Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Bubbles' Apraxia & Speech Update: Now with Video!

Bubbles is making crazy progress with his speech lately; there is no denying that this child has a sense of humor. Even his speech therapist (the Guru) feels the need to take notes as he continually amazes her in sessions.
On Monday, she was sound-pairing and building syllables with him. Each word or sound is enunciated with sing-song-y tones, and she makes it very rhythmic, often tapping out each word on the table. He repeats everything she says without hesitation.

Big ant: Big ant.
Big black ant: Big black ant.
Big black ant goes: Big black ant goes.
Big black ant goes up: Big black ant goes up!

So, this went on once or twice, until she was satisfied with his progress. He waited politely until after she had stopped with the 'big ant' and put the picture down, and then he said,
"It's a spider."

I know, he slays me too.


His most amazing accomplishment is dazzling, however. A few weeks ago, he found the video case for The Letter Factory, and asked to watch it. I put it on for him, and after happily watching it, he went back to asking for Thomas videos.

The other day, I noticed him with a book - a remnant from his sister's long-ignored Leappad (the extra large blue one) which may or may not have accidentally made it into a donation box and out of our garage (am afraid to look).

He showed me the pages with the pictures of slightly anthropomorphic letters.
Pointing to the 'Z', he then sang, "Zuh-zuh-zuh....zuh-zuh-zuh..." to the tune of Brahm's lullaby (just like on the Letter Factory). Next, to the 'W', insisting, "Whah! Wuh-wuh-wuh-whah!"
I pointed to: J, N, M, V, T...he knew the correct sounds for each of them! He didn't label the letter, but made the sounds for these consonants and then I realized that he also knew 'O' and 'A'.

The boy is a bright little bulb.




One more version posted here.


Next year, please come back to Blogher, Leapfrog! I really appreciated the useful shiny aluminum water bottles last year, but next time I just may bust out the cash for the Tag system!

10 comments:

MFA Mama said...

GENIUS! The boy is a genius. Love it!

dee-dee said...

Bubbles...you are the sweetest little boy! Love you...love you! dee-dee xoxo

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

He sounds fabulous!! I can't believe how much his speech has changed over the past year....

mamadaisy said...

woohoo! Bubbles rocks.

Anonymous said...

I take a lot of flack because my kids aren't big television watchers. They have just in the last 2 months got to where a 15 minute cartoon will hold them. But, most of the time, that's pushing it. Well, people think it is because I'm a nutjob and refuse to let them, that's not the case at all, when they were younger, a 15 minute cartoon would have bought me a shower more than once a week.

Anyway, we have the leappad and we have handheld leapsters. I am not some crazy vigilant woman about TV however, I am about games like playstation and the like. We have one, but it is my husbands and he plays games when the kids aren't around or are in bed. The games we have are not for kids.

But, those handheld leapsters carried us on a decent 5 hour drive to Gatlingburg, bought us some rest time in the room and also got us home. The kids absolutely adore those things AND the games, although they are named Diego and Thomas the Train, are educational. I've watched my kids play it. So very educational.

My two cents worth of nothing really.

Anonymous said...

that little boy is adorable!

Anonymous said...

Wow, he sounds like he is doing great! I was wondering, do you do any type of dietary supplementation with your son? I just started giving my son a product caled speak that contains Omega 3's, 2 forms of Vit E, K1, K2, and GLA. It has had such an impact in his speech! I thought you might like to know about it ( if you don't know about it already). You can even get a free box to try it if you are interested. More info and to get the free box at www.speechnutrients.com. Also info on the science behind the product at speechtrial.com. I wish I would have known about Omega 3 and Vit E etc. years ago....my understanding is the earlier you start a child on them, along with speech therapy, the better the outcome! I am so happy that things are going so well for your son! Take Care, Dana

Bluestem said...

The spider/ant thing reminds me of one of our Kaufman cards. It says "tuba" but it's a picture of a trumpet. No wonder my kid can't talk.

I blogged (vented) about that Anonymous person and their stupid supplements on my site, if you are interested.

Anonymous said...

Okay Gwendo....I keep coming back to listen to this.....Bubbles is doing so amazing....I can hardly believe how well he is doing. Good on you for all the hard work for both you and he. It sounded to me at some points as though he was saying "this is" and then the letter. Is that possible? Seriously, such a smart little guy. You ought to be one very proud mama.

Hugs, Jess

gwendomama said...

Jess - thank you for such a great comment - I am indeed proud and grateful for such great therapy we have been able to provide for him (thank you, school district).