Re: Post for on initiating speech

[Guest guest]

Hi ! Warning to others -- Long post about how I got speech started with my

son.

My son did not start talking until a year and a half ago -- just after he turned

5. I also don't do drills with him. He doesn't want me to and, like you, I just

want our time together to be fun and for him to feel like he doesn't always have

to work on things 24/7.

The way his speech started was by accident. He made babbling sounds a lot but

had no words. One day he was jumping on my bed and making one of his favourite

babbling sounds (EI, EI) over and over. I started saying EI, EI and he smiled

and laughed. He thought it was funny. I'd say it and he'd say it. We took turns.

Then a day later, I initiated the sound game. I started saying EI, EI and he

starting saying it too -- so now I was getting him to repeat a sound. We both

thought it was great/funny. Then a light went on in my head. I knew he loved the

song " Old Mac " and EI, EI is part of the song. So I sang the song to him

and I did the first EI and waited with a big look of anticipation on my face and

my mouth shaped to do the E sound without actually doing it. He said EI and then

paused and said O! I laughed and clapped and cheered so much anyone looking

would have thought I had lost my mind. He had a very pleased look on his face.

We starting doing the Old Mac song a lot and he would fill in the EI and

O. We did it for family members, for therapists, for anyone who would listen.

Everyone would be so exited and clap and cheer. He soaked it all in. Loved

performing. Then a week later I tried " And on that farm he had a cow...with a

Moo Moo here and a " and then I waited. He said " Moo " . I was over the moon happy!

It was fun for both of us and he started to get it -- started to make the

connection that he could make a certain sound and it would mean something and

people would respond with lots of attention. I hired a speech therapist and she

comes in once a week for an hour. He has lots of words now -- single words --

and has one sentence. He will say " I want XXX " if I prompt him (e.g. he will

come up to me and say " banana " and I will say " I " and wait. He'll say " I want

banana.) He won't do it on his own. He will always say " banana " or whatever it

is he wants first and will only do the sentence if I respond to his one word

command with an " I " prompt. And while he will try to repeat any word you say to

him, if you ask him to try, he does have some pronunciation issues -- although

they are improving every day.

I don't know if all this will help. I just want you to know that lots of kids

start talking at 4 or later. It can happen!

Quick sidenote -- earlier this week we had to take him for a follow-up visit

with an immunologist in another city. While we were in the blood lab taking way

too many vials -- and he was crying -- I said " Do you want to go to Macs

after? " and he said " Yes " . About a half hour later we were on the highway and

stopped at Macs (a big treat for him, we rarely go) and when I got back in

the car and passed him some french fries he said " Happy " ! He has never said

that word before and I didn't even know if he knew what it meant. But when he

said it I knew that he knew for sure. He was smiling from ear to ear.

Good luck!

Rhoda

BTW, there is an excellent book on helping to promote speech called " More Than

Words " . It is available from the Hanen Centre in Toronto. Their website address

is www.hanen.org. Look under Resources. For parents of verbal children, they

also have a new book out called " TalkAbility " , a guide for parents that covers

people skills for verbal children on the spectrum -- turn taking when you are

talking to others, tuning in to what people are saying without words in a

conversation (i.e. picking up on cues from others), understanding how people

feel and responding appropriately, and learning how to play with other children

and make friends.

Re: Using a spoon - how to

> encourage independence?

> >

> > our son is nonverbal and just turned 4 years old.

> >

> > Anybody have a similar story with pointers or

> >

> > suggestions of things that have helped their child

> >

> > develop speech?

> >

> > Thanks-

> >

> > --- tera <tera999 (DOT) com> wrote:

> >

> > > ,

> >

> > >

> >

> > > In some ways, your son sounds very much like

> mine.

> >

> > > My son has an amazing sense of direction (on his

> way

> >

> > > to school every morning he will tell my husband

> when

> >

> > > to turn, where to turn, he can find the park,

> his

> >

> > > school, the store, etc...). My son is also

> >

> > > seriously language delayed (he'll be 4 in

> September)

> >

> > > but improving all the time. At your son's age,

> he

> >

> > > had fewer words and no learned phrases. He was

> in

> >

> > > Early Intervention for about a year with really

> no

> >

> > > progress. We hired a private speech therapist

> last

> >

> > > June who comes to our house. In June, he had

> less

> >

> > > than 50 words. In August he finally " got " that

> >

> > > things had names and that you could get what you

> >

> > > want by speaking and then his vocabulary really

> >

> > > started to expand. He start in a special needs

> >

> > > classroom for autism in our local school

> district in

> >

> > > September (on his 3rd birthday) and his language

> >

> > > skills have continued to grow. He's at the point

> >

> > > now where has a very large vocabularly (probably

> >

> > > 1000+ words) but he's still

> >

> > > difficult to understand. He gets 90 minutes a

> week

> >

> > > of speech therapy throught he school district

> and an

> >

> > > hour at home with our private therapist. They

> are

> >

> > > currently working primarily on making him more

> >

> > > understandable. He still can't hold a

> conversation

> >

> > > but we are seeing continuous improvement. If you

> >

> > > aren't getting specific one on one speech

> therapy,

> >

> > > I'd highly recommend you do so.

