Speech II

Rhys and I went to speech yesterday.  We met his new therapist, who seems like she will work out well.  The first part of the session Rhys played with a game and we went over the basics.  I told her what worked in the past and what didn't.  I also recommended that he speak to his first therapist, Sarah, since she had done so well with Rhys.

Once we had the preliminaries out of the way she jumped in with Rhys and they got started.  I would normally leave at this point and let the two of them work alone but between it being his first day with Ms Allison and how needy he has been towards me lately, I stayed in the room.  All through the session he would come over to me and give me a hug or a kiss before going back to work.

They played a couple of games.  Hi Ho Cherry-O worked out well.  Before each turn they had to say words.  A new innovation of Miss Allison was two cards, one with a happy face and one with a sad face.  If she said a word incorrectly he pointed at the sad face.  If she said it correctly then he was to point at the happy face.  Then he did the same for his own words.  This is an effort to ensure that he is hearing the sounds that he is making.  He was 90% with hers and about 75% with his.  We worked on S sounds the whole time, mostly as part of a sentence.  "I spin".  That sort of thing.  I had told her that Rhys responds well to signs with his sounds so she used those.

Rhys can make almost any sound required.  He just doesn't use them spontaneously in conversation.  He was very proud of himself at the end of the session and he told me that he liked Ms Allison and thought he could work with her.

It was a good first session.  Sadly, right now, we only see her every other week, alternating with OT.  That is not enough but that is what is available right now.  Ms Allison is going to keep her eyes open for openings that will let us get him in every week.