Our speech therapy session was less about playing and more discussion between me and the therapist today. I feel that it almost more important that I get the knowledge that I need from our SLP to be able to continue work with him the other 167 hours of the week that he isn't learning from her. I had a lot of questions about the changes we are seeing and some minor roadblocks we are facing in his progress.
Roadblock #1 - Moving from 1 word to 2 word phrases:
Peanut's vocabulary is getting bigger by the day but there are still a lot of simple words that he just can't motor plan around. We are also seeing him struggle with a word that he has been saying perfectly if it is paired with a second word. He might be able to say "see" but when asked to say "see it" he loses the ability that he had previously shown. We are trying to find activities and games to help him through this roadblock.
Roadblock #2 - Stuck
Peanut seems to stick on his first word in a multiple word phrase until he can motor plan the following words. He might say " Mama mama mama mama mama book". I can see him get frustrated as this happens because he knows exactly what he is trying to convey but his mouth just isn't caught up to his brain. I think it is easing up a bit or at least the strength of the first word repeat has calmed down and he is using a gentle rocking of his body to aid in the motor-planning. He still gets stuck just as often, but it doesn't seem as violent of a reaction as it used to be. Or maybe I am just more used to it. I have been told this is common by other parents who have children with apraxia and that it will eventually fade. My fear for Peanut is that his frustration will make him go silent again instead of really trying to work through it.
Roadblock #3 - School
We are now 46 days before school starts and have to start getting down some key vocabulary. Words that he needs to say clearly so that other adults can understand him. The most important is his name, his teacher's name or something that he can call her, bathroom indictors since he is potty trained and signals for help. He has all of this vocab at home, but it is still in Peanut speak and we need it to be something that most adults could understand.
Breakthrough - I do think that he has an easier time learning words and getting words and phrases motor-planned when we are organizing other muscles but gross and fine motor. So we have been spending a lot of time using scissors, using play dough to strengthen and even sticker play. I love that he is gaining other age appropriate skills, organizing his muscles and aiding in his speech motor-planning.
We have switched his therapy sessions to Monday's in preparation for school which he will go to on Thursdays and Fridays so we will have another speech session in just a few days. I am hoping that he will get more play in the next session since I don't have as many questions for his SLP.
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