Re: Does anyone want to add input?/Please help

December 23, 2008

I'm confused.Â DoesÂ the question " is apraxia related to Asperger's " mean

asperger's in the child or the parent?Â Does her grandson have Asperger's?

From: kiddietalk <kiddietalk@...>

Subject: [ ] Does anyone want to add input?/Please help

Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 3:07 PM

Hi everyone!

is the one that originally asked for the input.

I have just made a member of this group.Â She is a grandparent

who is in court right now trying to help her grandson.Â She was

referred to us by the National Institute on Deafness andÂ

Other Communication Disorders.Â They gave her other places to

contact as well (she mentions who) but so far she reports that we are

the only group that has responded to her.Â She states that she is not

that computer literate but needs to help her grandson.

I don't know exactly what symptoms of apraxia he has yet either as I

posted the first message from here (which were the questions

for input)Â I sent our new member archive message which has my

email to one of the parents here.Â She is looking for a specific

letter that explains what he needs for early intervention.Â

I know we are all busy with the holidays (I have to run out again

right now)Â but if anyone has anything handy as we all have been in

this situation at least once (!) please post it if you have it

handy.Â

Basically this is her question:

" How can I get a copy of that first letter " Hi Mrs. Laurie " , or

something like it to show how much time and committment apraxia

entailsÂ and how intensive theraphy can be?Â Â Â Â

"

And here's another email from as well as my reponse.Â We were

going back and forth offlist for a bit.Â But again now is a

member here too -but her direct email address is below as well.

Re: Apraxia of speech

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

I am not too good at the computer. Right now we are going to court. I

need as much as I can find and print out for court to make sure my

grandson gets early intervention.Â

Do you have some good articles I can print off from the computer? I

have e-mailed actioncenter@... (American Speech-Language-Hearing

Association, helpdesk@... (ChildhoodApraxia of Speech

Association of North America), nichy@... (National Dissemination

Center for Children with Disabilities), and orphan@... (

National Organization for Rare Disorders).

I asked them the questions I asked you and haven't received anything

back yet.

Yes, I think I would like to become a member, especially if I could

get information. I'm just not sure if I'll have time till this is

over or if I have the computer skills?Â Â

Jernigan

-------------- Original message from " CHERAB " <help@...>: -----

---------

ï»¿

Hi ,

Would you like me to make you a member of our online group?Â We have

received a large amount of responses and so far just as I suspected

the only question that had any number of positive responses was for

jaundice.Â Pretty much across the board outside of one person for

Aspirger's and 2 people for failure to thrive all said no to all the

other questions.

So

related to smoking marijuana during pregnancy, - no for everyone

failure to thrive, - no for all but 2

or juandice at birth. -yes in a few cases

Could it be related to losing a pound a week the last 3-4 weeks of

pregnancy? - no for everyone (most said they gained)

Or could it be related to Asperger " s -no to all but one parent

As far as the genetic question -not much research in apraxia. There

is the FoxP2 gene that they found a connection with to apraxia -but

in most cases children with apraxia are born into families with no

known genetic predisposition to apraxia. There does however appear

to be a link between apraxia and conditions like ADHD or dyslexia as

that may run in the family of a child with apraxia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=====

December 24, 2008

Hi ! Merry Christmas and glad to see you are posting to the

group. Thanks for answering the question about your grandson -now we

know he has Asperger Syndrome -who diagnosed him and was that

confirmed in a second opinion? It is possible that children can be

misdiagnosed and in the case of apraxia if a professional isn't

knowledgeable about apraxia -probable. It's my hope that now that

you are a member here you'll be able to find out exactly how to

secure the appropriate diagnosis and therapy for your grandson.

can you tell us a bit about your grandson. How old is he?

How does he communicate now? Does he know any simple sign language

or picture exchange communication if he is still essentially

nonverbal? What toys does he enjoy? Does he have any friends or

other children around his age he plays with? Is he showing any signs

of frustration?

