Speech Update

Patrick is talking more!!

Let me start by saying that Patrick started taking speech therapies from the county's Infant and Toddler Connection when he was 2 years old. After a little less than a year of ST, Patrick started preschool (which ended his right to receive speech therapy from ITC) and we were told that he didn't qualify for ST at preschool (later we learned that this was based rather on the lack of school funds) and while he definitely had a delay, they told us that his speech would improve just by attending the school everyday, as this was language-based.

We gave it a try for a year. They were right in the fact that Patrick's speech improved, but the progress felt somewhat slow, specially when he had play dates and I would get so amazed about the extensive vocabulary, clarity and conversation abilities other kids his age had. So we decided to give private speech therapies a try. I'm part of a facebook community group in my area, and weeks ago there was this discussion about speech therapies. One person said these were a waste of time, because the very simple exercises were things you could just get by reading a book about it or even finding tips on the internet. This person either had a really bad experience with therapist, or simply didn't know what she was talking about. You see, I'm committed to help Patrick with his speech (and other) issues, and I try to educate myself on these things, but unless I spend a few years really investing a good amount of time learning about all the speech AND language issues (there are many!) and the various techniques specific to help each problem, I won't know as much as someone who actually did invest all the time focusing on learning these things, whether that person was self-taught or at school. The advices I get from online and books help, but slowly, while the improvement we have seen since he started taking private speech therapies has been ridiculously fast.

So the only thing I regret about private speech therapies, is not having done it earlier. It has been wonderful! After some research trying to find a practice that accepted our insurance (therapies are quite expensive!) and that wasn't too far from our house, we found Exceptional Children's Center in Springfield, VA. Coincidently, on that same facebook threat, I was happy to read that some of them said Exceptional Children's Center was great and had helped their children significantly. By then Patrick had been there just a couple of weeks and we both had learned a lot. I absolutely love this place... And Patrick does too! Why do we love it? This is why:

After me inquiring over the phone about their services, a Speech Pathologist called me back to learn about my concerns in regards to Patrick's speech, which was a very informative conversation. The very next day I received in the mail a package with a brochure and other information. We were off to a good start. Patrick had an appointment for an evaluation, which lasted over 1 hour. The place was nice and clean, and the staff were nice as well. Days later I received a very extensive report (best medical report ever) with all the findings and suggesting Patrick to take 30-minutes, twice a week therapies. It also included short-term and long-term goals. Patrick has been taking therapies for 6 weeks now and we couldn't been happier. We call the therapies "fun class" and he gets excited when I say we have to go to "fun class." He sees two different therapists and they are both great, they have given me so many advices.

One therapist seems to be focusing on the way Patrick pronounces words. For instance, we are working now on the sound of the letters P and M. Instead of closing his lips to make the sound, Patrick sticks out his teeth over his lower lip making a somewhat similar but not the sound of the letter M or P. By her suggestion, we are practicing in front of the mirror so he can look at the way he moves his lips. We also practice many words with the letter M, specially sounds that are fun, like Mmmmm yummy! For 25 minutes, the therapist works on these specific sounds while playing board games, puzzles, matching, and various toys that can be related to what he is learning. Then the last 5 minutes she comes to the waiting room to talk to me about what they worked on, and what we should be focusing on for the rest of the week. In the next video, you may notice how sometimes he puts his lower lip inwards when trying to say the letter M or B or P. To be honest, I hadn't realized this was something that needed to be addressed until the therapist suggested it!

The other therapist is focusing on getting him to get longer sentences. When Patrick wanted an apple, he used to point at the apple and say either "more" or "apple" and occasionally he would say "more apple." He would use the word "more" even if it was the first time he was requesting something. So the therapist suggested to teach him "want" instead. "Want" is a bit more universal as he could use it in many situations that didn't necessarily involved wanting "more" of something. After one week of doing repeatedly "want _______" (surprising how  many times a day toddlers use the word "want"!) the therapist suggested we added "I" to the phrase. "I want apple," "I want cars," "I want eat." This worked really well, that after a couple days we decided to add another familiar word: "Please." "I want apple please". We give him the cue "I" and he immediately does the whole 4-word sentence. Sometimes, I don't even have to say "I", I just have to put my hand over my chest, or mimic with my mouth the word "I", and he says the whole thing.

Sign language has been helpful, too. I believed that sign language was helpful for when he couldn't talk, but since he started saying many words I forgot all about them -until the therapist reminded me that they can be very helpful still. He knows about 6-8 sign words, but instead of making him use them, I use them to give him the cue to say the word. So when he forgets to say "please" at the end of the sentence, I just have to do the sign language and he says it out loud. Aren't these ideas so simple, yet so great?

For him being able to say "I want cars please" is a huuuuuuge improvement. Repeating often a 4-word sentence, even if it's the same, it helps him to get his mouth and brain get used to put words together. Now he comes and asks me "whaa ya doin mommy?" all the time, even if I answered to him three times already that I'm cooking or whatever, or even if it's obvious what I'm doing. I think he just loves knowing that he can make a request and get an answer, so he keeps repeating his new "long" phrases all the time. Robbie, cars coming! Daddy come here! Mommy look here! Patrick found it! And speaking of "Patrick found it" are you familiar with the way Elmo from Sesame Street talks? Well, Patrick also likes to talk in third person when speaking of himself. It was very cute/funny for awhile but now we are trying to get him to be familiar with me, you, I, we... so in the video below, you will see both the use of the 4-word sentence we have been practicing, and how he says "Patrick found it" towards the end.

I wanted to point out that I didn't receive any compensation from Exceptional Children's Center for writing this post, to be honest, I'm pretty sure they don't even know about this blog, let alone that I'm writing about them!

I will write another post about speech in a couple of months to see where we are by then!