Speech Therapy

 

Tyoma’s Progress

·        Tyoma consistently uses over 50 words each day. He speaks about 80-125 words regularly and seems to add new nouns and adjectives as quickly as you can teach him (over 10 a day).

·        Tyoma now uses “Bye” and “Hi” regularly with family, preschool members and neighbors.

·        New sounds include W and Wh. At last he says “want!”

·        He has been successfully saying a few words with multiple syllables. Generally, he either pronounces the first syllable correctly (not bothering with the rest of the word) or he utters the cadence correctly. However, he can intelligibly pronounce a few words like potato, pumpkin, carrot, and ice cream.

·        He uses two word combinations several times a day.

·        Tyoma’s  pronunciation has improved on some of his more familiar words. Nevertheless, about 25-30% of his regular speech could be understood by a stranger.

·        Tyoma can finally say the numbers 1-20, which he uses to name his flash cards. He also uses numbers to describe things, like “two cars” or “five” in referring to the number of times he wants to be swung in the air.

The biggest change in Tyoma the past few weeks has been the absence of “bad talking” days. Virtually every day he has a great deal to say and speaks spontaneously. His frustration level has dropped since he is able to request which books he wants read, which toys he wants to play with and which activities he wants to pursue. We no longer need to coax words out of him, although he can still be shy and not always intelligible. He has begun to play more imaginatively and creatively, adding more words in the process.  

 The day after the last therapy session, he was able to categorize objects by color in a game similar to the teddy bear cup exercise. He can easily categorize by color, shape, or function, but he is often quickly bored and prone to mischief. We have been regularly singing nursery rhymes to him. Although he does not join in the song, he genuinely enjoys the songs and will repeat words from the songs afterwards (E-I-E-I-O!).

Last week Tyoma’s Grandfather visited. Tyoma was not bothered by the switch to Russian (previously the switch distressed him). He not only understood Russian, but he spoke a few words and seemed very comfortable with both languages.

Hmmmmm.....

Nabakov, Brodsky or Gogol?

Visit From Papa Sasha!

Tyoma's Grandpa from Moscow came to visit us for a few days. Everyone took lots of pictures:
 
  Papa Sasha wins Tyoma over instantly with colorful and fantastic drawings.  

After breakfast Papa Sasha showed Tyoma how to take photgraphs with his digital camera. Although Tyoma's first photo was of the ceiling, his second turned out pretty well!

  "Oooooooooh!" Lunch at the Beanery with robo-crab.   Papa Sasha's lovely portrait. T looks like a Franklin Mint china doll.  Badminton game!   Students of English hard at work!   It's for you! Visits with Papa Sasha always go so smoothly.  I think that's because they are so brief and on such short notice that I don't have time to get bent out of shape!

Seaside Escapade

Today Mom, Tyoma and I took off for a little seaside excursion. We left at 9:15 this morning despite the overcast and slightly windy weather. Mom sat in the back seat with Tyoma, entertaining him with travel toys, noises and general silliness.
 
Mom also entertained me on the drive to Hampton Beach, since she knew the name of all the trees, shrubs, flowers and foliage that we passed on the roadway. I know nothing about local flora except that some trees are oaks and others are pine trees. In fact, I only recently made the connection between acorns and oaks. Duh.
 
Anyway, Tyoma spent the last bit of our drive gasping dramatically, saying “Ooooooohh!” and “O-cye!” pointing out the window to the sea. His little eyes glowed! We arrived first at Hampton Beach, which was relatively deserted, except for a few senior citizens milling about and a smattering of skinny joggers. The season is over.
 
We didn't park because I forgot to bring $40 in quarters for the meters so we could spend a half an hour on the beach. We left then for our ultimate destination, Wallace Beach, which was also closed for the season. Actually, the beach and parking lots are still accessible, but the facilities were all locked up tight. This solitude was fortunate, since Tyoma behaved like a little maniac.
 
He obviously loves the ocean, but the size and newness of it blew the little circuits in his head. He pitched fit after fit, screaming and crying when I made him hold my hand. He wanted to go, go, go! The weather was too blustery for a walk in the waves, so I struggled with him as he tried to drag me into the surf. It was frustrating.
 
After fifteen minutes of exertion, we packed up and made our way back to the SUV. Poor Tyoma looked so tragic, clutching onto his baa and sucking frantically on his souska as I wheeled him to the car. We visited another recreation area by the sea with a modest grassy park. A small group of mothers and a few toddlers Tyoma’s size were picnicking over to one side.
 