Also if you can let us know what state you are in we can put you in

touch with local support and those members from your state may be

able to suggest therapists/doctors/schools.

Since I'm not yet sure of what you need and it's a busy time of year -

I just grabbed one archive below for now which I hope helps for now.

Do you just need general information about apraxia for the courts?

Did you read The Late Talker book?:

Re: Just looking for new ideas

Hi Firefighterwife!!

You don't really say the severity of your daughter's diagnosis but 1

day a week of therapy (even for an hour) doesn't sound like enough.

Here's a severity intervention matrix for school based SLPs to give

you an idea of what's appropriate depending upon the severity.

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/therapymatrix.html

Who is your child's SLP? Private or school based? I'm guessing

it's a school based SLP because

A. only one day a week of therapy

B. two whole years from 3 to 5 years old and the SLP is just first

suggesting apraxia.

Or am I wrong -is that a private SLP you were talking about?!

But going on the same path that she has an SLP in her

school/preschool program:

What grade is she in and what type of placement? What was her

classification on the IEP up till now? I do hope it's communication

impaired or speech impaired vs some of the other options which may

not provide appropriate placement. Speaking of which what is your

child's placement?

Trust me all of us as parents relate. It's difficult to accept a

diagnosis at any age, but at the same time it can also be a relief to

finally have a name for what is " wrong " In addition the earlier the

better for intervention (which is why they call it early

intervention) at least once you have a name you have a start as to

what strategies are best. With the diagnosis of apraxia for example

the school based SLP is kind of begging you to advocate for more

services because at times their hands are tied and if you are in the

US when it comes to speech impairments the squeaky wheel gets the

grease.

We can only get away with calling our child a " late talker " up to a

certain point and for most of us it's not long after 2 years old. At

some point we need to know 'why' our child isn't speaking or speaking

well so we can seek out the appropriate therapies. As far as who is

here to help even though I don't know you or your child I have a

hunch we'll be able to provide more information than you even know.

There are professionals in this group as well as parents who have

been where you are and who's children are now teens or adults and

doing really well - as well as professionals that are also parents

which is always great because they kind of see both sides.

Has your daughter ever been to a neurodevelopmental medical doctor

for any type of evaluation? If not since apraxia is now suggested

it's highly recommended. Honestly it's not as bad as it sounds and

it's best to know prior to Makayla starting kindergarten if she has

any fine or gross motor skill delays or low tone or sensory issues

that can be addressed by some really fun therapies both through an

occupational therapist as well as with the speech therapist. I'm

also a huge believer in second opinions. (or is she in kindergarten?)

Let us know what state or country you are in and as a group we may be

able to provide suggestions. It's good that you are seeing progress

in your child -but it's hard again to know where she is to know if

it's

So you have some homework outside of therapy homework at home. In my

opinion we need to help you with securing more profesional services

first or as well- but here's a parent guide I wrote for Contemporary

Pediatrics for things to do at home to help (not sure however if some

of this is too young for what your child needs as she is now 5)

http://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/contpeds/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=1363\

15

http://drgreene.mediwire.com/main/Default.aspx?P=Content & ArticleID=132720

And in the same light have you read The Late Talker book? I'm sure

there are some suggestions in that book that could help too. Below

that is a bunch of archives that may help too. Email us back and

provide a few more details of where your child is so we can help more!

Re: SPECIFIC SPEECH AND OT THERAPY

Hi Karyn,

It's a great question -however there really is so much diversity

depending upon the child -that's it's hard to sum up all the

approaches in a multisensory approach without leaving out aspects in

a post here. One here suggested PROMPT -but say you don't have a

PROMPT therapist near you - and your child's therapist has an

amazing touch cue technique -is one approach just a variation of the

other? Would you know? And would this one approach alone be " it " ?

In my opinion -there is no such thing as one therapy or even

therapist alone that is " best " for all children with communication

impairments -it always depends. Some children only have a simple

delay -some have only one aspect to the delay and some have

multifaceted aspects to their disorder of speech and language.

