This entry is all about empowering families!! I am running into so many families that feel that they do not have the skills to make change in their child's life and it bothers me. As the parents/caregivers, you have ALL the power to help your child. Let me expand on this.
When your child is being seen by "specialists" like speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, special teachers, tutors, medical staff and even school teachers, it takes some of your power away. You may feel inadequate or that you do not have the skills to help your child. It is understandable that you will feel that these "professionals" know best for your child and that you need to do what they say. But I want you to realize something else.
You are the person that cares the most about your child; understands your child the best; reads your child the best; enjoys your child the best and loves your child the most. You are the center of your child's universe and that makes you the one with the most power. (even if you don't feel that way).
When you are dealing with professionals, try to remember that. Ask questions, have them explain anything that you don't understand; don't sign anything that you don't agree with; ask them for more time if you need to think things over. It doesn't always feel like it, but you make the decisions about what you think is best for you and your child. It's scary to stand up for yourself with professionals, but you can do it and you will feel so much better if you understand and agree with what is going on.
Also, remember that the things that you do with your child when they are not in school or special programs is the meaningful, fun part of their lives and will help their development as much as the special programs. This will tie again into making your child's life, your family's life, rich in experiences that are joyful which will lend itself to overall development of communication; motor skills; behavior concerns; cognition, etc. etc......it goes on and on.
So, look at your day. Think of including your child in some of your daily activities and don't look at the clock. Just enjoy the process. If it's cooking, let your child help and talk about what you are doing and let them stir and measure and pour and push the button on the blender. Delight in their joy in trying new things. Incorporate the hints on popping language and words. If there are motor issues, get suggestions from your therapist on how to best position them so that they can participate.
Think of all the daily "chores/routine" that you get tired of doing yourself and let your child help once in awhile and make it a language time. Sweeping, turning on the vacuum, letting them help push the vaccum; sorting clothes; bath time; taking a walk, etc. Everything you do during your day can be changed out a bit to incorporate your child.
Remember, you have the power!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
January 2011
Happy New Years!!! I hope that you all have a year that is filled with joy and balance and lots of communication :)
I am from the Midwest, so when I think of January, I think of very cold weather and lots of snow. And even in the south we get "colder" days than usual. So, let's think about what we can focus on, to pop language for the month of January.
Words to focus on this month might include:
1. "cold", "brr" continue as good ones to focus on. Include the motion of "shivering" by shivering your arms when you say "cold" or "brr" to make it easier for your child to imitate, as well as make this more fun.
2. You can talk about the extra clothing that you might be wearing "coat, hat, boots, mittens, scarf" and concepts like "on and off" when it comes to that clothing. Remember to mix things up and maybe put the hat on your child's foot and just look expectantly to see if they react to the "mistake". Or give your child a choice..."do you want your hat or your mittens next" and show them each item and let them pick, label, point or say their choice.
3. "snow, snowman, snowflake, shovel, snowplow, snowball, ice, ice skates, etc. etc." Even if you live in the south you should let your child be exposed to these words. It will expand both the vocabulary of words they understand as well as the words they say.
4. Don't forget to add gestures or signs in addition to the words to help your child communicate even quicker.
5. Remember that the words may not sound exact when your child first tries them. But that's OK!! So, cold might sound like ko; and brrr might sound like bu; and snow might sound like no; and coat might sound like tote; and snowball might sound like nobaw, but give your child the credit and get excited about these approximations. Praise them and say, "yes, snowball".
Oral motor and food ideas:
1. So, bring some of that snow inside and taste it, or if you are worried about dirty snow you can crush some ice cubes and make your own snow. You can put flavors on the snow and taste them. Some flavoring might even freeze into a solid piece on top of the snow and would be fun to crunch. Have your child use their tongue to taste (even a snowcone would be great) or use a straw. Let your imagination go.
2. Hot chocolate is a wonderful taste in January. Try hot chocolate with peppermint flavoring or vanilla flavoring. Float some marshmallows in the hot chocolate to taste. If you are worried about it being too hot, make the instant with warm water from the tap. There are even recipes for frozen hot chocolate online. Yum!
3. Soups and stews are common when the weather gets cold so trying tastes of these might be fun too. Don't forget to float some fish crackers or crunch up different flavors to top them off. You can drink soup through a straw if it's creamy and doesn't have chunks. If you have a child that doesn't like vegetables you can always puree a vegetable soup and then add lots of noodles (kids usually like noodles) and there you go. Serve the soup in a cup for a different experience or in a fun snowman mug. Also, don't forget chili for the children that crave a more intense, spicy flavor in their mouths.
