Before the holidays, Mattie's EI coordinator came for a visit bringing along the speech therapist. Mattie has not had any therapy up to this point. She really has been doing very well with reaching her milestones. She has shown some delays with her gross motor compared to typical children her age. However, taking into consideration her development based on the Down syndrome model, she has actually been progressing nicely without the need for therapy. I am, by all means, not the type of person who stresses out about where and when Mattie will achieve her milestones. I've always had the attitude that she'll reach them when she reaches them. In the meantime, we just encourage her to develop just as we did with our other two children. As far as speech goes, I realize that Mattie is quite behind in comparison to a typical child. I know that speech is an area that develops much later so we were very excited to have a speech therapist evaluate her. After evaluating her, it was determined that she could benefit from therapy once a week. Mattie has officially had three therapy sessions so far. We really love her therapist and it has been quite helpful.
One of the main goals we are working on right now is to get Mattie to make choices between two items. For example, "What do you want? Would you like the apple or the orange? So for our homework, we were to find pictures of toys or people that Mattie is familiar with. I got a GOLD STAR for making flashcards for Mattie. I took pictures of her favorite things, mounted them on construction paper, and laminated them. That way she can handle them and they will last much longer.
Here are some of the cards.
Mattie loves these cards! We are also working on holding up two cards and finding the correct card. For example, we say "Look, Mattie, here is Elmo. Here is baby. Can you touch the baby? Again she is having to make a choice. Of course, we articulate the word as we say it. Before this activity, Mattie would never communicate her wants. I have seen a big difference in a short time. Now when I ask, "What do you want?" She has actually started pointing to the item. We are still working on signs and sounds. However, pointing is a big step for us!
10 comments:
Wow, that is a good idea! Emily is pretty far behind on her speech and things like that, so I am always looking for fun ideas to help her.
Those cards are a neat idea!! Good job on them, BTW!
Great Job Mattie! Sounds like you found a great stepping stone :) Have you ever checked out the Learning Program? It is a free, downloadable, program based on the reading program, See and Learn, developed in the UK. http://www.dsfoc.org/learning_program.htm
I think both you and Mattie might enjoy it! Good luck and I look forward to seeing Mattie grow :)
That is a GREAT idea! I am totally going to make some of those. Maybe it will cut down on the face smacking and he can actually point to what he wants!
Sounds like a great idea. I pray God will continue to guide in each step. :o)
Have a super blessed week!
Beth
sounds like you are doing great. love your cards
The photo cards are a great idea! Kayla uses them and it's really the only way she communicates. Except she gets annoyed when she doesn't see her "cookie" card around meal time (because we hide it so she can only choose healthy food) and goes looking in the all the kitchen drawers for it!
Nice work on the picture cards. Making choices is a good skill and helps you know your child's likes and dislikes more easily. Sounds like she's doing well.
Yeah Mattie! Sounds like you guys have the perfect approach and she's thriving. Keep up the good work.
Those look awesome! I have done similar things with food items. I know how much work it can be. You did a great job on those.
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