I said a silent prayer and set Tyoma free. To his credit, he did relatively well until he caught sight of the waves at a corner of the park. Another tussle ensued, this time with me trying to prevent him from scaling the boulders and rocks that blocked him from the sea. More screams and crying, this time accompanied by the stares of everyone else at the park.
 
I wasn’t quite mortified, but indeed I was a trifle embarrassed. So much for our seaside adventure! We packed it up and decided to go out for lunch. Would Tyoma throw an unprecidented and alarming fit that would humiliate us in front of the restaurant staff?
 
No! He was a total sweetie who completely charmed the everyone. “Oh, what a cute little boy!” our waitress with the little-girl voice cooed. She fussed over him and he had the audacity to giggle as if to say, “See, I am a totally reasonable child. I just needed some love and understanding!” Sheesh!
 
The three of us had a super lunch. Mom and I ordered the mega plate of fried clams, with tartar sauce, fried potatoes, coleslaw and a tumbler of peanut oil to guarantee a caloric content of 10,000. Tyoma ate fried chicken, fruit, and French fries. Despite all the overstimulation today, he was a good little boy. In the pictures below, he is eating a lemon (loves them) slice.
 

Speech Therapy

 

Tyoma’s Progress

·        Tyoma is saying up to 48 words each day.

·        He is adding 2-7 new words a day.

·        Tyoma will now spontaneously name/describe objects.

·        New sounds include a long I and O as well as the consonants F and J.  He can clearly pronounce the consonants sounds B, D, G, H, K, M, N, P, S, T, Z and ST. The vowels he can pronounce are short A, E, U and Y. Emerging sounds are short I and R. He does not seem to be able to say L, Q, W, or X.

·        He is beginning to use adjectives like stinky, dirty, soft and fuzzy.

·        He has not been using many two word combinations; they crop up once every two or three days. 

·        Tyoma’s  pronunciation is modestly improved. About 25-30% could be understood by a stranger.

Tyoma has really had a speech explosion this past week. Although every day is not a “talking” day, the frequency of his words has picked up so much, it’s difficult to keep track of. We continue to follow recommendations for therapy and have been taking him out for stimulating activities daily. He still has his binky around bedtime and for brief periods (10 minutes here and there) during the day, but he is becoming less attached. He is less reluctant to give it up and permits his teachers at preschool to take it from him.

Bubbles!!!

 "Wheeeee!"   Our pensive son, showing off his new hair cut.   "Ewwwww! Clammy Toes!"

Wagons Ho!!!

 Nothing like a big, red, tricked out wagon to make a boy happy! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Trashcan Explosion

neighborhood kids trash

My Speech Therapy Report

 

Tyoma’s Progress

·        Tyoma is saying 15-20 words each day.

·        He is adding one-two new words a day.

·        He uses the words more, help, draw, bath and enough consistently to get his needs met.

·        Sunday the 25th he used his first two word combination, “help pop” to get me to blow bubbles for him. Monday he said “more draw.”

·        Friday the 22-Sunday 25 he named the letters of the alphabet clearly and correctly.

·        Overall, his pronunciation has drastically improved. His words are finally becoming clear enough that a stranger could understand them.

We’ve followed your recommendations for therapy play and oral motor exercises, although he still has his binky around bedtime and for brief periods (10 minutes here and there) during the day.

Here are a few target words we are working on:

Want           Hungry                  Sleepy                            Hurt

Open           Close                    Mine                     Bye-Bye

We could really use some suggestions for teaching two words in particular--want and hungry.

He uses the words “more” and “help” plus his usual gestures and vocalizations get the idea of want across. What to do?

We are having a hard time getting the concept of hungry across. I almost suspect that he does not recognize being hungry until he is already in meltdown mode, which makes teaching the word even more difficult. I’ve had moderate success getting him to say the word, but not to use it appropriately. Suggestions?

Happy Birthday Tyoma

 Thanks Dad, for the super cool photo! Do you see the letter X? Sweet touch Dad!

We did absolutely nothing today, as we were all sick as dogs. I can't remember having such a sore throat.  Good news is, Tyoma doesn't seem to have gotten very ill though, whay a relief!

We'll Party next weekend for sure!