Speech progress: Colours and size, and a bit of naughty on the side

I felt like it has been a huge hurdle trying to get my son to get the concept of colour, and he has only JUST got it!  I was so happy when he said RED plane, BLUE plane, GREEN plane, and he's now getting the idea of yellow and orange.  I was so chuffed, I squealed in delight, gave him a huge cheer and a huge hug everytime he got it right.

And we did his homework with Big and little and he got that down as well!  He said them all right, I applied it to the plants and he got THAT right, I feel like my son is taking really solid footsteps down the path to speaking properly!

The other day though, he was very naughty.  He went to my hobby room and took my scissors and cut my sunflower seedling 3 to 4 times until it was just 1cm of stalk.  He got a huge scolding and a spank from hubby for taking out and playing with scissors and now he knows that you DO NOT CUT PLANTS.  Oh my poor sunflower.  I was so looking forward to seeing my first sunflower grow.

Speech progress for my son

It's been more than 6 months since I started Speech Therapy for my son - how is he now?

In a nutshell - much improved!

He has finally understood the concept of colour.  He can do 3 colours, though probably with about 90% accuracy.  I should start introducing more colours!

His question concepts are better. He says "Where Mama?" and "Where bowl?" and even says "What's that noise?"

He has also learned to say "Mama, may I have X please?" which he is using very appropriately.  From things like chocolate, milk, rice to "open roof" (opening the sunroof in the car), I have found this to be very encouraging.

His speech therapist has said that he talks a lot now, which he does, and he is coherent which is great.  He still can't answer questions well like "What do you want to eat, rice or noodles?" and he will say "Yes". Sometimes he answers it.  But I don't know if he understood it.

He has another year before school so I will continue with the therapy.  I'm happy that I can finally communicate a little with my son, and I am hoping in another 6 months we can have a REAL conversation.

Children: Speech improving

I am not sure if it is the speech therapy or time, but my son has had a marked improvement in his speaking in the last week or two.

He's been singing songs - lots of songs, not just one or two - which include Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row row row your boat, Big Balloon (Peppa pig), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Fruit Salad... it's so heartwarming and encouraging!

Even last week at Daycare, the teacher said that he was very happy that day, talking a lot and singing, and that he was her favourite boy in the day care.  He is very friendly after all.

I'm supposed to be doing the choice boards with him now, but I find it a little hard as he already knows the words.  The choice boards are good if they aren't talking yet, I can see that, but I am still a little hesitant as to how to give him the most benefit from them.

The other great thing is that he's started looking at books.  He used to hate books, but every night he likes to read Charlie and Lola, and also Room on the Broom as well as his picture ABC book.  He would rather point at the pictures and talk about them than listen to me read the words, but it's a start.

I wonder what he'll be like at the end of the year?

Does Speech Therapy Work?

I admit, I was skeptical about speech therapy.  With my son J speaking very little and quite behind on his vocabulary as well as showing no interest in letters or words, I finally gave in to my anxieties and got him to see a speech pathologist.

Firstly, they're not cheap.  The one I see costs $70 for a half hour session.  The initial assessment cost me $180.  And of course, I didn't take all those extras on my health insurance so it's all out of my pocket... sigh.

The first time I went, I watched what they did with my son.  The speech pathologist tried to talk to my son and play with him, and on subsequent sessions, it looked like all she was doing was playing with my son with toys.  The toys themselves have purpose of course - lots of Mr Potato heads so that body parts can be learnt; a shape sorter so he can learn shapes and colours as the blocks are coloured; one of those pop up pirate games where you insert the swords into slots on the side of the barrel (though I'm not sure what this is for, maybe for learning to take turns and learn colours); and a box of toy foods obviously for learning everyday foods.

However, for whatever reason, his speech has improved.  I haven't really done much homework with my son J, because it's a little advanced for his current comprehension level, but I am trying hard to focus with colours and talk to him as much as possible.  I was doing that before though, and not with much success.

People have said they can understand him more now.  He consistently does 3 words, and he is intelligible.  He talks a lot more and he greets everyone and says goodbye properly with names.

I wonder if I had done no interventions, would he naturally develop his speech?  Many people have said to me how they know someone who didn't speak till they were 5, or how Einstein didn't speak till late... however, how long would I wait?  I waited this long, and saw many of my friends taking their children to see Speech pathology at a much earlier age because they were concerned.  But, I console myself by thinking, that if I did nothing and it was too late for early intervention I would be kicking myself.  So, it hasn't hurt my son at all to go to speech therapy - he thinks it's a new game, and quite enjoys going.

I don't know how long I need to persist with speech therapy.  Perhaps until he is fluent or speaking in sentences.  I chose a speech path that is very far from my home, near my work, because it was recommended by friends.  It sucks up a lot of time for me, and though it has done good for my son, I won't be sad when I don't have to do that long ass drive anymore!