It is obvious to us -the parents -that for whatever reason -our

children with simple delays in speech do " pick up " language from

other children while our children with severe disorders of speech do

not just " pick up " language from other children -or adults - and

these are the children that require appropriate and intensive

therapies in order to succeed -communicate. Personally -I like

the 'buffet style' therapist best for my son Tanner who incorporates

a different technique depending upon what we are working on -and

depending upon Tanner that day.

I do want to encourage everyone to keep sharing -it's great to hear

from everyone here and at other grouplists -also Karyn -check the

archives here and at other groups too if you want for suggestions.

To hear all specific speech and OT therapies however -will take

awhile. As you read more and more however you will discover that a

multisensory approach is best for it appears all with a learning

disability (speech is the number one learning disability)

Here is a link about multisensory for learning disabilities -

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/mssl_methods.html this

same basic principal works for any child with a learning disability

even though the names of the " therapies " may vary.

Here is a link about the Association Method School which is one of

if not the best school for a communication impaired child, and is a

multisensory approach school http://www.dubard.usm.edu/associat.htm

" Multisensory teaching ..includes the use of auditory, visual,

tactile, and

motor-kinesthetic cues for learning "

If you learn the basics of what a multisensory approach is, and know

your child and what learning style works best for him or her - you

can become

creative from there. Some of the more creative things we find to work

like

the " ride therapy " I brought up - which appears to enhance

traditional therapies, are mainly still based off the traditional

therapy ideas of a multisensory approach.

The ride therapy for example is based off the occupational therapist

theory that motion can help to stimulate speech, and is one of the

basis for speech development. We can take these principals -then

adapt these principal to our own unique child. So in the case of

the rides -if I heard that rides may help

stimulate speech and if my child didn't like scary fast rides like

some posted (which Tanner also didn't believe he liked before he

tried them) we let him go on the ones he wanted - the small slower

kiddie rides: his favorite was the 25 cent yellow pony outside of

ShopRite or the space ship outside of PathMark (supermarkets) that

swayed softly around forever (it seemed to me)...but then Tanner

tried the water flume -and no looking back now....

A much easier and much faster way to learn the basics of " what

works " would be to read The Late Talker book that was co authored by

Marilyn Agin MD, Malcolm Nicholl, and myself. There were a huge

amount of parents and professionals interviewed for this book

including those recommended here -Dr. a Tallal (Fast For Word),

Sara Rosenfeld- MS CCC/SLP (oral motor therapy),

Kaufman CCC SLP (Kaufman technique) Dr. Andy Bondy (PECS) Deb Hayden

(PROMPT) etc. and the editors narrowed The Late Talker down to a

step by step easy to understand and read book which among other

aspects covers your question of what therapy works best.

Here are some of the basic aspects covered in this book:

• An explanation of the various speech and language disorders, and

recommendations on when and how to seek the right kind of

professional evaluation.

• An exploration of the appropriate therapies a child should

receive from speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and how to support

their efforts.

• Exercises to do at home with a child.

• Tips for easing the inevitable frustration a late talking child

experiences—as well as advice to parents on coping with their own

frustrations.

• A detailed review of an intriguing nutritional supplement that

has achieved promising results in helping late talking children.

• An explanation of parents' rights and how to navigate the school

system and insurance maze on the child's behalf.

• Stories of other parents who have struggled with a child's speech

development problems.

http://www.speech-express.com/latetalkerrelease.html

Of course -as a co author I may be biased -however as a parent -I

wish I had The

Late Talker

book when Tanner was two and didn't have to learn everything bit by

bit, trial and error, the hard way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: Articulation Therapy

Does Audrey have a diagnosis yet. I have your only other email below

from June of last year that says you were not sure if you should have

her evaluated. Articulation therapy would be great if Audrey has an

articulation delay or disorder. But...saying she's

getting " articulation therapy " can be a different approach from any

two school based SLPs. This is why you do need to know diagnosis

first. Is it just a delay or is it an impairmen?. If it's not

developmental and it's an impairment is it due to motor planning,

weakness, sensory -or is it 'just' an articulation or phonological

disorder..or something else?

