SPEAK Week 1

We made it to the Kaufman Children's Center!!!  I've been waiting for this for years (seriously!) and FINALLY, Kiddo and I are in Michigan for two weeks of intensive therapy with the amazing Nancy Kaufman in her SPEAK program.  We just finished the first week and both Kiddo and I have learned a lot and we still have one week to go.  :)

We started off with an evaluation, in which Nancy was very impressed with how far he has come in the two years since she last saw him, but we still have quite a ways to go.  Here are the goals we are working on while we're here:

Articulation goals:

• Final and medial (middle) m (ex: tummy and game)
• Final and medial (middle) n (ex: bunny and on) 
• S blends (ex: sleep, sweater, stop, snack, scoop, etc.)
• Th (ex: three, Ethan, with)
• Medial L (Ex: yellow, hello)

Language goals:

• Using appropriate verb tenses
• Using proper pronouns (he/she)
• Using proper grammar (a, an, the, to, is, are, etc)
• Using longer sentences with all of the above goals (ex: "She is kicking the ball."  Before he would just say "girl kick ball")

He is working with Nancy and two other therapists, and they are all awesome and enthusiastic and I don't know what I'll do without them when we go back, haha.  Kiddo is a champ, cooperating really hard and though he mentions he's tired to me from time to time, he just keeps working.  I am sooo proud of him.

Each day he also gets a one-hour speech session with three other kids who are participating in the summer SPEAK program to work on social language skills.  It begins with Lisa, an awesome music therapist singing a few songs with opportunities for the kiddos to practice speech.  Then Nancy leads them in a fun game or activity that requires the kiddos to let her know who's turn it is, what they want to do, etc.  And then they end with a craft project, that the mommies and daddies come out and help with, and encourage our kiddos to ask the therapists for the materials they need.  Lots of good stuff.  We've also been enjoying getting to know the other people here for SPEAK.  In fact, we're all going to meet at the Detroit Zoo on Sunday which should be lots of fun. :)

After each day's hard work, we go somewhere fun to celebrate Kiddo's hard work, such as Chuck E Cheese's, to a playground with some of our new friends from SPEAK, to the movies to see Secret Life of Pets, swimming in our hotel pool, and playing at the McDonald's play place and trying to collect all the Secret Life of Pets toys they have in Happy Meals.  I've been reinforcing what he's been learning in his sessions and it seems to be sticking. :)  For example, he gave me a big hug the other day and told me "Mommy, I'm squeezing you!"  Another time, we went to the playground and I was pushing him on the swings.  Normally he would just request "Higher!" but this time he told me "I want to go higher!"  And when we went to the pool he told me "Look my legs float like a stick!  Not like a rock."  I was blown away by the proper grammar in that statement. :)

Proudly showing off the visor he decorated in one of his speech sessions. :)

Can't wait for week 2, but then I also don't want it to end. :)

Watching Your Unique Child Bloom

So, I went for a walk the other day, and I saw this flower:

At first, I was sad for it.  There was a beautiful garden about 5 feet away from this flower, where its friends were growing.  And here was this flower, all by itself, growing between a crack in the sidewalk and a rock wall.

But then, my perspective changed.  And I was proud of this lone flower.  It did exactly what it was created to do: spread its roots and grow and bloom and share it's color and beauty with the world, despite its unusual circumstances.  It could have withered up and died, but it was blooming.

My children are not in the garden I expected them to grow in.  But they are blooming right where they are, filling the world with their joy and smiles and precious words, and that makes me one proud and blessed mama.

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If you're a special needs mama who found this post encouraging, please check out my brand new Facebook page, specifically for encouraging special needs mamas to Embrace This Special Life.  More posts like this to come on the Facebook page.  :)

Beach Vacation

We drove to Myrtle Beach for a few days at the beach.  We honestly didn't get a lot of pictures, we were mostly focused on just having fun and relaxing, but here's a few of our beach adventures:

Kid's indoor water park at our resort.  Little Brother on left, Kiddo on right.

Swimming in our resort's indoor Lazy River.

Where'd Little Brother go?

Pirate Playground at our resort.  Kiddos had a blast!

Daddy burying Kiddo.

Boys heading to the beach.

Family selfie!!

Ice cream at Broadway at the Beach!  All my guys are in green. :)

Would love to hear which pic is your favorite. :)

And he's jumping!!

It's a milestone I've been waiting for and praying for for years.  Jumping--a skill I've seen two year olds do, and yet Kiddo turned six and still wasn't jumping.  Years of physical therapy, of trying to help Kiddo get the motor planning down by prompting him "bend your knees, and 1, 2, 3 jump!  Feet together!!"

At the beach one evening (pics of our beach vacation coming soon!!), Hubster built a sand castle and told Kiddo to jump on it.  We expected Kiddo to do his usual bend of knees and then one foot forward and then the other, but Hubster and I just stared in shock as we watched him bend his knees and jump with his feet together.  Hubster asked me "Did he really just jump?"

I told him "I think so, let's see if he can do it again."  I grabbed my camera and told Kiddo to jump.  And he did!!

Hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed seeing our son master this major milestone. :D