Speech Today!

Mason had his first speech therapy session today!! We went in, and he met Rachal, the therapist, she gave him some pictures to look at. He labelled them, and talked about them while she jotted some things down. Then her and I sat for a good 1/2 hr and talked about my concerns and some of the things that she had noticed.

She says his articulation is good. It's right about where it should be for a 3y/o, so that's great to hear. His misuse of pronouns is still normal at this age, and that we should start saying things to him like he should say it. For example, instead of saying "You did it! Good Job!" Say "I did it! Good job!" And he will start to pick that up. The main concern is the echolalia, of course. I talked to her, about how he has a hard time sitting down and playing on his own. If I sit down and play w/him, then he can play and interact normally w/me, and will even continue to play after I leave. But, if I say to him "Go play trains for awhile." He won't, and doesn't really seem to know how. Apparently, this is called ideation (sp). Or I should say that ideation is the ability to be able to sit down and play all on his own w/o any help. She said she could see him trying to do that, but he really doesn't know how. What we're going to have to do, is to set a base for him. Essentially get him started, give him choices, and let him go from there. Once he gets a better handle on that, she thinks the echolalia will start to taper off. Kate had made a comment to me last week at social skills therapy, that he would bring her stuff and ask her what they are. These are things he Knows, so it seems that he does that to initiate an interaction. So because of that, his speech therapy (really, language therapy) will be based on social situations. She will be trying to get him to back and forth with her, and then at the end, talk about what they did that day. It will be very play based. She didn't want to say just yet, how delayed he is. After she's had a few more sessions w/him, she said she will have a better understanding of where he is.

I guess that's it! I think it went pretty well, and of course it's good to hear positive things!