So Excited......

We have really been working with Mattie on her communication skills. Most of the time we have to initiate the conversation by asking questions or showing signs. She will usually repeat the sign or point to what she wants. On occasion, she will go to her highchair and shake it when she is hungry. That is about the closest we've been to initiating what she wants. I'm so excited because today she did something new! I was sitting on the couch and she comes into the living room from the dining room. She says to me "Toe Toe"(while she is signing too) and then goes into the kitchen and points to the bread sitting on the counter. She wants TOAST! She just told me what she wanted without me asking her anything. Hooray for small victories!! I can't wait to share with her speech therapist tomorrow!

A Gold Star

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!