Speech Therapy and Verbal Behavior

July 25, 2002

Hi...we've been doing a VB program with our senior citizen

daughter (13.6 :-) for a year and a half or so. And never believe anyone who

tells you it won't work with an older child! But as we are trying to take

advantage of in home " regular " therapy hours also - she is getting OT, PT and

Speech at home several times a week. The OT and the PT are very openminded

and interested in input about her VB program. However (I'm sure you know

where I'm going with this) our SLP is not particularly interested in helping

with the program and being part of a team effort. She is trying, and she is

very capable and has gotten some good results with our child. (We also don't

have much choice in alternate therapists who will come to the house on

medicaid fee).

I discovered that if I can learn to speak Speech Therapese she is

much more likely to be interested. For example, she is more than happy to

work on " phonemes " but her eyes glaze over if I mention " echoics " or " tacts " .

So my question is this - I am admittedly not up to snuff on traditional

speech therapy. Is there any type of book you all could recommend...something

along the lines of " Speech Therapy for Dummies? " I need to catch up quickly

and am not sure where to start. I don't want to learn enough to BE a speech

therapist, just enough to communicate with one and probably to be a pain in

the you know what. My husband and I joke with 's doctors that we know

just enough to be dangerous and to make their lives miserable.

Any websites or suggsted reading would be greatly appreciated. I know

there are some sympathetic SLPs on this list also interested in bridging the

gap between ST and Verbal Behavior. And if they are on another list for

profesionals only would someone be kind enough to forward this letter to that

list. Please??

Sherry M in Florida, mom to the no longer nonverbal

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