Theme Music

I forgot to note that James has added a new dimension to his scripting (also known as echolalia - scroll down the linked page to see a most excellent definition).

He now recites dialog for two people from movies and stories, because he is finally getting into play dates and socializing with his peers. He also likes to script movies when real life provides parrallels. Or just because.

This morning, for example, he had a phone conversation with his aide on an imaginary phone during our drive to his school. He did both parts of the conversation and I think this was part of his preparing himself for school. He scripts from Barney because I am sure he would dearly love to be part of that group in the mornings on weekends (shudder).  He might also be looking for a buddy, because he is scripting large exchanges between Buzz and Woody from the Toy Story sagas.

Max decoration that's going in his room.

He went through a couple of days of being mad (highly unusual for James) and recited huge portions of Where the Wild Things Are to me. Most notably "I'll eat you up!" And you know, it actually opened a bit of a dialog for us, so I could let him know I understood he was angry ... could he tell me more about why? Usually it had to do with me telling him "no" or enforcing bedtime. I could be wrong in my assessment of why he was scripting from that book, but I don't think so. It fits James' personality of being sweet, funny, and stubborn. I found this scripting endearing, as well as preferable to a sulky tantrum or swearing and throwing things.

Most recent and delightful to me: James has been humming the theme music to The Incredibles. Just before he takes off at a run. When he wears his beloved bear blanket. And the one that almost brought me to my knees with laughter: in the bathroom. That's right, taking a bath, toweling off after, successfully completing a toileting run, washing his hands ... duh-duh-DUH-da-dahhhhhh!

James, you are Mr. Incredible!

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: Speechless

I was looking through photos from this past week and came across some I took of James when he was sick. He looks so big - I can hardly believe he's still six.

He's been so chatty recently that I forgot (until I came across these pics) that he stopped talking almost completely for the 3 days he was miserable.

A huge reason to be thankful. I love hearing him script, ask, and pretend. He's found his voice, in more ways than one.


For more expressive images and to share some of yours,
visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.






               and ... Wordless Wednesday

Cacophony

Even as it raises my blood pressure, it reassures me. At age of 3, even going into age 4, James was largely silent. He could laugh and cry, and made noises (think of a baby learning to stand and walk, making sounds instead of words). Then he started to talk. Now he will not stop.

Much of it is scripting, repeating lines from movies or TV shows. But he can produce these scripts at appropriate social times. I hope it's helping him express himself. James lacks a filter, as to when to stop verbalizing and how to modulate his voice. He has 3 volume settings ... normal, loud, and bellow. Any verbal attempts to get him to lower the volume inevitably evokes an even louder "I'm awake too!!!" Strangely, telling him we need to whisper or using my thumb and pointing finger to shrink an invisible decibel reader display have more success in getting him to lower his tone.

A very painful moment for me came from watching James with a sucker after his first speech therapy session. At age 2 and a half, he could barely hold it, his fingers both grasping the stick and poinking out at strange angles. He had no idea what to do with it. Both the therapist, myself, and his sister modeled how to lick the sucker. He put it in his mouth, and it fell out because he did not close his mouth. He then lost interest in it. I wanted to cry.

James likewise had struggles to blow air out his mouth. He loved bubbles and tried so hard to blow them without success. He had difficulties with grasping many things in his mouth, with the exceptions of a spoon (he'd snap plastic ones) or paper (including books). We did have a breakthrough with one of those cheap play "microphones" -- he finally got talking into it and breathing out. He talked all the way through Target with that toy, and you know I bought it for him.

So when I hear him laugh, fight with his sister, and yell "Mommy! Where are you? Come and see!" I grin. When I am listening to "Itsy Bitsy Spiiiiider" sung into the "mike" for the tenth time in two minutes, I am excited. When his sister roars "Noooooooooo!" and hides in her room because, almost three years later, he's finally mastered the harmonica, I feel lucky to experience this cacophony.


And this? Priceless!

Calling for an Assist

I just made a call to the Swain Center, to see about getting another evaluation for James. Right after his initial assessment by the North Bay Regional Center, he started receiving treatment there twice a week with a speech therapist. After age 3, we continued to visit on a weekly basis, when school was out of session, as part of our Respite Care.

The more I see of kids and services, the luckier I feel that he got such good help up front. His therapist kept at him, and didn't let James get away with much. This is tough, because he knows how to use his charm and cute looks. She knew he needed to be pushed and found ways to successfully challenge him. Even when he was tired and cranky from going to therapy instead of napping, she got him to accomplish just a little bit more.

When it came time for his first school IEP, she helped me set better goals for him. Because the school folks were setting him goals he'd already achieved (they had not worked with him at that point), and I am not a speech specialist, this woman's help was invaluable to us. I am hoping to have her input to bring with me for a meeting with James' Kinder Team after school starts.

