Pat mentioned in the other post about the specific needs of females at this time and it reminded me that I had told DD she had left out several VERY essential things for both men and women. When making the list of things to put into these kits, the staff at DD's work remembered to put in a tube of toothpaste but they forgot a toothbrush! I mentioned that the women will need feminine hygiene products and no one in DD's "list" brain storming session had thought about that either -- and toilet paper!!! Now, there are lots of things that could be used in place of the standard products but just having your own roll of T.P. -- for men or women -- makes life a lot easier. Of course, food and water are the first essentials, but once you have that taken care of, it is so much easier to have your own personal hygiene products. We have an evac center in a neighboring town and one of the United Way charities right here in my little town -- The Place -- is accepting people too. I got a list from one of my Needlework Group women who is involved in The Place and they said monetary donations are accepted but they have an **immediate** need for bottled water, general toiletries, grocery store gift cards (can be used for food or gas) brown grocery bags (to put essentials in for each person) and Feminine Hygiene products. Until I got that e-mail, I myself had not thought about that need. Anyway, DH and I will be off to BJ's Warehouse Store to buy some of this stuff in bulk, feminine hygiene stuff. I wanted to ask what other things people can think of that would be considered "toiletries". Here's what I can think of as the bare minimum needed.........soap, toothpaste & toothbrush, deodorant, small brush & comb, shampoo.... I know that bath linens are needed but I don't think of those as "toiletries". I...

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NL 21 years ago

He's nearly 5 now. Time sure flies :-) I just explained that someone had writen to me about something really funny, and that was ok. He knows we "go and check our mail" on the computer and he sometimes tells us "I have to check my mail, too!" when he wants to play on the computer *g* He can already type his nickname (3 letters) and he usually wants to sit on my lap and type himself, sometimes he tells me to write down something for him on paper so he can type it. I think it's great he's finally so interested in "language" (speaking, typing, listening to stories,...) because he has a speech development delay and only started to talk about a year ago (We did lots of (speech- and ergo-) therapy and currently are on a break to see how it all settles, what stays, what needs more work, what he learns "without help" i.e. without his speech therapist. It's really amazing how much he's improving every week, it's like he just needed a nudge to get going. He used to hate listening to stories, he never liked books,... it's a long story really ;-) )

take care nicole

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Karen C - California 21 years ago

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

An old boyfriend of mine didn't speak till he was 4. His mom was aware of it, but hadn't gotten around to getting him tested because she had 5 other kids, including 2 still in diapers, demanding her attention. Once he finally started to talk, the floodgates opened, and he didn't stop. Talked his way to a shelf full of high school and college debate trophies.

One day when he was running on at the mouth, his mom rolled her eyes at me and muttered that when he was 3, she never thought she'd ever have to say to him what she was about to ... "will you SHUT UP!"

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Cheryl Isaak 21 years ago

Oh, he was - he just stood there shaking his head sadly - didn't seem like something a "nice girl" would do. Cheryl

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Cheryl Isaak 21 years ago

You should look for a place near you that does static line jumps ( the plane opens the chute for you ) or a tandem jump where you jump attached to the instructor.

No - but I'll bet DH does. But it sounds like fun! Cheryl

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Carey N. 21 years ago

Nicole, it sounds like your son is going to learn to read as he learns new words from now on. If they have dictionaries geared to smaller children, sounds like something to think of for birthday or Christmas. (Maybe he used to dislike listening to stories because they were being *read* to him, rather than him feeling like someone speaking *to* him, if that makes any sense.) Glad he's progressing.

