My kiddos love using BINGO daubers to for any activity. The ones at Michael’s are the best as they are washable! It’s great for getting repetitive practice for speech targets! Then we roll the dice and practice saying our target words the number of times on the dice while dobbing the board. Give a board to each player, and whomever fills it up first wins!
To shake it up, I included game cards and a spinner if you don’t want to use dice.
Two years ago, I wrote a post entitled November book of the month. At that time Ashlynn was just starting to imitate really well, and I used this repetitive book with her to have her work on the CV shape “pie.”
Fast forward two years and here we are. Ashlynn can now say most of the Thanksgiving items in this book, she just has a hard time with word recall and has expressive language needs now at thistime.
I created this companion pack for her, but for also my kiddoswith a variety of speech/language needs. The first part contains all the pictures in the story with a sequencing board for the kids to sequence their pictures.
The next part has a following directions activity incorporating a variety of spatial concepts with the vocabulary (i.e. “put the squash between the lady and the table).”
Part three contains a 9 page mini book with the pictures for the kids to practice a sentence, “She ate a …”
The last page contains an enlarged version of the old lady’s head with her mouth open, that you can cut out and glue to a manilla envelope and cut out the mouth. You can then have the kids “feed” the old lady all the vocabulary items using whatever speech or language target you choose!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh apraxia is a sneaky devil. For so long I prayed to just hear her sweet voice say what she wanted to say. At some point she started imitating really well. She didn’t really call out to me “mama” and she didn’t really offer up “I love you” but she could say it in imitation, and this was good. This was very good…because NOT hearing those words was devastating.
I still hear my husband putting her to bed at night.
Husband: “I love you Ashlynn.”
Giggles
Husband: Say, “I…love….you.”
The progression was slow, but she would do it, in her own way using word approximations. Never spontaneously though.
The last two years are a blur of therapy appointments, speech practice, working toward the next goal. Despite what I would see at home, she would never show her skills to others so anytime she did something new at school or in therapy and they were so proud, I was just left giving a small thanks that at least she’s showing what she does at home.
Family who knew her began understanding her more and more. However, those who didn’t still questioned what she was saying. Disappointing to say the least, but the honest feedback was a necessary reality check. I know what she’s saying 99% of the time, so it sucks when even her school SLP rates her at about a 60%. Oh well. I need honesty, and that’s honest.
On her fifth birthday though, it all started to change. I posted a video of her, and the feedback was incredible. Everyone could understand her!! Other people were validating what I have seen for so long!!
A progress note from school only lists a few artic errors: inconsistent ‘l’ and ‘l’ blends, a frontal lisp ‘s’ pattern, and occasional errors with multi-syllabic words and consonant clusters. Of more concern now are expressive language delays including: grammar, sentence formulation, and word finding.
That’s when it hit me. Ashlynn is almost “resolved” from CAS. Her motor plan (I’m tearing up), has caught up.
What? Could it be true? Can I actually start to even consider my daughter might be working toward resolved CAS?
How could that be? It’s only been two years, but then I remember the struggle has been so much longer. Is this really the girl who could only say “hi” and “a dah” for everything? The girl who said “nah” for “bus” and “dada” for “iPad?”
I read something once that said,
The days are long but the years are short.
Yes. Yes. Perhaps this is true. At some point I stopped praying my nightly prayer that she would overcome apraxia. When did that happen??
I’m always looking toward the next problem. The next goal. She has an expressive language disorder now, and the future for a reading disability is still unknown.
Maybe I need to stop for a minute. Smell the roses Laura. There was a time you yearned to hear that sweet voice. That very voice today that told you, “I like you mama. I like you. I like daddy and I like Jace. You’re my family.”
What I would have traded or given to her those words two years ago.
So yes, I’m going to pause. I’m going to freeze time. I’m going to think, if only for a moment, how sweet it is to hear my daughter’s voice. A voice that is her own and able to express her own thoughts.
I’m going to reflect on the fact, that in just two short years, I met the head of CASANA and went on to now have advanced training and expertise in CAS. I literally have national apraxia experts a keystroke away via email.
Say what? How did that happen? How did any of this happen?
I just asked to join the facebook group for resolved apraxia but with new issues. Yes. That’s us. We now fit into that category. My daughter talks so much I now know she needs help with expressive language. How amazing is that?