If she has apraxia you need to have someone that knows about motor

planning or other appropriate therapies for apraxia because too much

articulation therapy sometimes causes dysfluencies.

Here's a bunch of " articulation therapy " ideas posted to one site

and more below -but get back to us when you can about diagnosis

Articulation Therapy Ideas

The following Articulation Therapy Ideas were posted to the mailing

list GRNDRNDS. Since it is a public mailing list, and does maintain

an archive, the ideas posted are not " copyrighted " and are available

to the public. To make it easier, I have extracted the ideas listed

by these creative clinicians. Perhaps they can adapted by clinicians

and student clinicians working with children with articulation

disorders and looking for therapy ideas.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Jackie

We play a lot of:

tic-tac- toe

putting the cards around a darkened room and then finding them with

flashlight (really a big hit with the preshcool set)

putting paper clips on each card and then pulling them off the table

with a magnet on a fishing pole

simple lotto games

simple board games

coloring target sound pictures

I also do a lot of giving a reinforcer for every two or three correct

responses as we go through the cards:

blocks

Connect Four game

monkeys from " Barrel of Monkeys

I also make a speech book and then staple the games onto the pages so

they can practice at home.

The main thing is to make sure that the playing of the game isn't so

involved that it gets in the way of trials.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From:

Put and Take....

Cut construction paper into small squares, maybe 36...on an even

number of cards write, PUT 1, PUT 2, PUT 3, TAKE 1, TAKE 2, or TAKE

3. (you can color code the words for little ones who can't read) Give

each child 2 stacks of artic cards, one to be called a PUT stack,

another to be called the TAKE stack. Each child will turn over one of

your squares. If the card says PUT 2, child moves 2 cards from the

PUT stack over to the TAKE stack (after saying it correctly of

course). The object of the game is to empty one stack. It sounds more

complicated than it is. I think it's fun, easy to make and the gives

the children opportunity for drill.

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----------

From: Carol

I do some easy craft activities with my little ones-things like

adding leaves to trees, or making it seasonal like pasting eyes, etc.

on a pumpkin. Often I hide the piece that they will paste under one

of two stimulus pictures and they have to choose which one--it puts

the stimulus word in a longer context, ie., " Is it under the___ " .

I also make my own puzzles-basically take a picture with their sound,

cut it into pieces and they put them back together. Then, we can talk

about the " snowman " or the " snowman's face " as they work on the

puzzle.

Other activities I do:

pasting pictures with their sound on seasonal pictures--they have to

ask for the picture they want.

bean bag toss-they name the picture they hit

riddles where the answer contains their target sound

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Christiane

I pick anywhere from 4 - 10 target words for a half hour session,

draw pictures on a piece of paper, then drill the words with mirror

and all the little tricks (I also have a puppet with lips, teeth and

tongue, and have kids manipulate articulators on the puppet I got the

puppet - it remotely resembles a frog - at a rummage sale - it was

one of those with a big mouth like the muppet puppets, but it's not

Kermit. It had soft fabric around the mouth - voila lips. And then I

just sewed in a tongue and teeth out of felt. The teeth I

strengthened with Elmers glue - soaked the fabric and let it dry.) -

often combined with gross motor kind of movements, such as stamping

on the picture every time the kid says the word - in imitation or

spontaneous use. Then I move on to providing a frame for the word

(either sentence of phrase), with the kid filling in the word like in

a cloze test, e.g., it was time for bear to take his _____. Then we

use the words to draw, write and retell a story, with the child

participating depending on the linguistic level practiced. Variations

include using a story that I already have and having the child draw

and retell the story. Kids get to take their stories home and share

them with their family.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Sherry

I have a puppet called the " Speech Pillow " which I received as a

gift. It is a big round face made of fabric. It has removable lips

(they velcro on), teeth (not removable) & a big tongue which you or

your clients can put your hand in so you can manipulate the tongue.

