Moe doesn't talk, and it is sometimes hard to look past that. When we started speech therapy two years ago, we thought for sure Moe would have some language by now. And if I focus on that, it feels like he hasn't progressed at all. But as our OT always points out, Moe is changing. He doesn't chew as much as he used to. That nasty spitting habit he developed at the start of the school year seems to have all but disappeared. It is hard to see that going from biting to spitting to whatever is going to come next is progress, but what is important is that Moe is different now than he was even a few weeks ago. Change signals development, and that's what we want to see.
Moe's speech therapist at school sent an email the other day. She's noticing change in him as well:
- Moe is much more observant this year! He is really watching and interested in speech activities. Last year it took much more effort to keep him engaged. This year he is focused and engaged in activities.
- I am modeling the words (CVCV reduplicated words such as "mama, dada" and animal sounds "baa-baa, moo-moo") and using cued speech to exaggerate the consonant sounds. During this activity, Moe watches intently. Sometimes he smiles, and he uses a contact point to touch each card. On a few occasions, he has mouthed the consonant.
- During snack, Moe picks up his desired food, then is asked to locate the correct matching icon from a field of 3 (receptive task). For highly desired food items, Moe is doing well choosing the correct picture regardless of placement. For less preferred food (even if he chooses it initially), he tends to choose the picture on the left. Again he understands the process of choosing the picture, placing it on the strip, handing it, and touching each picture.
- Playful sound imitation. Moe has attempted to imitate "ball, more" during the last month.
- Various speech activities (such as songs, books, and toys that go with the theme) - Moe is watching the activities, and uses gaze shifting between the materials and me. He is watching modeled words, and touches items when asked and given a modeled prompt.
- Non-verbal imitation - Moe requires initial hand-over-hand, then can sustain the motor movement for a few turns.
To an outside observer, Moe still doesn't talk. But if you look at the details, there are changes. He's starting to understand the picture exchange system a bit better. He seems to enjoy attending to the activities, and may even try to imitate, rather than just tune out. Moe's development - what we can see, anyway - may not happen in leaps and bounds, but it does seem to be happening, one step at a time.