Even though I was late to the game in my opinion because I so wanted to believe Ashlynn was just a late talker, none of this would have been possible without early intervention…..wait…let me clarify…appropriate early intervention.
For reasons I will probably address later, I’m so, so, so grateful that Ashlynn’s initial evaluating SLP (in the schools) told me it was CAS. I knew then I had to get her private services. I knew then I had to research this disorder. I knew then our life would never be the same.
I’d seen CAS before. I’m an elementary SLP, and in my 10 years of experience, two kids walked through my door in Kindergarten nonverbal.
That would have been Ashlynn had not appropriate therapy been initiated. That meant that as an SLP, even I had to pay out of pocket. $365 – $425 a month. Yes. Ouch. Therapy is expensive, but it’s worth it. I just had a baby in that time too and was on maternity leave. We didn’t have any extra money. You make sacrifices. It’s necessary.
I knew I didn’t want Ashlynn walking into a Kindergarten classroom nonverbal, so my husband and bit the bullet and went broke funding her therapy.
It doesn’t matter now. It was all worth it. I’m so proud of her.
Since Childhood Apraxia of Speech requires a different approach to treatment, principles of motor learning theory need to be driving therapy. You can read more about this in my two interviews: Sharon Gretz interview and Ruth Stoeckel Interview
I made my first companion pack today to go along with the book, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams. This book is awesome for speech. I use it for elementary school children, but also read it to my young kids and they are spellbound. The pack includes a sequencing, describing and following directions activity related to the book.The book is a repetitive book that builds on the page before. This little old lady goes for a walk in the forest and runs into various articles of clothing and each item makes a certain sound: shoes (clomp), pants (wiggle), shirt (shake), gloves (clap), hat (nod), and a big pumpkin head (boo) at the end. As you will learn from me, repetitive books are excellent books to use to promote language and practice speech since the children can catch on after a few repetitions. You can read more about how to use repetitive books for apraxia in my free handout .
I always make sure to get out props as it engages the children to pay attention and participate in the book even more. If you have my companion pack though, there are printable pictures you can also use. For my verbal students, they have to say the sound that goes with their item each time it comes up in the book. For my nonverbal students, I might record the sound on an assistive technology device of some sort that they must press when it is their turn.
I usually choose which items to give the kids depending on their level of speech or language development. Since Ashlynn has apraxia, I gave her the pumpkin head that said, “boo” when she was younger, since she was working on bilabials (b,p,m) in CV combos. As she got older, I have her saying the more complex syllable CCVC ‘l’ blend shapes (i.e. clomp, clap).
Once the kids catch on to their word or phrase, as I read the book I stop at their part to have them say it. Lots of participation and lots of fun!
To get my activity pack that includes a sequencing and following directions activity: go to my teachers pay teachers store.
Happy Halloween!
I was introduced to Pete the Cat, by Eric Litwin last year when my daughter went to preschool. Not only does it have a catchy song the kids can sing and listen to online here:( http://www.thelearninggroove.com/song-index-contents/pete-the-cat—i-love-my-white-shoes#!pete-the-cat-i-love-my-white-shoes/c164e), but it is great for teaching a variety of things in speech/language. I’ll start with it’s benefit for apraxia.
Research has shown that books encourage speech and language development. My mentor taught me to use a literacy based approach to therapy whenever possible. Not only do the kids enjoy it, but books provide vocabulary in context, which is more meaningful to children than just an artic card. The use of repetitive story books are generally advocated for apraxia. If you want to read more, you can find a great article here: http://www.apraxia-kids.org/library/repetitive-books-an-effective-therapeutic-tool-for-children-diagnosed-with-apraxia-of-speech/
Pete the Cat is highly predictable and very repetitive, offering the perfect platform for intense practice needed for apraxia. The carrier phrase in this book is, “I love my……” The predictable sentence is “I love my ___ shoes.” The shoes start out as white, but change colors depending on various items Pete steps in.
Depending on your child’s verbal output, you could have them say the entire carrier phrase giving them the appropriate prompts and cues as needed, or just have them say one word. Ashlynn is able to say the entire carrier phrase independently, but needed cueing to complete the rest of the sentence. It’s fascinating to watch the motor plan during these activities, because once it has the plan, it doesn’t want to give it up easily. For example, after repeating “I love my white shoes” multiple times, she required a lot of modeling and cueing to change the motor plan to say, “I love my blue shoes.”
I also created a book companion pack available in my store if you’re interested!