One of our current RDI objectives is to work on more engagement with Zip. Now that we’re back home after losing power for four days again because of the heavy wet snowstorm, we’re trying to get back to our brand of normality. The house is mostly clean, the laundry is mostly done and I planned our homeschool assignments for the week.

I’ve really been neglecting our formal RDI objectives and now we’re getting back on track. Our More Engagement objective is to engage very deliberately with Zip 6-10 times per day. I have to structure the situation so that Zip cannot just get up and walk away. I do this mostly by setting up a seating arrangement at a table or on the floor with cushions or a bean bag and a convenient wall.

Today we sat at the table while eating and drinking. It was tough to keep Zip at the table. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be with me and interact with me; instead he wants to keep control of the situation and he uses language and getting up and leaving and coming back to do this. While he was eating a cracker, I took a bite of mine each time after he did. Right away, he wanted my cracker, even though he had several in his hands already. I refused to give him mine and we kept eating. I didn’t feel like he paid that much attention to turn-taking here. Next time, I need to be more in control of holding the food – as it’s written in our objective!

Next, I filled a cup with his juice. We took turns at drinking from the same cup. This way, he definitely noticed the turn-taking. He was not real sure of this activity at first, but did not object, so I considered it very successful.