Speech Therapy

Speech therapy was an integral part of our son’s life when he was four. ...  His early birth in 1979-(Giving Birth to a Preemie/ Caring for a Preemie- 7/8-2012) was, understandably, the root cause of his language delay. (His brain and body had lost out on much ‘in-class’ growth and development as he developed- outside the womb- in the third trimester. )... 

By the age of 3½, our son’s weak vocabulary and sequencing skills began to manifest concern with his nursery school teachers.   His overactive participation in life, however, was a far more accurate gauge of his development- for me.   Though his language delay was worth noting, and acted upon, he had survived his  ‘zero chance of survival’ birth. Arriving to this place- 4 years later, without serious complicated  health issues-had been his greatest ‘developmental’ achievement!   Speech therapy was a piece of cake!  ...  (Putting things in perspective makes sense-at any stage of life!)   

Our son’s enrollment in a socially driven, language rich environment-(nursery school)- would provide the extra stimulation, from which his brain and all the five senses resulting from it, would benefit....It was at the end of his first year in nursery school, attending two mornings a week, that speech therapy was strongly recommended by his teachers at his place of 'work and play'. ...    

Speech therapy was begun, once hearing tests ruled out any possible hearing loss. ...  Our son and I met with the therapist, monthly, for his language review.  The meeting would help determine the following month’s plan of action for language for him and me.  We were a team. (Active parental participation is crucial to the success of any child centered speech therapy program.)

The therapist is a trained professional whose job is to guide, assess and make recommendations for treatment. ...  She is not a magician, however. The magic comes from the due diligence that arises from working with your child on a daily basis, in every way, in meeting the language targets as set out by the therapist.    In our case, language therapy began as soon as our son woke up in the morning and began interacting with his younger brothers, the ‘junior’ therapists in his custom designed language program. ... (Life and Times of a Preemie- 8/2012)

Our son’s daily life did not change. What changed was my duty to him:  the writing down - as much as was physically possible to do - what our son spoke during his busy day in his interactions with others.  This monthly record of daily snippets of conversation would provide a clearer picture of our son’s emerging language for the therapist to be able to see and assess accurately, then advise the best possible course of action to follow. ...  A pattern would emerge. ...  The entries I recorded helped provide insights into the world of words he was speaking, how he was using them and the frequency of the ‘words’ being spoken. Recording these ‘words of conversation’, some of which were difficult to discern at times, was a challenge for me. Our son would speak quickly, in rapid fire fashion. Was I hearing accurately what he was saying?  Impartiality was not always easy as our son spoke with excitement, purpose and speed. ...  All  bits of paper, upon which his spoken words had been written,  were then gathered in chronological order and typed  in an easy to read chart format for both the therapist and me.  ... Nothing was left to chance. ... Nearly every random word or phrase spoken by our son was included in my notes, visual evidence of his developing intellect, his brain 'speaking' to him.  (The computer was not an option back then. Copies of my notes and charts were made using carbon paper the day before any appointment) ...

Though language modelling was always a daily priority, so was my daily writing ritual of our son's numerous spoken language interactions with both people and animals!. ... When our son graduated from the program- one year later- a sigh of relief was heard. ...  Kindergarten loomed on the horizon. He was ready. All of us had done our job!