Current Word List

THANK YOU
MOMMY
DADDY
SPONGEBOB
KITTY
DOGGY
POPCORN
POPSICLE
BOOM
OWW
TRACTOR
HELLO

The funniest thing is she's said all the above words multiple times but if you ask her to say it she shakes her head no.

Great Milestones Today

We were reading a book earlier today and Gwen repeated Tractor, it was pretty clear and well said. Though everything became tractor for awhile.

And then Gwen just said UP. We were in bed and I had my back to her and she kept tapping me and I was ignoring her until she shouted "MOM" so I said "honey its ni ni time" she went into this long babble speel and I said "do you want to snuggle" and she said "Up" I said "did you just say Up?" She shook her head yes, pointed at the ceiling and said "up" again, I started bawling uncontrollably and said "say it one more time for mommy" and she said "uh" just no P sound but it was close enough for me. I think she relates up with snuggling but I am okay with that.

Of course when I called Adam up she wouldnt say it again.

I love that we are making progress. She has  Boom a couple more times she is just very inconsistent with her words.

Speech Therapy 09/17/13

Gwen just finished up ST. Laine was super impressed with how well she picked up on the signing. She wants us to start working on "Ready, Set, Go" and using it a lot and then doing "Ready, Set..." and pausing to see if she will respond or at least try to say "Go". During therapy they were playing with a tennis ball, bouncing it off the wall and Laine kept saying "Boom" after a few times Gwen repeated "Boom". YAY!!!! Laine was also working on the "mmm" sound for more and Gwen kept saying "mmmm" and then "ma" for more. It's a start. :-)

Another Update 09/13/13 "Thank You" and "Help"

We've tried sign language in the past and she just wasn't getting it and now she is picking up on it quicker than I thought possible. While playing with her beads tonight we attempted "Help" (which Daddy has been working on with her) and "Thank You" (which I've been working on with her) and she NAILED them both. :) I even got them on video for you to see. 

So after 3 days we have Help, Thank You, More all consistently used, and we are working on Please. :) The first video is Gwen asking for help, and the second is Gwen with LOTS of more's with a Thank You at the end.  The ST said that as long as the signs were close we shouldn't worry about perfect form (which is why I don't correct her "help" or her "thank you" I just sign them the proper way when I "speak" to her).

Progress Update 09/13/13 "MAMA"

Gwen has babbled "mama" since she was 6/7 months old with consistency, however she has never directed it at me. Well the past couple days she kept running up to me saying "Mama" and then handing me something, or if I wasn't looking she'd yell "Mama" until I looked (think Stewie from Family Guy, LOL). Any who, today is the 3rd day in a row she has consistently said "Mama" or "Mom" and had it directed at me, or while looking for me. 

Well, this is ONE HAPPY MAMA!!!

Progress Update 09/10/13 - "More"

Gwen proved once again how FANTASTICALLY smart she is. We started working on "MORE" in ASL this evening and after about 10 minutes she used it consistently. I actually got one time on video. You can see she thought about it at first, but then realized she couldn't do it one handed so she went back to stirring.

*The squeak that you hear is her way of saying "Yes".

Speech Therapy 09/10/13

We got to meet Laine today, and our Service Coordinator Lindsey came by as well. Gwen instantly warmed up to Laine and loved seeing Lindsey again. Since this was our first meeting we did a lot of talking about Gwen's abilities and any new progress she's made since our IFSP/Evaluation. I advised there wasn't anything new to report. 

Gwen played with food, and the kitty and at the end of our session Miss Laine brought out bubbles which made her ecstatic. 

Miss Laine said to focus on sign language as well as saying the words to help her communicate better with us. She said the first two she wants us to work on is Please & More for next week.

Our IFSP

We got our IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) in the mail today. Our Speech Therapist has been identified, her name is Laine and she should be calling us soon to set up our first therapy session.

• Adaptive/self help skills (bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, etc.) – 22 months
• Cognitive skills (thinking, reasoning, learning) – 20 months
• Receptive Language (Understanding/Following Directions) – 25 months
• Expressive Language (Speech) – 9 months
• Oral-Motor Skills/ Articulation - Informally, Gwendalynn's facial and oral structures appeared intact, symmetrical, and without obvious deformity. During speech production, Gwendalynn exhibited minimal tongue and lip movement.- Mr. and Ms. Pope shared that Gwendalynn primarily produces the sound "p," "m," and "d." This evaluator explained to Mr. and Ms. Pope that the tongue does not move when producing the sounds "p" and "m." When producing the sound "d" the tongue can rest at the bottom of the mouth and the tongue and jaw can move as one unit. Given the significant gap between Gwendalynn's receptive and expressive language skills, limited consonant production, and lack of vocal imitation, it is likely that oral-motor challenges are impacting Gwendalynn's speech and language development.

• Gross Motor Skills – 20 months
• Fine Motor Skills – 20 months
• Social/Emotional Skills – 20 months

While I don't agree with a majority of the other scores, just based on other children I've seen at her age as well as things I've read about accomplishments, it's of no concern to me because my only purpose for contacting them was for Speech Therapy. 

We have the food book created and it is working wonders with her frustration levels and she is a much better eater now that she can tell us what she wants. I am continuing to work on other books, objects, people, places, and animals.