4. Speaking of vegetables, try serving frozen peas right from the bag. Most children don't see this as a vegetable, you can talk about the "cold/brr" food and maybe some more vegetables will get into your child's mouth.
5. Buy those snowball Hostess cakes and "make" a snowman by putting three on the plate or just talking about snowballs and then eating them up.
6. If it is snowing, go outside and stick out your tongue and catch snowflakes...this is great fun and good oral motor practice.
Continue including your child in the preparation of the food which makes tasting more tempting.
Creative Ideas:
1. Get outside, in the snow and play. Make snowmen, snow angels, snow mountains to climb, etc. Dress the snowmen with hats and scarves...another opportunity to talk about clothing items. Also talk about the body parts, eyes, nose, mouth, head and tummy too. Put water and food coloring into squirt bottles and "paint" your snow creations. Make a snow animal and let your child sit on it...."on, off" will be practiced over and over.
2. If you are in the south try making snowmen out of sand at the beach or even in your sandbox. They don't have to be big to be fun.
3. Bring a bucket of snow into the house (or make your own) and pour into the sink, put on mittens and play with the snow. Add little figurines or trucks to plow the snow, hide in the snow, etc. Talk about the actions your child is doing "pushing, patting, making; etc." in addition to labeling the creations that they are making.
4. Play "stick the hat on the snowman". Draw a snowman's head on a piece of paper, add eyes, nose, mouth and then make a hat out of black paper. Have your child stick the hat on the snowman's head by putting tape on the back of the hat. More vocabulary practice "hat, up, oh no, pretty, etc".
5. This idea can be under food and creative. Cover your table with a plastic tablecloth or put a protective tablecloth under your child's chair; put a bib on your child or remove their shirt and bring out some coolwhip....yes, it looks just like snow. You can taste it, of course, but you can also drive your cars through it like snowplows, or they can get "stuck" in the snow. You can hide frozen peas in it and find them and eat them. You can make roads through it, or just squish it with your hands or take a lick of it. You can sprinkle pixie stixs powder on it (snowing) and taste that too. Let your imagination go.
Book suggestion: The Snowman is a book that has no words. It would be fun to talk about together. Maybe look for a board book version so you don't have to worry about ripped pages.
Movie night out suggestion for mom and dad: The movie "The King's Speech" is really well done and is about stuttering. My husband loved the movie, so it's not just for people interested in speech therapy :)
I am from the Midwest, so when I think of January, I think of very cold weather and lots of snow. And even in the south we get "colder" days than usual. So, let's think about what we can focus on, to pop language for the month of January.
Words to focus on this month might include:
1. "cold", "brr" continue as good ones to focus on. Include the motion of "shivering" by shivering your arms when you say "cold" or "brr" to make it easier for your child to imitate, as well as make this more fun.
2. You can talk about the extra clothing that you might be wearing "coat, hat, boots, mittens, scarf" and concepts like "on and off" when it comes to that clothing. Remember to mix things up and maybe put the hat on your child's foot and just look expectantly to see if they react to the "mistake". Or give your child a choice..."do you want your hat or your mittens next" and show them each item and let them pick, label, point or say their choice.
3. "snow, snowman, snowflake, shovel, snowplow, snowball, ice, ice skates, etc. etc." Even if you live in the south you should let your child be exposed to these words. It will expand both the vocabulary of words they understand as well as the words they say.
4. Don't forget to add gestures or signs in addition to the words to help your child communicate even quicker.
5. Remember that the words may not sound exact when your child first tries them. But that's OK!! So, cold might sound like ko; and brrr might sound like bu; and snow might sound like no; and coat might sound like tote; and snowball might sound like nobaw, but give your child the credit and get excited about these approximations. Praise them and say, "yes, snowball".
Oral motor and food ideas:
1. So, bring some of that snow inside and taste it, or if you are worried about dirty snow you can crush some ice cubes and make your own snow. You can put flavors on the snow and taste them. Some flavoring might even freeze into a solid piece on top of the snow and would be fun to crunch. Have your child use their tongue to taste (even a snowcone would be great) or use a straw. Let your imagination go.
