My daughter is starting to approximate words!

March 26, 2011

We've been off and on NV since early February. We ran out of product once,

and were only on 1 scoop a day until we got more on the 16th of this month.

She is 5 years old and was completely nonverbal--no consistent words, no

initiation of words, some individual phonogram sounds, mostly sign language

if she wanted something. On Wednesday, I thought I heard some

approximations, but I wasn't sure. On Thursday, she had a lot of word

approximations, and some clearer. Her list for that day included:

iPad - sounded out by letter--she got all four sounds in, but it took about

20-30 seconds each time

upstairs backwards - she got all 4 vowel sounds

basketball Daddy - When Dad got home from work, she gave me the sign for

outside, then stood by the door and said what sounded like basketball and

Daddy. When I asked if that's what she said, she gave me her happy dance.

thank you - At dinner, she gave the sign for thank you and said the two

words fairly distinctly under her hand.

various flashcard words - I had recently downloaded a flashcard app on her

iPad where you have to rub your finger across the screen to reveal the

picture beneath. When it is revealed, the word appears and a voice says the

word. She was doing that and trying to say the word each time.

We were so excited! Of course, that was the day we say the OT and she was

impressed, so I couldn't wait to get to speech on Friday. Wouldn't you know

it was an off day and my daughter had decided to make almost every syllable

the H sound. LOL But the speech therapist still could hear many more sounds

and much more sound production.

My daughter holds her breath a lot as she tries to speak. Today she is

constantly trying to talk, and in very long sentences. I am encouraging her

to do that so she can work on building up her breathing. I have noticed that

on some words she stutters, but the final sounds are the word she is trying

for. I also notice that some words she speaks in syllables, others she

sounds out by phonogram. That might be because a couple of my boys are still

learning to read and she hears us sounding out words all the time.

It's so nice to hear her thoughts after all this time. Saying she wanted to

play basketball with her dad was a great first!

Buckwalter

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