It was a gift so I'm not sure exactly sure how much it was (maybe

around $30??)- Renfro Studios in Austin, Texas- 1-800-933-5512

to order- again, it's called the " Speech Pillow " . It's a great

puppet!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From -Trish

I absolutely LOVE " Listening for Articulation All Year Round " by

Linguisystems. 1-800-PRO IDEA.

It's a great program for seasonal activities and it has games that

you can make by photocopying the masters from the manual. GREAT

STUFF!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From

Get your hands on " Achieve for Phonology " by linguisystems. This has

lots of hands on activities for little ones and work sheets to use as

you drill with other students. I use crazy crayons and markers and

bright pens to spice up worksheets and this does busy the little ones

as you drill others. And as they sit they get the auditory

bombardment of the others responses.

I also use beanbags to toss on cards...and chips to place under

cards...and they LOVE money too. Soooooo many ideas I can't put them

all here. Write with any more questions at my address.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Jigna

Put cards in a bag. Have client close eyes, pick a card, and name it.

Bowling: clip cards on clothespins and line up (like bowling pins).

Have client roll ball and name the card he/she knocks down.

Hopping: place cards face down on floor (or under shaped cut-out

construction paper). Have client name the card he/she hops next to.

Mail cards: use a toy mail box and have client name each card as

he/she mails it.

Games: use any sporty games (e.g., basketball, football, baseball).

After each turn, have client pick a card and name it. If named

correctly, gets another turn.

Create a road with cards placed at various places on the board.

Client names the card he/she stops by.

For minimal contrasts:

memory

ask questions (e.g., if working on final consonant deletion): make a

stack of cards with final consonants and a stack without final

consonants. Pick a card from each stack and make up a question. For

example, " Can a moose go moo? "

present a minimal contrast pair and describe one from the pair. Have

client identify and pronounce the correct word. If correct, client

gets both cards.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Ursula

I make a spinner with the different parts the kids must collect to

create something (i.e., " r " rabbit, I have the ears, nose, whiskers,

etc.,.) and the children can spin and practice artic at the same time

(ex. " I need the rabbit's whiskers " ) Not only is it fun for artic but

you can also modify it for language, pragmatics or whatever!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Robin

I am one of those clinicians who has little fondness for games. I

prefer cooperative/interactive play, reading, writing and conversing.

As such early on in my career II used a homemade puppet...not as

sophisticated as your adapted one...to teach articulation. Now I just

do anything the child enjoys and interject the articulation therapy

as part of the activity. Sometimes with particularly challenged

children I will use a game as a distractor. At this point in my

career however, pretty much all I need is speech communication to

find the way to work on articulation. It may be just my way of saving

myself from something I never enjoyed even as a child,

namely " games " . I'd rather put on a play or paint or picture or read

a book to/with a child. Just how I am.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Celeste

I use a literature based therapy approach with almost all of my

students. For artic, I choose a book I like and think the students

will enjoy. I go through the book and make a list of all the words

containing the target sounds. I then make cards for these words. We

read and talk about the story. For older students, as we read each

page I let them find the words that have their sound. We use the

vocabulary cards to play games, (Memory, Go Fish, a board game, or

any activity you can think of). You can also ask questions about the

story and have the students respond with their target words. As you

can see, not only do you get lots of artic practice, but you can

target language and literacy as well. It helps link therapy with

classroom activities because it helps with word recognition and

reading skills. The students also like to take turns

playing " teacher " and " reading " the book to the group. I let them sit

in my chair and use my pointer as they read. Even though they may not

yet be able to read, they can retell the story in their own words.

