Therapy tools (part one): speech

I’m going to use my next couple of posts to talk about the tools we are using with J. I am in no way a medical expert or therapist; I’m only sharing what we have found to assist my daughter.

At 20 months old, J is at a 6-9 month level for speech. She knows the signs for “more” and “milk”, says “dada” and “mama” (although not always in proper context), shakes her head “no” (always in proper context), and waves “bye-bye”.

I am blessed with a friend who has baby-sat my girls since my oldest was only 3 months old. She home school’s her two children, one with special needs. She is very creative, patient, and loving. She is essentially my special-needs-mom mentor. As I was facing J’s diagnosis she was able to offer me words of advise. She’s been a tremendous encouragement and has the inside track on what specialists are the best in town.

Well, this friend told me about an easy and practical tool she used when her daughter was J’s age. They are essentially picture flashcards, but the important part is that she used pictures of objects in her own house. Objects her daughter used everyday. She offered to make one for J if I brought her some pictures. Here’s the finished product:

The pictures include shoes, diapers, bottle, snack, mom, dad, sister, grandparents, and our family dog. We’re using these picture flash cards to emphasize the connection between objects and their verbal name.

Perhaps she will even be able to use pictures to communicate with us? I don’t know, but right now I hope to give her the options she needs and we’ll follow her lead. Anything will be better than the whining and thrashing when she is trying to get her message across. What tools do you use to assist with speech delays?

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