> >

> > >

> >

> > > My son has never had an issue with feeding

> himself.

> >

> > > We had the opposite problem, he's very defensive

> >

> > > about his face and mouth so he didn't start

> eating

> >

> > > solid foods until he could feed himself. I would

> >

> > > think that since your son has shown that he can

> feed

> >

> > > himself if he's hungry enough, I would think you

> >

> > > should stop jumping in to help him or at least

> >

> > > waiting a bit before you jump in. You'll have to

> >

> > > figure out what your tolerance for it is, buy I

> know

> >

> > > that I tend to be too quick to help my son do

> >

> > > something and it doesn't help him or encourage

> him

> >

> > > to do things on his own when he knows I'll just

> step

> >

> > > in and do it. I have found that I have to back

> off

> >

> > > and let him fuss a bit sometimes to encourage

> him to

> >

> > > do things for himself.

> >

> > >

> >

> > > We've battled with my son too over the dressing

> and

> >

> > > undressing thing. A year ago he had never

> dressed

> >

> > > or undressed himself. One night I was in the

> bath

> >

> > > tub and he wanted to get into the tub with me. I

> >

> > > told him he could if he would undress himself

> and he

> >

> > > did. Even now, if he wants something (like to

> get

> >

> > > in the bath) he will undress himself. But if I

> want

> >

> > > him undressed (as in, if it isn't his idea) I

> have

> >

> > > to chase him down, pin him down and undress him.

> >

> > > He's prefectly capable of it, he just has ZERO

> >

> > > interest in it unless it is his idea. As far as

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________________

Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join 's user panel

and lay it on us. http://surveylink./gmrs/_panel_invite.asp?a=7

[Guest guest]

Rhoda,

That was a wonderful post.... Thanks. I'm printing it out to pass along to

a friend.

Caroline

[Guest guest]

Rhonda

Thanks for all the detail-and what I would have liked to have written if I

had more time-The book you mentioned is a great reference for parents. Start

where the child is at, with what they are attending to and enjoying and

build imitation with it...

ann

On 6/11/07, Rhoda Boyd <rboyd@...> wrote:

>

> Hi ! Warning to others -- Long post about how I got speech started

> with my son.

>

> My son did not start talking until a year and a half ago -- just after he

> turned 5. I also don't do drills with him. He doesn't want me to and, like

> you, I just want our time together to be fun and for him to feel like he

> doesn't always have to work on things 24/7.

>

> The way his speech started was by accident. He made babbling sounds a lot

> but had no words. One day he was jumping on my bed and making one of his

> favourite babbling sounds (EI, EI) over and over. I started saying EI, EI

> and he smiled and laughed. He thought it was funny. I'd say it and he'd say

> it. We took turns.

>

> Then a day later, I initiated the sound game. I started saying EI, EI and

> he starting saying it too -- so now I was getting him to repeat a sound. We

> both thought it was great/funny. Then a light went on in my head. I knew he

> loved the song " Old Mac " and EI, EI is part of the song. So I sang the

> song to him and I did the first EI and waited with a big look of

> anticipation on my face and my mouth shaped to do the E sound without

> actually doing it. He said EI and then paused and said O! I laughed and

> clapped and cheered so much anyone looking would have thought I had lost my

> mind. He had a very pleased look on his face. We starting doing the Old

> Mac song a lot and he would fill in the EI and O. We did it for family

> members, for therapists, for anyone who would listen. Everyone would be so

> exited and clap and cheer. He soaked it all in. Loved performing. Then a

> week later I tried " And on that farm he had a cow...with a Moo Moo here and

> a " and then I waited. He said " Moo " . I was over the moon happy! It was fun

> for both of us and he started to get it -- started to make the connection

> that he could make a certain sound and it would mean something and people

> would respond with lots of attention. I hired a speech therapist and she

> comes in once a week for an hour. He has lots of words now -- single words

> -- and has one sentence. He will say " I want XXX " if I prompt him (e.g. he

> will come up to me and say " banana " and I will say " I " and wait. He'll say

> " I want banana.) He won't do it on his own. He will always say " banana " or

> whatever it is he wants first and will only do the sentence if I respond to

> his one word command with an " I " prompt. And while he will try to repeat any

> word you say to him, if you ask him to try, he does have some pronunciation

> issues -- although they are improving every day.

>

> I don't know if all this will help. I just want you to know that lots of

> kids start talking at 4 or later. It can happen!