I have found that using this approach to therapy rather than drill

increases carry-over. The students are practicing their speech in

more meaningful contexts. There is a book I love that I can't

remember the name of right now and it is at school. I think it is

Articu-lit. I know you can get it from Super Duper. It follows this

approach. Someone beat me to writing it!! Anyway, it has target words

for most of the sounds from about 25 popular children's books. It

also has blank vocabulary cards, and a game board to copy that goes

with each story. It also lists other activities as well as some

language activities for your language students. It's a great resource

to get you started.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From

I use computer programs as the basis for artic therapy (once the

child can correctly produce the target sound in a word.) For older

artic students who can read, I use programs with simple repetitive

vocabulary (e.g, Oregon Trail from Learning Company, Carmen San Diego

USA by Broderbund, or Supermunchers from Learning Company) and have

them work on correct pronunciation for words with the sounds they are

working on. For non-readers, I can use Carmen Sandiego ,Jr. Detective

(by Broderbund) which requires no reading and I let the student name

the pictures with their sounds. Most kids love playing the

educational computer games. They are learning new vocabulary and new

facts as well as getting artic " drill " .

Another method I sometimes employ with readers is to have a child

make a computer picture with graphics containing his sound. Then we

write a colorful story together using these words. I usually use

Blocks in Motion with the Land, Sea, and Space module (Don ston),

but Kid Pix, KidWorks 2 or any other graphics programs should work.

The child has lots of opportunities to read back the story and share

it at home with family and with teachers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From

I love my little mailbox. I also use various containers that " eat "

chips. I have a frog with a slot on his head. A garbage can that open

with a mini footpeddal, etc...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

From Katy

From my perspective, there are two factors that have not been

directly addressed.

1. Regardless of the activity, articulation tx is much like physical

tx in that the specific motor behavior becomes automated only with

numerous trials. In other words, the number of attempts at production

must be substantial to change a motor behavior in a reasonable length

of time. I try not to have less that 50 responses in a 20 minute

session.

2. Because we do not spend much time talking in individual words, I

try to spend very little time at that level. Many of the activities

presented in response to this question stressed the production of

single words. I think we need activities which require sequenced

production. The sequences must ultimately be produced at a " normal "

rate of speed if the child is to use the target in spontaneous

communication. In other word, time spent on the phrase " my soup " (/s/

as target) should require /maisup/ rather than the separation of the

two words.

In my opinion, there is a great possibility that games will reduce

the efficacy of therapy by preventing the above emphasis. I simply

use tokens. I hold the number of tokens that I feel represents the

appropriate number of responses for the session. The tokens are

placed in a container following each response. When the tokens are

all in the container, the child gets a few minutes to " play " , pick

out a sticker, etc. If I find that I have selected more tokens than

are reasonable for that session I slip some into the container when

the child is not looking. In that way, the child always " finishes "

that which I have required. I have found that children soon learn

that the faster they go, the quicker they get to play. They never

figure out that I begin with more tokens as they get better.

Furthermore, because the " drill " has the potential to be boring even

though it is the most efficient way to change articulatory behavior,

the child is quite cooperative because he/she can " see " the contract

(tokens) at the beginning. In that way, the child senses some control

(getting rid of tokens quickly) and knows that I, as the adult, can't

make them engage in the drill indefinitely.

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster2/therapy/articrx.html

Here's more on what you should be seeing between 2 and 3 and what is

cause for concern

Typically seen in first 18-24 months

· Uses mostly words to communicate · Begins to use two word

combinations (more cookie etc) · By 24 months has more than 50 words,

or word approximations

Cause for concern in first 18-24 months

· Relies on gestures to communicate · Limited vocabulary (speaks less

than 50 words)

· Does not use any two word combinations · Limited consonant

production · Mostly unintelligible speech · Regresses in language

development: Stops talking, repeats phrases inappropriately

Typically seen in first 24-36 months

· Engages in short dialogues · Expresses emotions · Begins using

language in imaginative ways · Begins providing descriptive details

when speaking · Begins to use articles and word endings (a, the,

ing,) uses plurals (cats)

Cause for concern in first 24-36 months

· Words limited to single syllable and no final consonants · Few or

no multiword utterances · Does not demand a response from a listener

· Asks no questions · Speech difficult to understand · Tantrums when

frustrated · Echoing of speech without communicative intent

http://www.cherab.org/information/latetalkerhandout.html

Let us know if you have a diagnosis -and for those that don't know

who you are again I've included your original message below:

New Member

Hello All,

I have a 17 month old daughter who has no real words as of yet. Her

pediatrician told me that if she wasn't saying 7 words by her 18 month

appointment that she would give me a referral for Early Intervention.

I'm

familiar with the whole process as my 5 year old began physical

therapy with EI

at 5 months of age for gross motor skill delays and sensory issues.

I'm on the

fence as to whether or not I should have my DD evaluated. One one

hand I think

she just needs a little more time, but I'm afraid that waiting to

give her help

might not be the best route to take? Is speech delay better addressed

as soon

as possible? My biggest concerns are that she says no real words

consistantly.

Every one in a great while she will say a new word but it's gone the

next day,

never to be said again. For 3 days she was calling DH, " daddo " but

then she

never used that word again. She said " mama " a long time ago, but only

once.

She does have a couple of made up words that she uses

daily, " bah gah " means all gone, " caca " is something yucky. That's

about it.

She understands everything that we say to her and will follow simple

directions.

She babbles like she is carrying on conversation but it's all just

different

variants of noises. Should I be concerned?

Marie (3.19.02)

Audrey (12.30.05)

Molly Anne (5.13.07)

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Re: Therapy Options

Hi Suzi!

Since our two are both around the same age in Kindergarten -and

around the same skill level and receiving about the same amount of

therapy -I want to share a suggestion of what to add that I'm

finding to be a really good thing for Tanner.

Since Tanner has spent so much of his early childhood in therapy

either

at home with me or in the office of an SLP or OT in a hospital or

school -I'm trying adding some fun multisensory

(therapy?) activities now that Tanner is 6 and a half years old. I

am finding multisensory activities are extremely successful for not

only motor planning. Multisensory activities appear to not only

stimulate speech -they appear to be important for social and

emotionatl aspects as well.

I'm trying my own version of " laugh therapy " Being that Tanner

spent so many years with hardly any facial expression or smiles -I

just believe that laughter is very important for him...and good for

all of us. As I've posted we spend some of our free time now at

Disney going on rides and seeing shows. Tanner still doesn't smile

and laugh as much as other kids -but he appears to enjoy when I try

to get him too (he gives big hugs instead of smiles most times when

he is happy) I found that multisensory activities are great for more

than just getting Tanner to smile and laugh more.

I first posted about karate and swimming lessons which I still

highly recommend. It as always is still important to find the right

school and (sensitive)instructors. I'm now finding that there are

many other multisensory activities that are great for our kids -so

it's best to be open and explore some with your child. These

activities can at times be incorporated into traditional therapy

sessions. They can enhance traditional therapy even if they are not

done together with traditional therapy in that they can be used as a

topic that highly interests your child in traditional therapy

sessions (important!) -and again they appear to raise the child's

confidence -as well as motor and social skills.

See what your daughter likes to do. Maybe a dance or ice skating

class would be great. Maybe she would like something with

acrobats. I know where I live we are close to Club Med now and

Tanner loves to take the " circus " lessons -trapeze and trampoline.

He also loves roller blading lessons (also Club Med) Tanner's body

actions are still a bit stiff -he doesn't move as smooth as he

should - you can tell he's really concentrating in many of the

activities on his actions. It's probably better to work on all this

now early too rather than waiting till he's older to try to teach

him.

Tanner is really enjoying these fun multi sensory activities -and

they are all in the world of what most " normal " kids would be doing -

so it gives him a way to play with others -or something to excel in

if speech is never one of his best assets.

Tonight we are meeting with Jennie and her daughter Lindsey (also

from Bilker's Talking Page

http://www.debtsmart.com/talk/lindsey.html ) and we can let you know

tomorrow what fun multisensory activities we do to make the kids

laugh..and talk more!

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