2. Hot chocolate is a wonderful taste in January. Try hot chocolate with peppermint flavoring or vanilla flavoring. Float some marshmallows in the hot chocolate to taste. If you are worried about it being too hot, make the instant with warm water from the tap. There are even recipes for frozen hot chocolate online. Yum!
3. Soups and stews are common when the weather gets cold so trying tastes of these might be fun too. Don't forget to float some fish crackers or crunch up different flavors to top them off. You can drink soup through a straw if it's creamy and doesn't have chunks. If you have a child that doesn't like vegetables you can always puree a vegetable soup and then add lots of noodles (kids usually like noodles) and there you go. Serve the soup in a cup for a different experience or in a fun snowman mug. Also, don't forget chili for the children that crave a more intense, spicy flavor in their mouths.
4. Speaking of vegetables, try serving frozen peas right from the bag. Most children don't see this as a vegetable, you can talk about the "cold/brr" food and maybe some more vegetables will get into your child's mouth.
5. Buy those snowball Hostess cakes and "make" a snowman by putting three on the plate or just talking about snowballs and then eating them up.
6. If it is snowing, go outside and stick out your tongue and catch snowflakes...this is great fun and good oral motor practice.
Continue including your child in the preparation of the food which makes tasting more tempting.
Creative Ideas:
1. Get outside, in the snow and play. Make snowmen, snow angels, snow mountains to climb, etc. Dress the snowmen with hats and scarves...another opportunity to talk about clothing items. Also talk about the body parts, eyes, nose, mouth, head and tummy too. Put water and food coloring into squirt bottles and "paint" your snow creations. Make a snow animal and let your child sit on it...."on, off" will be practiced over and over.
2. If you are in the south try making snowmen out of sand at the beach or even in your sandbox. They don't have to be big to be fun.
3. Bring a bucket of snow into the house (or make your own) and pour into the sink, put on mittens and play with the snow. Add little figurines or trucks to plow the snow, hide in the snow, etc. Talk about the actions your child is doing "pushing, patting, making; etc." in addition to labeling the creations that they are making.
4. Play "stick the hat on the snowman". Draw a snowman's head on a piece of paper, add eyes, nose, mouth and then make a hat out of black paper. Have your child stick the hat on the snowman's head by putting tape on the back of the hat. More vocabulary practice "hat, up, oh no, pretty, etc".
5. This idea can be under food and creative. Cover your table with a plastic tablecloth or put a protective tablecloth under your child's chair; put a bib on your child or remove their shirt and bring out some coolwhip....yes, it looks just like snow. You can taste it, of course, but you can also drive your cars through it like snowplows, or they can get "stuck" in the snow. You can hide frozen peas in it and find them and eat them. You can make roads through it, or just squish it with your hands or take a lick of it. You can sprinkle pixie stixs powder on it (snowing) and taste that too. Let your imagination go.
Book suggestion: The Snowman is a book that has no words. It would be fun to talk about together. Maybe look for a board book version so you don't have to worry about ripped pages.
Movie night out suggestion for mom and dad: The movie "The King's Speech" is really well done and is about stuttering. My husband loved the movie, so it's not just for people interested in speech therapy :)
Monday, December 13, 2010
December 2010
Hi Everyone,
Here I am, back after a very lengthy break. I needed to balance out my life with a new job and resolve a health issue but now I am back and committed to posting every month.
Since I have given you so many tools and strategies to stimulate your child's language and shared lots of information I am going to change my format a bit for the next 12 months. I am going to focus on specific suggestions you can use during each month as well as add ideas for books that might be helpful; music you might want to listen to or creative ideas of things to make and information that I find that will help you and your child improve their communication skills.
Also, I encourage you to email me with any specific questions that you might have. I would address them through the blog (because we all know that if one of us has a question there are many more people with the same question.) I will keep the questions anonymous so that you can ask me with no concerns about anyone knowing who you are. My email address is: jeremi_g@yahoo.com.
So here we are in the midst of holiday time. This is a fantastic time to pop language but it's also a time where it's hard to find time to focus on the children when you are busy with holiday planning. So remember the 5-10 minute suggestion: if you can take 5-10 minutes every day to slow down and focus on your child, progress will continue.
Words to focus on in December:
1. "Ho Ho" instead of Santa Claus....ho ho is much easier for a child to produce.
2. "Yum, Num" any easy word to express our delight with the holiday treats that we are bound to be eating.