>

> Quick sidenote -- earlier this week we had to take him for a follow-up

> visit with an immunologist in another city. While we were in the blood lab

> taking way too many vials -- and he was crying -- I said " Do you want to go

> to Macs after? " and he said " Yes " . About a half hour later we were on

> the highway and stopped at Macs (a big treat for him, we rarely go)

> and when I got back in the car and passed him some french fries he said

> " Happy " ! He has never said that word before and I didn't even know if he

> knew what it meant. But when he said it I knew that he knew for sure. He was

> smiling from ear to ear.

>

> Good luck!

>

> Rhoda

>

> BTW, there is an excellent book on helping to promote speech called " More

> Than Words " . It is available from the Hanen Centre in Toronto. Their website

> address is www.hanen.org. Look under Resources. For parents of verbal

> children, they also have a new book out called " TalkAbility " , a guide for

> parents that covers people skills for verbal children on the spectrum --

> turn taking when you are talking to others, tuning in to what people are

> saying without words in a conversation (i.e. picking up on cues from

> others), understanding how people feel and responding appropriately, and

> learning how to play with other children and make friends.

>

> Re: Using a spoon - how to

> > encourage independence?

> > >

> > > our son is nonverbal and just turned 4 years old.

> > >

> > > Anybody have a similar story with pointers or

> > >

> > > suggestions of things that have helped their child

> > >

> > > develop speech?

> > >

> > > Thanks-

> > >

> > > --- tera <tera999 (DOT) com> wrote:

> > >

> > > > ,

> > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > > In some ways, your son sounds very much like

> > mine.

> > >

> > > > My son has an amazing sense of direction (on his

> > way

> > >

> > > > to school every morning he will tell my husband

> > when

> > >

> > > > to turn, where to turn, he can find the park,

> > his

> > >

> > > > school, the store, etc...). My son is also

> > >

> > > > seriously language delayed (he'll be 4 in

> > September)

> > >

> > > > but improving all the time. At your son's age,

> > he

> > >

> > > > had fewer words and no learned phrases. He was

> > in

> > >

> > > > Early Intervention for about a year with really

> > no

> > >

> > > > progress. We hired a private speech therapist

> > last

> > >

> > > > June who comes to our house. In June, he had

> > less

> > >

> > > > than 50 words. In August he finally " got " that

> > >

> > > > things had names and that you could get what you

> > >

> > > > want by speaking and then his vocabulary really

> > >

> > > > started to expand. He start in a special needs

> > >

> > > > classroom for autism in our local school

> > district in

> > >

> > > > September (on his 3rd birthday) and his language

> > >

> > > > skills have continued to grow. He's at the point

> > >

> > > > now where has a very large vocabularly (probably

> > >

> > > > 1000+ words) but he's still

> > >

> > > > difficult to understand. He gets 90 minutes a

> > week

> > >

> > > > of speech therapy throught he school district

> > and an

> > >

> > > > hour at home with our private therapist. They

> > are

> > >

> > > > currently working primarily on making him more

> > >

> > > > understandable. He still can't hold a

> > conversation

> > >

> > > > but we are seeing continuous improvement. If you

> > >

> > > > aren't getting specific one on one speech

> > therapy,

> > >

> > > > I'd highly recommend you do so.

> > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > > My son has never had an issue with feeding

> > himself.

> > >

> > > > We had the opposite problem, he's very defensive

> > >

> > > > about his face and mouth so he didn't start

> > eating

> > >

> > > > solid foods until he could feed himself. I would

> > >

> > > > think that since your son has shown that he can

> > feed

> > >

> > > > himself if he's hungry enough, I would think you

> > >

> > > > should stop jumping in to help him or at least

> > >

> > > > waiting a bit before you jump in. You'll have to

> > >

> > > > figure out what your tolerance for it is, buy I

> > know

> > >

> > > > that I tend to be too quick to help my son do

> > >

> > > > something and it doesn't help him or encourage

> > him

> > >

> > > > to do things on his own when he knows I'll just

> > step

> > >

> > > > in and do it. I have found that I have to back

> > off

> > >

> > > > and let him fuss a bit sometimes to encourage

> > him to

> > >

> > > > do things for himself.

> > >

> > > >

> > >

> > > > We've battled with my son too over the dressing

> > and

> > >

> > > > undressing thing. A year ago he had never

> > dressed

> > >

> > > > or undressed himself. One night I was in the

> > bath

> > >

> > > > tub and he wanted to get into the tub with me. I

> > >

> > > > told him he could if he would undress himself

> > and he

> > >

> > > > did. Even now, if he wants something (like to

> > get

> > >

> > > > in the bath) he will undress himself. But if I

> > want

> > >

> > > > him undressed (as in, if it isn't his idea) I

> > have

> > >

> > > > to chase him down, pin him down and undress him.

> > >

> > > > He's prefectly capable of it, he just has ZERO

> > >

> > > > interest in it unless it is his idea. As far as

> >

> === message truncated ===

>

> __________________________________________________________

> Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join 's user

> panel and lay it on us.

> http://surveylink./gmrs/_panel_invite.asp?a=7

>

>