-- Carey in MA

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NL 21 years ago

Karen C - California wrote:

*lol* Yeah, I know that feeling ;-) But it's really great to hear stories like this, because I have heard (really often) that "late talkers never become real talkers" and to be prepared that he'll never talk much and he'll never share much (verbally) and things like that, and since communication is _the_ most important aspect of any relationship (friendships, partnerships, business, private,...) I was a bit afraid to "end up" (that sounds so negative but I know no other expression) with a kid that would come home from school, eat, go to his room, do homework and when asked about his day would say things like "Yeah, I guess it was ok." I hope he will get good communication skills because it's so very important today to be able to express oneself. I have had doctors tell me I should get his IQ tested (he was 3 at the time and I know of absolutely no IQ testimg methods for children that age) just because he wasn't talking. I'm sure he's got a totally normal IQ he just couldn't speak due to muscle problems cobined with a perception "disorder" (He didn't like to be held at all, he didn't let me stroke him, he would scream when I didn't leave his room when he wanted to go to sleep,... Our Ergotherapist explained to me that for him it physically hurt when I stroked him, it's like a sensory overload for children with perception problems.). It's all much better now, but we did have one whole year of Ergotherapy until it got better, and now we've had nearly a year of Speechtherapy aswell, and we'll still need more, but that's ok because I can see how much it's helping and how quickly he's progressing :-)

take care nicole

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NL 21 years ago

That's such a great idea! His birthday is fast aproaching and I don't want to give him any more toys and we've been debating "things" but he's already has so many books that we have to read to him we'll probably be busy for the next 2 years ;-) But a dictionary would be a cool thing! Maybe we can make a CD that goes with it (We have a microphone for the computer somewhere) so he can listen and "read" along in the book :-)

Thank you :-)

I also agree with the to him vs. with him. I think for him it was just sensory overload when I read stories to him. It got better when I got a book with short rhymes and "fingerstories" (This is the Thumb, he shakes down the plums, he picks them up, he takes them home and this little rogue eats them all alone. You "shake" the fingers while saying those "sentences". In german this really rhymes ;-) ). He still likes that book and I know it almost by heart.

take care nicole

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Karen C - California 21 years ago

Depends WHY they talked late. If they're not talking because of something correctable (e.g., hearing) they may start to catch up when it's corrected. If they're not talking because of something internal (neuro/psychological), then they may never *want* to talk and be much happier as a loner.

ISTR there was some sort of picture IQ test for the pre-verbal/non-verbal, but it's been a long long time since I was in college with an Education/Psychology double major next door, so I may be mis-remembering.

I have fibromyalgia and I can relate. There are times I'd much rather you stand ten feet away and say "big hugs" than actually touch me.

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NL 21 years ago

Well, he hears just fine (although every new doc we see insists on testing his hearing....) he just didn't talk until about a year ago. He'd point and go "hm!" and he'd "show" me sentences (*point to banana* hm! *point to his tummy* *hm* and then he made a loooooooong mmmmm sound so that meant: "This banana in my tummy will taste good") And when he started talking he couldn't say a lot of letters, so Haferflocken (oatmeal) turned into aloho (which sounded an awful lot like alcohol to me at first, so it took me nearly an hour to figure out what the heck he wanted because we don't even have anything with alcohol at home. I kept thinking maybe he saw my parents drink a glass of whine and is trying to tell me about it, until he pointed to the shelf I keep the oatmeal and breakfast stuff in, then it finally clicked.)

We did a perception test where they show the child a picture of for example a circle and then they show him a larger picture with lots of shapes and he has to point out tll the circles. Usually this needs to be done "without hands" from the person who's doing the testing, but Sam needed to be shown what he was supposed to do, and then he was able to do most of those tasks, he also needed to draw a line between two other lines without going over the line and things like that. Another part of the test was with toys. The woman would place 6 toys in front of him, a doll, a tiny bathtub, a mini knife, a plate, a spoon and a cup and Sam had to match them up, which he did after things were explaind in short sentences. I guess that's the hard part for me. I don't do short sentences ;-)

:-/ fibromyalgia is a really really "stupid" thing to have, isn't it? I have read a lot about the subject because at one point a doc suspected I might have it because of pains in my lower abdomen (turned out those where from my lactose intollerance...)

take care! Nicole

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