Speech Progress

Nichole is 2 years and 8 months old. Compared to her typical peers, Nichole's speech is delayed. She is not able to communicate well and we are going through a tough time where Nichole gets very frustrated when we don't understand her or she cannot tell us what is in her mind. I would be very frustrated too.

From all the therapy we do, speech therapy is by far the most important one in our list of priorities. I don't mind if she is not great with her handwriting, or if she jumps a little different. However, I really want her to be able to communicate clearly with others. Her speech will determine how other people perceive her, we know this, and so we work hard!

Yesterday I realized for the first time that we were making some progress as we had a short exchange driving back from PT and OT therapy.

Nichole: MOOOOOOM!
Me: Yes Nichole
Nichole: Chipssss
Me: Okay. Ellie, can you hand Nichole her chips please?
Ellie gave Nichole her bag of chips.
Me: Nichole, what do you say?
Nichole: Tenk you

I smiled. We had just had a conversation, a successful one!

So I want to show you some of Nichole's progress. Today as we practiced our fine motor skills, she was on a roll and not being shy of the camera.

Warning: The content of the following videos (just like the one from the previous post) will make you "awwww," smile, and want to squeeze her!

First you will see Nichole talking. She repeats some words after me or signs them. She also has some words that I "translate" for her. When Andy walked in, she was very interested to show him her piggy bank abilities.

In this following video, we were going through the Signing Time! flashcards. You will see her in action. If you listen closely, she tries to say the words as well as sign them. She really does fantastic with her signs, and I keep going until she wants to stop. She communicates greatly through signs and has started to put two signs together.

So if you missed it, make sure you check out the post from earlier today, just click here!