3. "Lights", it might come out like "yites" but I bet your child like the lights on the tree and all the ones we see all around town.
4. "Hey" when you are singing Jingle Bells. The song will probably be too hard to sing all the words but when we take a pause and say "hey" your child will be able to join in.
5. "Cold" is a great word for you that live where it snows and is cold...even in the south we are having some weather that is "cold" :)
Songs that will be fun to try:
1. What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
Santa says "ho ho" all the day.
(Those ho ho's should be pretty easy to say"
2. Jingle Bells (focus on the "hey!" part) and be sure to have actual jingle bells to ring.
Food/oral motor thoughts:
1. With so many different foods to try you should have no trouble finding new tastes and textures to sample or try on the electric toothbrush.
Here I am, back after a very lengthy break. I needed to balance out my life with a new job and resolve a health issue but now I am back and committed to posting every month.
Since I have given you so many tools and strategies to stimulate your child's language and shared lots of information I am going to change my format a bit for the next 12 months. I am going to focus on specific suggestions you can use during each month as well as add ideas for books that might be helpful; music you might want to listen to or creative ideas of things to make and information that I find that will help you and your child improve their communication skills.
Also, I encourage you to email me with any specific questions that you might have. I would address them through the blog (because we all know that if one of us has a question there are many more people with the same question.) I will keep the questions anonymous so that you can ask me with no concerns about anyone knowing who you are. My email address is: jeremi_g@yahoo.com.
So here we are in the midst of holiday time. This is a fantastic time to pop language but it's also a time where it's hard to find time to focus on the children when you are busy with holiday planning. So remember the 5-10 minute suggestion: if you can take 5-10 minutes every day to slow down and focus on your child, progress will continue.
Words to focus on in December:
1. "Ho Ho" instead of Santa Claus....ho ho is much easier for a child to produce.
2. "Yum, Num" any easy word to express our delight with the holiday treats that we are bound to be eating.
3. "Lights", it might come out like "yites" but I bet your child like the lights on the tree and all the ones we see all around town.
4. "Hey" when you are singing Jingle Bells. The song will probably be too hard to sing all the words but when we take a pause and say "hey" your child will be able to join in.
5. "Cold" is a great word for you that live where it snows and is cold...even in the south we are having some weather that is "cold" :)
Songs that will be fun to try:
1. What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
Santa says "ho ho" all the day.
(Those ho ho's should be pretty easy to say"
2. Jingle Bells (focus on the "hey!" part) and be sure to have actual jingle bells to ring.
Food/oral motor thoughts:
1. With so many different foods to try you should have no trouble finding new tastes and textures to sample or try on the electric toothbrush.
- I would encourage tasting these for sure: peppermint candy canes...messy, yes, but oh so yummy (and minty). Don't forget to stick them in some other flavor to make it even more fun, maybe Nutella, or peanut butter or chocolate frosting.
- Mashed or pureed veggies like squash; potatoes; carrots will stick on toothbrushes :) You can add some brown sugar to sweeten them if needed.
- Gravies and sauces
- Cheese spreads, dips, salsas.
- Don't forget about dipping :)
2. Things to try through a straw:
- Eggnog (non alcoholic of course)
- Fresh squeezed orange juice
- Warm apple cider with yummy spices like cinnamon
- Applesauce
- Peppermint milk shake
3. I would encourage you to do some baking with your child. Now you might not even really get many of the cookies or whatever you bake actually baked but the touching and tasting of ingredients as well as the mixing and squeezing and forming balls of dough can be so good for sensory issues, feeding issues AND it is a wonderful activity to pop some language.
4. If you are focusing on the religious part of Christmas you can bake baby Jesus a birthday cake, sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles.
Creative Activities:
1. Making wrapping paper. Go to a newspaper company and buy an end roll of newsprint or use any other non printed paper and decorate it, let it dry and use it to wrap presents for friends and family.
- Finger paint with red and green or blue and white. Let your child explore the paint and model words like "go go go"(describing what your child is doing); "more paint" (requesting and commenting); "all done paint" (requesting and commenting); "up up up" (while describing what your child is doing), etc.
- Here's a more sensory based activity for wrapping paper. Put about a cup of sand in the bottom or a knee high nylon and make a knot above the ball of sand. Have your paper out on a plastic tablecloth on the floor to control mess. Have different colored paints in trays, let your child hold the nylon by the end, let them drop it in paint and then let them plop it on the paper. It makes a fireworks/star sort of shape and the heaviness of the sand in the nylon is a fun sensory activity.
2. Gifts for grandparents, aunts and uncles:
- This will involve painting your child's hand and if they don't like that sensation I would prepare their hands first by clapping; rubbing; giving firm "high fives" to get their hands ready for the paint. Paint with green paint and arrange in a circle on a piece of paper (creating a wreath), add some red berries by painting a fingertip red and dotting on the wreath. It comes out very pretty. You could do this with fabric paint and put it on a sweatshirt or bag too.
- You could vary how you arrange the hand prints and make a tree shape, starting with 5 or so hand prints on the bottom and doing less every row to end up with 1 print for the top of the tree. Once again you can "decorate" the tree with fingerprint ornaments/lights by painting the fingertips with different colors.
- Have your child make a fist and paint the bottom edge of the fist brown. Place in the middle of a piece of paper. Then paint both hands brown (do one hand at a time to decrease mess) and place the right hand to the top right of the fist and the left to the left side, on the top. This will make a reindeer, the fist being the face and the hand prints being the antlers. If it's Rudolph you can use a red fingerprint to make his nose. You add the eyes and any other features you feel are needed.
- Cut or the shape of a star and let your child squeeze glue and shake glitter on it. Yes, it may have to dry awhile but it will be so pretty hung somewhere in your house or as a special gift.
Book Ideas for the Holidays:
- Find books that have few words. Remember, don't "read" the book but explore the book with your child, commenting on what you are seeing and pointing fun things out. Follow your child's lead when they point or vocalize.
- Books with favorite characters are fun (Dora; Diego) but this is also a fantastic time to add new vocabulary. I mentioned some easy Christmas words but also talk about all the fun things (Rudolph; reindeer; Santa; cookies; Christmas tree; ornaments; lights; stockings; baby Jesus; cow, angel, star, sheep, etc.)
- Remember if you can find little figures of the actual things in the book, it will make the activity even more fun for your child.
I focused mostly on the Santa part of Christmas but if your beliefs are different I am sure that you are doing some special baking or celebrating different traditions of some sort and think of words and experiences that you can focus on during those activities; the foods that you use; the drinks you have, etc.
Enjoy this holiday time with your family. I wish you all a Happy Holiday time!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Week 28 Why Is My Child Not Talking??
"Why doesn't my child talk? Why can't I understand what my child says? Why doesn't my child talk like his sister/cousin/neighbor?" This question is one that I am asked many times and today I am going to give you some reasons why a child might be delayed in starting to talk.
Let's first look at your child's health. There are many health issues that children experience that can interfere with the development of communication. One of the most important is if they have ear infections. Does your child have an occasional ear infection or do they have ear infections that seem to last forever and don't resolve after one round of antibiotics? When I hear that a child has had many ear infections and especially the ones that are hard to get rid of, that raises a red flag in my mind. Having ear infections can really interfere with learning language. I want you to take a minute and put a finger in each of your ears, wiggle them around and try to listen to the TV or someone talking to you. How well did you understand what was being heard? How well did you hear the individual sounds that were being produced? That is pretty much what it sounds like when you have ear infections or fluid in your ears!!! Now imagine that you are trying to learn language but for several months out of the year you are hearing the world through muffled ears.....not an easy job at all.
So, I need you to keep an eye on your child's ear health. Look for your child rubbing or pulling on their ears; or ears that are red; of course be aware if there is a fever; or if you notice that your child doesn't seem to respond as well as they normally do. Some children can have an ear infection or fluid in their ear and have no pain or indication that there is a problem. These are the ones that are tricky to catch. But if your child's language isn't progressing well it never hurts to have their ears checked for infections or fluid.
Since we are talking about ears, if you have your child's hearing evaluated be sure to go to an audiologist that specializes in working with children. They will be more fun for your child and are used to working with children so should be able to get good results.
Another thing to be aware of is the size of your child's tonsils and adenoids. Children with large tonsils and adenoids can have trouble with eating, sleeping, saying sounds, and breathing. Does your child have their mouth open alot? Do they snore? These are some signs of large tonsils and adenoids. If the tonsils and adenoids are large enough they can almost close off the back of the child's throat. The child then protects that area by eating small bites and may struggle with coordinating breathing and swallowing. This can effect how well sounds are produced as well as the quality of their voices. Large tonsils and adenoids can also interfere with a child's quality of sleep which then affects the child's whole day.
We already talked about oral motor skills affecting language so I'm not going to go over that again, but just remember that it is important that your child is moving their tongue all over their mouth and all over their lips, up and down and back and forth. They need to pucker; they need to lift their tongue up to the top of their mouths, inside and be able to wiggle it all around.
Sometimes I see a child that isn't talking yet and they are the youngest in a house of several or more children :) These children don't have a reason to use language, someone is always problem solving for them or talking for them. This can also happen in a house where the child is alone with mom and dad and they are anticipating the child's needs so they don't have to use their language.
And sometimes you have to look at what your child is very good at. Right at this moment, what does your child do best?? If they have just started walking or love the active, motor driven activities, they may not be interested in talking right now. They are focused on moving!!!! When a child learns to walk you often times will see language development slow down because they are so busy practicing walking and moving and are not practicing language. So look at the sister/cousins/neighbors that you are comparing your child to and see what your child does better than them. Is your child the one that can climb up anything? Is your child fantastic at fine motor activities like puzzles, play dough? Children develop at their own speed and so you normally see a difference in when different skills come in.
As always feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.
Let's first look at your child's health. There are many health issues that children experience that can interfere with the development of communication. One of the most important is if they have ear infections. Does your child have an occasional ear infection or do they have ear infections that seem to last forever and don't resolve after one round of antibiotics? When I hear that a child has had many ear infections and especially the ones that are hard to get rid of, that raises a red flag in my mind. Having ear infections can really interfere with learning language. I want you to take a minute and put a finger in each of your ears, wiggle them around and try to listen to the TV or someone talking to you. How well did you understand what was being heard? How well did you hear the individual sounds that were being produced? That is pretty much what it sounds like when you have ear infections or fluid in your ears!!! Now imagine that you are trying to learn language but for several months out of the year you are hearing the world through muffled ears.....not an easy job at all.
So, I need you to keep an eye on your child's ear health. Look for your child rubbing or pulling on their ears; or ears that are red; of course be aware if there is a fever; or if you notice that your child doesn't seem to respond as well as they normally do. Some children can have an ear infection or fluid in their ear and have no pain or indication that there is a problem. These are the ones that are tricky to catch. But if your child's language isn't progressing well it never hurts to have their ears checked for infections or fluid.
Since we are talking about ears, if you have your child's hearing evaluated be sure to go to an audiologist that specializes in working with children. They will be more fun for your child and are used to working with children so should be able to get good results.
Another thing to be aware of is the size of your child's tonsils and adenoids. Children with large tonsils and adenoids can have trouble with eating, sleeping, saying sounds, and breathing. Does your child have their mouth open alot? Do they snore? These are some signs of large tonsils and adenoids. If the tonsils and adenoids are large enough they can almost close off the back of the child's throat. The child then protects that area by eating small bites and may struggle with coordinating breathing and swallowing. This can effect how well sounds are produced as well as the quality of their voices. Large tonsils and adenoids can also interfere with a child's quality of sleep which then affects the child's whole day.
We already talked about oral motor skills affecting language so I'm not going to go over that again, but just remember that it is important that your child is moving their tongue all over their mouth and all over their lips, up and down and back and forth. They need to pucker; they need to lift their tongue up to the top of their mouths, inside and be able to wiggle it all around.
Sometimes I see a child that isn't talking yet and they are the youngest in a house of several or more children :) These children don't have a reason to use language, someone is always problem solving for them or talking for them. This can also happen in a house where the child is alone with mom and dad and they are anticipating the child's needs so they don't have to use their language.
And sometimes you have to look at what your child is very good at. Right at this moment, what does your child do best?? If they have just started walking or love the active, motor driven activities, they may not be interested in talking right now. They are focused on moving!!!! When a child learns to walk you often times will see language development slow down because they are so busy practicing walking and moving and are not practicing language. So look at the sister/cousins/neighbors that you are comparing your child to and see what your child does better than them. Is your child the one that can climb up anything? Is your child fantastic at fine motor activities like puzzles, play dough? Children develop at their own speed and so you normally see a difference in when different skills come in.
As always feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
August
Hi Everyone,
I am going to be taking the month of August off...time to spend time with my family and do some travelling. I will be back posting in September.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
I am going to be taking the month of August off...time to spend time with my family and do some travelling. I will be back posting in September.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
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