Speech Therapy

Gulliver began working with a Speech Therapist last August 2 - 3 times per month because the "charts" said he should be using a variety of words, but he really didn't have very many. So we started speech services to be on the safe side.

Unlike PT & OT where we've had the same therapist the whole time, we've bounced around a little bit with speech. We've mostly worked with Heather and Lindsey up until last month. Now we've started working with Dee, who first met Gulliver when he was just 3 months old (she also holds the role of Services Coordinator, so we meet with her every 6 months at formal evaluations). Gulliver likes all three of them, so it's worked out fine.

Playing trucks and blowing the pinwheel with Lindsey

 We do a variety of different activities during our appointments. Much of it is just play, and using a variety of words and sounds. Other things included mouth and tongue exercises, like picking up Cheerios with the tip of the tongue, licking icing from a spoon, playing with a baby in the bathtub filled with bubbles to work on "B" sounds, blowing a cottonball across the table, or singing songs that include mouth and tongue movements.

Gulliver has always shown very strong receptive speech skills. We knew he understood what we said to him from a very young age. And his vocabulary was always very large, demonstrated through pointing at different pictures in books on demand and using sign language. It just took him awhile to get his words out.

When Ga Ga was here in June, she started taking an inventory of how many words he used. We came up with a list of 200 without trying very hard.

It's amazing how far he has come with his words -- and now sentences. He uses 2 - 3 word phrases regularly. And 4 - 6 word sentences are starting to evolve more and more. He has this quirky habit of using opposites... so if I say, "fall down," he says, "fall up." Or if I say, "in the car" he says "out of car." Nothing wrong with that, it's just interesting how quickly he processes all these opposites (on / off, soft / hard, in / out, up / down, hi / bye). He still gets frustrated at times when we don't understand what he is saying. But it's tough to keep up at times because he picks up new words so rapidly. He often mimics what we say, even when the conversation does not include him. And often times we will observe him playing by himself or laying in bed whispering words and phrases over and over to himself. It's fascinating to watch his little brain in motion.

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During our recent 6 month evaluation in June, we discussed what an amazing little boy Gulliver is and how far he has come in the past year.

For Gross Motor skills, he had been tracking in the 20 - 30% range (25 - 75% is considered average) for his adjusted age. The most recent results put him at 37% for locomotion and grasping and 50% for stationary for his actual age. That's. A. Huge. Leap!

For Fine Motor, he went from 12% to 21% in 6 months. Wow!

Our focus for the next several months is on motor planning, formally defined as "the ability of the brain to conceive, organize, and carry out a sequence of unfamiliar action." We'll work on "2 - 3 step" activities, which include things like cutting paper with a scissors, riding a tricycle, doing a variety of obstacle courses, and playing with manipulative toys like beads, blocks, and balls.

We are eligible for the Part C program until Gulliver turns 3 in October. So we'll keep working with our therapists until that point. Then we re-evaluate to determine what, if any, steps we take next.