Grant's Speech Progression

I was putting Grant to bed tonight I asked him what he was going to dream about.  His response "Joy!" his speech therapist.  It made me think that I hadn't blogged about it in a while.  In the beginning we were just trying to build sounds and then words.  His vocab is pretty good now and we work hard on putting words together and not loosing articulation when his words are combined.  I finally figured out what his speech intonations remind me of....an Native American Indian (and I mean no disrespect, I am basing this off of hollywood portrayals, so please forgive me).  He doesn't feel the need (or just can't) to use connective words.  He will say things like, "Milk! Now" and "Rub Back!" (like "Man make fire!").   I guess he speaks in commands.  I do request "please" and "thank yous!" It really is pretty cute, but obviously we wish he were speaking in phrases.  He is doing well with putting two words together. He is an excellent Go Fish player, "GO FISH!" When he started speech 8 months ago his vocabulary was less than 10 words.  I now keep a running list on my iPad and although I only have 75 jotted down, I know it is even more.  It is really awesome when he puts new words together.  He still shakes his instead of using the word "no" in front of another word or making negative phrases.  Instead of saying "No apple juice", he would shake his head and just say "apple juice" so his visual cues are still important.  We didn't actually finish the evaluation this week, but it will be completed next week.  He will be transitioning in to the school system once he turns 3, which is over the summer, which means he won't have therapy until September when school is in full swing - assuming he still qualifies.  He was 41% delayed when he started, it will be interesting to see where he is now.

Right now his favorite song is the "McDonalds" song (lyrics below!).  I was getting tired of Do Re Me (or as he calls it the "Deer" song - you know "Doe a deer, a female deer...").

Mc Donalds is your kind of place
They throw food in your face
Hamburgers up your nose
French Fries between your toes
If I were you I wouldn't eat there
I'd rather eat my underwear
Mc Donalds is your kind of place!

(Expanded lyrics created just for my hot dog loving Grant)

Mc Donalds is your kind of place
They throw food in your face
Ketchup between your eyes
Hot dogs the size of fries
If I were you I wouldn't eat there
I'd rather eat my underwear
Mc Donalds is your kind of place!

(Expanded lyrics per Elizabeth's request using a parfait)

Mc Donalds is your kind of place
They throw food in your face
Parfaits in the air
Salads on the stair
If I were you I wouldn't eat there
I'd rather eat my underwear
Mc Donalds is your kind of place!


Speech Report Update (3/18/13)
His percent delayed has gone down, as we expected it would.  There are two different scales that are used.  One scale is a measurement of 115-70 is average.  He scored 75.  So although now considered to be average, it is at the very low end.  He will be apart of Early Intervention services until he turns 3.  I got a phone call for the speech coordinator in our district and he will be evaluated there in May and will start services through the school in August.  He says a lot more now, but commonly drops the beginning of words or will replace the first sound with a sound that is already in the word.  He says "mamel" instead of camel.  Making him aware that he is saying it wrong is just as important as letting him hear how it is supposed to sound.  But do you know how funny it sounds to say "it's not a mamel it is camel" (since a camel is actually a mammal!)  So yes he is talking, but not clearly.  We still have a lot of work to do, but figuring out what to focus on has helped us be able to work with him more during the week.  "Caps for Sale" has proven to be a great book for him to listen to because of all of the "c" sounds, which he really struggles with.  "S" sounds at the beginning of words are also hard for him. When asked he will reproduce the "s" sound, but doesn't really connect it with the rest of the word.  The good news is he really tries.  He rarely tells me "no" when I ask him to try again.  Joy assures me it is a good sign that I can't always understand him because it means he is processing new things.  He also really likes to sing songs.  I have caught him singing "My Bonnie," "BaBa Black Sheep," and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble." Today he said "Happy Birthday Mommy!"  He has some other phrases too, like "Poopy Elizabeth" and "Not nice! Time Out Elizabeth!" (or Time out Mommy/Daddy)