[tri-med] Re: talking

I agree with what Laurie's saying - we also have a fantastic speech
therapist who has worked with Ellie for a couple of years.  The ST has also
visited us at home on a few occasions to observe Ellie eating since eating
solids is important in the development of the muscles used to promote speech
(so obvious but not til it was pointed out to me!).  

We don't have another child for Ellie to copy however she goes to 2
pre-schools (one is mainstream and one is special needs) and therefore she
has her groups of peers to emulate.  

In fact, just yesterday, I gave a note in to her special needs pre-school
letting them know that all she had done on Sunday was talk, talk, talk!  Not
everything was intelligible (in fact the majority of it wasn't) but the
important points were (a) she was trying to string sentences together and
(b) attempting to engage me in a conversation with her.  It's so
encouraging!  It's yet another stage in her development.

The ST works with the "Signalong" programme which is a sign support system.
It is based on the British Sign Language system but is simpler and is
designed to be used ALONG WITH speaking the word at the same time as signing
it.  (I know there is also Makaton but I don't know anything about it so
can't comment on it at all.)  The beauty of signing is that, to a degree, it
can take care of the frustration of the child trying to make themself
understood and aids two-way communication if the parent / carer can master
some of the basic signs.  

Hope this helps and good luck to you and Julian!

Carolyn
Mum to Ellie, age 4, T18M

-----Original Message-----
From: tri-med-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tri-med-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of TRIER9@xxxxxxx
Sent: 18 December 2007 14:50
To: tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tri-med] Re: talking

Hi Karen,
Just my humble opinion....if Julian is saying some words....keep up the  
great work! 

She took off from there. With a great speech therapist who literally seemed

to pull the words out of her, she was on her way.
 
I also think that like Michelle w/Alex, having a baby brother around helped

tremendously. She wanted to keep up with baby! Maybe borrow a kid every now 
and  then? LOL
 
Today at 18 yrs old, she talks sentences. They are usually 5-10 words long.

Sometimes not all the words are clear, but SHE talks and she can be  
understood!
 
If you have words already....oh my gosh!! He's off to a great start!
 
Hugs,
Laurie
Mom to bri w/trisomy 9p, Brandon, Marissa w/CP and Kayla w/Trisomy  21


**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes 
(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)


                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

Other related posts: