Speech Therapy 101

So everyone is curious what they could possibly do at speech therapy for a 10 month old baby. They aren't supposed to talk anyway right? Well, at this point Mya is doing a lot of growling and making just consonant sounds. Truth be told, she should be well on her way to making consonent vowel sounds like (da or bu). Her speech issues coupled with her gross motor issues are concerning so the doctors decided to address her needs now since speech and physical therapy are non-invasive procedures. This brings me to what she did today.

Her therapist, Taylor could have totally been on Imagination Movers (a silly kid show on the Disney channel). She is extremely animated, wears bright lipstick to help Mya focus on her mouth, speaks very clearly and S-L-O-W-L-Y, sings silly songs, repeats everything, mimics Mya in hopes Mya will begin mimmicing her in return, and is teaching Mya sign language. She is working with Mya and ultimately training me. As she put it, "50 minutes per week isn't going to turn the ship around." We will be working with Mya at home. She gave me some reading material, sent us home with a sign language DVD to watch together and practice, and sent home picture cue cards that accompany songs like "the wheels on the bus" so Mya can begin to put words with pictures. That is kind of a snippet of what we did today.

Taylor, the therapist, is excellent at what she does--but naturally the nature of speech therapy for infants requires some silliness and goofy actvities. I have to be honest, it was kind of a hoot!