Perhaps I should have done this earlier, but I hate overscheduling James. He's been progressing so well with social and speech development this summer -- the sessions at the gym's Kids' Club with older kids, participating in the city's Summer Camp program, and hanging out with older cousins at the beach all helped him take advantage of some great modeling to imitate and build upon.

Now, however, I am reliving the last part of his preschool year, and the disappointment with the speech services and goals (or lack thereof). I know Kindergarten will be a whirlwind of activity and excitement. I'd REALLY like him to succeed, so am hoping that by having the Swain Center's input, we'll be off to another good beginning.

Why Can't He Talk?

James' older sister asked a killer question this morning: "Why can't James talk? Why can't he say things the way I can?"

We've had variations on this subject before, where I've explained that he can talk, and that he's much better than he used to be ... that most people do things in their own time and way.

This morning, we talked about how sometimes the parts of the brain that control what we want to say and the parts that control the muscles we use to talk sometimes don't work right or can't talk with each other very well. It got me thinking about aphasia and some people having to be trained to relearn to speak. The people who want to use one word, but have another come out instead.

I've seen James want to tell me something -- I can read it on his face and in his eyes. I'll watch his mouth open and shut and hear strange sounds come out of his throat. Often, I never get to hear that thought. I've seen him blissfully happy, doing his verbal stimming of "Eeeeee-eeeeee-eeeeeeee-eeeeeeeee!" I've heard him do some beautiful mimicking, and scripting things he's heard from tv shows and using them as conversation soundbites -- appropriately too.

I wish I could watch what happens to my son's brain as he struggles to master speech, and understand what is said to him. I wish I has successful progressions to compare it with, so I could maybe figure out a better way to help him not struggle so much to communicate. I wish we could have some of those "why is the sky blue?" conversations.

I am very happy he's come as far as he has. Three years ago, he was nonverbal. Tonight I asked him to find his dad to tell him dinner is ready and he did just that. I still have questions, though. What can I do to help? Why is it so tough for him? What do I tell my daughter when the next question comes up about why her brother is so different?

Air Traffic

What did we least expect to see on our morning drive?

That's right -- a helicopter. James was delighted. He loves the airport, air museum, and machines that fly!

He can say the word "helicopter," with the "l" being a little weak, but in the moment of absolute excitement, it comes out "airplane!"

SOOC Saturday: Dino Guy

James woke me up early, yelling "Roar, Mommy! Roar! Roar! ROAR!!!!!!!" Because he was awake, and wanted to quote from his favourite book. Lucky that kid is cute. I turned on his light and let him read, explaining that it was too early to get up. Half an hour later, he actually came out of his room and hunted me down, explaining that "Is morning. Not early. NOT!"

Well, close enough to our regular morning time. I got up. I can't really complain, as this is the first time he's come out of his room in the morning on his own. Also, I like to reward good sentences. He's been full of them and I want them to keep coming.

James is getting much better about dressing himself and playing with others. He loves it when he can join in and be silly or jump around. Potty training progresses. Yesterday, for over an hour hour, he played quietly in his room while his sister made up exciting soap opera drama (and songs) with her dolls in her room. During this interlude, James got up by himself and used the bathroom, flushing the toilet and redressing himself each time.

He is more confident in his climbing and talking. He even asks for things in a dinosaur roar sometimes. Like this morning.

The Slurping Life dusts off and starts anew. Visit Melody and check out SOOC Saturday/Sunday entries past & present!



  

What's Wrong With the Picture?

So James went to the Swain Center yesterday for his weekly speech therapy session. He loves this. He has a crush on his therapist. She makes him work too. She has a way of enjoying his charms, yet not letting that get in the way of making him work harder.

The past few weeks have been spent on getting him to recognize "he" & "she" and "boy" & "girl." This week his therapist brought out cards with silly/missing items pictures, to see how he reacted. She said she was very impressed that he could identify items on each card, even if he could not verbalize his observations.


For example, he knew there should be balloons at the top of the strings the clown was holding, even if he could only say "bah-oons?" The card with a person's face, missing the eyes almost worried him. She asked him what was wrong and he said "no eyes."

We talked about how people now ask him "How old are you?" and "What's your name?" and he doesn't respond. His therapist wanted to know how they asked him, and I told her usually like most adults wanting to talk with a child in a park or grocery store line. She then leaned over and said "What is your name?" and the little stinker (I say it with love) said "My name is James."

!!!!!!!!

Oh fine. Be that way. Yay!!!!!!

So she thinks that maybe it's the social interaction that needs work. He is used to charm and initiating interactions. Now I can see that we need to work on responses to people who initiate contact with him.

