Working on Joshua's vocalizing.

Okay, I said Josh is getting better at his "o" sound. That's emerging, not consistent, yet. But it's exciting! Sometimes I get frustrated, working with him so much, but am thrilled when he hits milestones in progress, too. It's really neat to watch a new skill emerge, and then one day it's just in his everyday use.

I didn't keep a good journal when Matt was first going through all of this. I remember there were times when I thought he was doing so well, then he wouldn't talk for a week. Then BOOM, he's using two and three words together, just like that! It was almost as if he would fall back a little before making a big leap. Like he was processing his new skills before using them.

Josh is still using sign language, but his vocalization is coming along better now. Just to get regular use of language out of him is great. I remember a year ago when we were struggling to do that. It was if he had a mental block, could understand us, but couldn't get out what he wanted to say. Now he'll tell us what he wants, what he doesn't want, where things are, what's on TV, etc. And tonight he vocalized a couple of things on his own in two word groups, "Up plee (please)", and "Mama BO (go)!" I think he's said "Bye bye, Mama." A bunch of times, too. I'm kind of used to that now. Wa=want, op or bop=stop, his "ooo" and "oh" sounds are emerging stronger now.

This is why I need to keep journalling more faithfully. I'm seeing a pattern now. First Josh started using language with signing. As that grew comfortable for him, and we consistently worked with his vocalizing, his own oral language has developed more easily. I used to have to touch his chin just to get him to vocalize, now I don't have to do that as much, unless he's really tired.

Along those lines I picked up a book at the HEAR in NH workshop I went to a couple of months ago: Visual-Tactile-Motor Prompts for Speech, The Piper-Dobson Approach" I was able to spend a good 10-15 minutes speaking with one of the ladies who developed this system, too. I've been trying to practice some of the prompts at home with Josh, as he is learning to use specific sounds. We haven't been using it very long, but I've seen that it's helped Josh vocalize better. Here's an example. Josh can get a couple of sounds very easily now, like the "b" and "m" sounds. But let's say I want him to say his "p" better for "up up up" vs. "buh buh buh" like he used to say. I've been using the technique from the book, pages 6&7, "/p/-Place index finger just below pursed lips. Then 'pop' out." I do this when I say the "p" part of "up", and that just helped it click in Josh's mind, how to say the word better.

Lately we've been playing the "lalalalala" game, where I make a silly face while saying those sounds, mouth open a little more widely, pointing to my tongue touching the top of my mouth. When I make something silly, he relaxes and does a much better job imitating, and the work really becomes more fun for him.

Josh also does MUCH better when in a group, with his brothers in our case. Not a large group, but he likes to watch others then try to copy them. And, yes, as I've posted in the past, he does much, MUCH better when rewarded with a mini M&M. Let me tell you, I've been able to pull out a lot of great vocalization when rewarding him with small sweets. And when I do that, Matt and Chris absolutely have no problems helping with Josh's "therapy".

Josh's receptive language seems to be doing much better. He follows easy directions well, can answer "where" questions quicker than before. Now I'm working on "What's/Who's that?" He will tell me on his own what something is, or point out a picture on a page if I give him the word (and he knows the word), but I'm working him on answering the questions. Why am I doing this? Thanks to all of his great Early Intervention Teachers of the past, I have these great scales of what he should be doing at what age scales. Initially I found those hierarchy of skills very frustrating. Now I see them as a guideline on what to work on next.

So the work is going well. Josh is vocalizing much better with much less physical prompting. More spontaneously using language, two and three words, and vocalizing better, too. We still give him ProEFA, and I swear that has made a HUGE difference in his progress. Josh is a really cool little kid. He's come so far in the past year, I'm very excited to think about what the next years will hold for him. :)