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!