Meanwhile, the goofy cards sounded like fun. I took a quick look online and saw a book that could be a fun activity to do together, as well as help him have some colouring time: What's Wrong with This Picture Coloring Book, by Anna Pomaska.

Is the Coast Clear?

Wow, one bug, four people, a month of recovery. Let's just say I hate the summer flu!

For a couple of weeks, we all took turns succumbing to The Scourge. Oh, it was fiendishly clever. First it was James, poor baby! He was over the worst of it by Day Three. Um, but on Days One & Two he couldn't even keep water down, so in we popped to the doctors' office; we had to give him 2 shots in his legs to quell the raging ear infection that was his bonus prize. After that got under control, things headed uphill pretty quickly. By Day 5, I was down with it, as well as the grandparents.

My husband and daughter lingered in Healthland through Day 10, then fell to their dooms. By then I was able to make it through bedtime without collapsing on the sofa every couple of hours.

Then, the catch-up. No, not the laundry -- that would have been Truly Hideous. The paperwork, the phone calls, the delayed follow-throughs. James was accepted into the CATS program at Sonoma State U. It sounds like an internship that could be quite interesting. His sister is starting Kindergarten next month and can I just vent here and now about my amazement that this humble grade level involves almost more preparation than I had to do to get into college? The paperwork, lines, appointments, more paperwork, reviews, interviews, assessments ... Holy Rainbow Cow!

Some big shining rays of light:
* James is talking more and more; especially since he started the preschool camp/classes offered through our local city parks & rec.
* James did very well in a mainstreamed environment. His teachers all loved him too and he liked them.
* James is digging swimming. He has gone from panicking and clutching at me to letting me put my hand on his tummy to boost/guide him and he uses his arms and legs to "swim" in proper form. He also likes to get out of the pool, count to three, and then launch himself off the edge to me. This is more than his older sister can do, and she has two additional years and actual swim lessons to her credit.
* James' speech & language therapist says that swimming is great for fostering speech and vestibular activities.
* James gives me real hugs and kisses now. He really misses me if I am out of the picture and shows it with words. For example, this morning I went out to feed the cat. His grandmother said he saw me out there and said "wanna go mommy" for "I want to go to mommy." After a year or more of playing second fiddle to apple bars, this is a great feeling for me!

Oh, and James has been growing. He is over 40" tall and just 3 1/2 years. His feet look Amazingly Sturdy. And we have 6-foot (and more) giants in both our families. He is is still our big sweetie, and we love him so!

Push It Real Good

We just got back from a fantastic trip to the speech & language therapist. First -- we got there ON TIME!!!! We met James' first case worker on the stairs. This is a wonderful woman who walked my husband and I through all our assessments and evaluations and signed us up, fast and furious, for all kinds of services to help our little guy. With a minimal of prompting, he said "Hi, Mary." She was so delighted! Last time she'd visited, he was just starting to say sounds and words. "Call me!" she said, as she dashed out the door to her next appt. and we marched upstairs to ours. The great thing is, she really means this.


I brought my daughter in to the therapist's office because we had to come up with a new appt. date & time. Summertime does that, I've noticed. James was talking so much more while he played, and handled the toys with confidence. After we'd hammered out a new interim schedule, the therapist helped me figure out how to get him to practice saying three- and four-word phrases. Talk about your heady mommy excitement! I remember crying this time last year, because at times I thought he would *never* talk!

It comes down to this: James needs to be pushed. Oh yeah, big guy! We will push it, real good! Meanwhile, I will treasure today -- the day you said "blue fish clock," "I want sucker, please," and "wha' is 'it?" Yay, James!

Pep Talking

James started visits again to the speech & language center that he attended before going to preschool. He remembered the awkward turn at the Very Annoying Left Turn Light. He was very excited to see his therapist again, and remembered the way to her office.

Everyone exclaimed how tall he and his sister had grown in just five months. I had watched with pride how well James tackled the tall stairs on his own -- he'd either had to crawl up them on hands and knees or it took FOREVER, with me holding his hand. Right away, James started showing off his words, with naming the colours he saw, saying "ball" and "in" to describe his play activities, and saying "close" for "close-the-door-behindya-on-your-way-out-Mommy, why-don'tchya?" He sorted colours appropriately. He knew his favourite toys and their proper hiding places.

So now we have new homework: a "blackboard" with pictures on it and the simple, three-word sentences we will practice together and encourage his too say on his own. Because James is still a single-word kind of guy. (Not always -- yesterday I heard him croon "Oooh, pretty room!" for reasons unknown ... *shrug*)

Even though we had a very discombobulated bus driver this morning, summer school seems to have begun with a promising start!