Express Yourself

Did I mention that little AC has speech delay?

Around the time she turned 2, I noticed that she maybe half a dozen words in her vocabulary.  I mentioned it to her doctor at her check-up, and she referred us to Early Intervention services.  (Early Intervention: sounds like something Lindsey Lohan and Amy Winehouse could have benefited from when they were younger.  But I digress.)  After an assessment, her speech delay was confirmed and it was determined that her speech was at the level of a 16-month old's.  I asked what caused this, and was told that our move probably caused her little brain to focus on new surroundings and push the "need to learn to talk" to the bottom of her priorities.

In late August, a case worker, RY, started coming weekly for an hour to play with little AC and work on speech with her.  Literally, that's how it's done--whatever little AC wants to play with, that's what RY does.  They'll color, or play with her musical instruments, or roll/bounce balls, and RY will repeat one or two words that pertain to their activity: "circle,". "loud/soft," etc. Then, in early September, a spot opened up in the Tuesday/Thursday 1.5 hour playgroup for little AC to further work on her speech (though more so through listening to the other kids or teachers), as well as her social development.  The odd thing is IT IS WORKING.  At first, you wouldn't think that just playing with someone for an hour a week and then hanging out with 8 other (mostly quiet but active) kids and 3 teachers would have an impact.  But she is now putting together 2- and 3-word sentences, and even asking "What's that?"  Her pronunciation isn't perfect yet, but since I spend 24/7 with her, it's easier for me than big AC or RY to figure out what she is trying to say. I don't feel comfortable with her playing with other kids who can really talk, because they wouldn't be able to understand her, but it's progress! RY called it a "word explosion," and that's the best way to describe it.

The downside to the home visits is that I need to make sure the house is somewhat presentable by noon every Wednesday.  Luckily, RY is pretty mellow and little AC really likes her, to the point of asking me almost every day for her.  And the cool part of playgroup is that they have a parent's lounge with two-way mirrors, so I can watch her as she plays or READ or play with my phone for 1.5 uninterrupted hours twice a week! 

She's been mimicking "cool" and "wow"--constant words in my vocabulary--so maybe I'll start throwing out "hella" before she hears "wicked."