Clark * Shawna * Nickolas: February 2009

Clark and I have noticed for a while that Nick was a bit behind on his speech. We were so happy to find out that there were options for us! We had heard many good things about the Kids on the Move program. So we called them up and had an evaluation for Nick. Sure enough, he qualified. The more we work with them the more impressed we are.

Our next step will happen Friday. That's when they will talk with us and let us know what services they can give us to help Nick work through this speech delay. I am excited to get this going and see how my little guy with improve.

For the past 3 weeks, Clark and I have attended a few classes that they have had available. We learned sooo much even through that! The teacher was great, Jessica Nix. It's actually a lady who is in my family's home ward, so that was kind of fun. It was very encouraging. It pointed out many things that we could improve ourselves, and also many things that we were doing already. It was also so comforting to know that we are not the only parents who are going though this, and not only that... Also that this delay could be so much worse. Here are some highlights from the classes.

BUILDING A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Be interesting to talk to!! Your child is not gonna want to talk to you if you are boring. Make your voice inflections exciting to them. Work on circle of communication.

Play. Make play "work". Again, kids are not going to want to do something if its not interesting. Use the 5 senses to help them learn, and make it fun.

Talk, talk, talk to your child. Constantly talk and make it fun! Lol, our teacher said if your not sick of your voice then your doing something wrong. Its harder than you think!!

Prompt a response. Sometimes I don't give enough time for Nick to respond. Give your child a few seconds to say something himself. If your child is having fun doing something, make it a game... "Stop & Go". You say stop, and wait for them to ask for more.

Another thing from this meeting was start communicating with signs. Nick caught on amazingly well actually. So it has been quite fun working with him on that a bit. (aslpro.com is a great site for basic signs).

Encourage pointing, gestures and expression.

WHY DOESN'T MY CHILD TALK

This class covered a lot of the physical reasons children don't talk.

Speak in a way your child can understand. Eliminate distractions (TV, radio). Don't use big complicated directions.

Listen to your child! Even when they are babbling, they are communicating with you, and want a response.

SPEECH STRATEGIES: LEARNING TO TALK!

Find ways to motivate them. Gestures, sounds and words... Some kids just need more prompting and motivation.

Imitate your kids with sounds and actions. Follow your Child's lead.

Try not to anticipate their needs. Let them try asking for it. Play dumb if you need to. Once they try to sign or verbalize what they want give meaning to their initiations.

When your child is saying words wrong, or not trying their hardest. Don't push it! It is not his fault. Act like it is our problem. Otherwise they may feel like they are wrong even when they are trying so hard to communicate.

When your child is babbling, babble back! That way they feel you understand and can trust to talk to you. Sounds silly, but it works.

Do not ask children to say something. Make it a game. Exaggerate what you say. Say it in different ways and they will try when they feel they want to. Do not put your son on the spot. When you talk to a friend you wouldn't say "Tell me I have the cutest shirt on." It's just not a natural way of talking. And your kids know that too.

Another key thing, one I for sure need to work on. Do not talk about your child's delay to others in front of your child. If you are at the park and your friend asks if your Son is talking yet, don't make it a huge deal. They will not want to try if they are constantly hearing from Mommy and Daddy that they are behind. Be encouraging!

ANYWAY, this has been such a learning experience for our little family, but I am so glad we have the resources to be able to help Nick with this delay! Thank you to everyone who has helped us in this little adventure, and for the comments of encouragement. It has ment so much to us. We have been so blessed in everything. I'll do another update on how its going in a bit.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

We had a fun Valentines Day yesterday. Our next door neighbor, Tessa, was so sweet to watch Nick for us so we could go out to dinner. We had the idea to go to Tacanos, and laughed so hard when we heard the wait was 4 hours long!! So... we will save that for another time. We ended up going to Bajio Mexican Grill in the Riverwoods. It was a lot of fun, and only a 5 min wait ;). Afterwards, we went next door to the Chocolate Factory and picked up a treat for later. We had a lot of fun. And we were so happy to hear that Nick was happy too. He had a fun time playing with his friend, Jade. Anyway, hope everyone had a great VALENTINES DAY!

Date night. :)