Some of you know that Nathan has been receiving speech therapy for a rather severe speech disorder. He entered our states’ Early Intervention program just after he turned 2. At that point he was only saying “oof” and he would use it for EVERYTHING! About this same time, Nathan was recovering from 3 months of daily complex partial (w/secondary generalization, for those of you in the know) seizures, sometimes as many as 10 seizures a day. During those three months Nathan lost the few words he had been using previously. Nathan started going to preschool 2 times a week and also meeting with a speech or play therapist at our home 1 time each week. Progress was, and continues to be, painfully slow. At the time we were happy with his services but felt he just needed MORE. They thought he probably had Apraxia, a rare motor speech disorder with an often poor prognosis. They suggest intense and daily speech therapy for children with Apraxia if possible.
When Nathan aged out of Early Intervention at age 3 the state transitioned him to Special Education preschool at one of the public schools close by. Again, it is 2 afternoons a week and he meets with a speech language pathologist for 15 (did you hear that? FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!) during Monday’s class. We quickly began looking for someone to come to our home and work with Nathan privately. We have been so lucky to find a talented and motivated speech therapist. Libby primarily works at a school for Children with Autism spectrum disorders and therefore has a lot of experience with children with apraxia, as it is not a rare condition in autistic children. The contrast with her approach to Nathans therapy is a night and day contrast to what we have received through the state. Libby comes up with a well rounded plan with very clear “homework” items I can do with Nathan in between visits. There is also a very clear methodology and not the “parent and therapist pick 3 goals and work on them for 6 months” method we experience with our other services. There is SO much out there to help our children and we really have to seek it out!!
Sounds are grouped together according to the location they are procuded in the mouth. Each grouping has a color associated with it. The colors come into play as a simple word is "cued" by linking colored blocks together to represent each sound in the word.
She is also not afraid to change the plan when she learns more about Nathan. He also gets to earn prizes for completing his homework, which really does help this little guy. Trying to get a 3 year old to focus for 45 minutes on making specific sounds and moving their mouth in certain ways is really difficult. A typical 3 year old is rarely required to be in such a structured environment with such expectation attached. It goes against their grain, so to speak, and it can be very tricky to find a balance between pushing and waiting. When Nathan is pushed too hard he stops trying and gets silly. I finally feel Libby is beginning to find that balance with Nathan and I look forward to seeing how his speech progresses!
