Fun With Snow & Bubbles

I wrote a couple of blog posts ago about my frustration with Thomas speaking with a closed-mouth. The funny thing is that his expressive language is expanding every week (okay, not really the week of Thanksgiving because we kind of took the week off and did therapy on-the-go), but his spoken language is expanding, simply with a closed-mouth. The thing that is really odd is that Thomas makes all the LING sounds with an opened-mouth when he is babbling. He only makes the closed-mouth sound when I or his teachers are trying to "teach" him what to say. I'm completely baffled...he has the ability to speak the sounds with an open mouth, but yet he chooses not too when asked to do so.

I decided to take a different approach with him the past couple of days. First of all, we had snow in Texas on Wednesday. Can you believe it? SNOW! I took the opportunity to bundle him up and take him out into the snow while it was still coming down. I talked in full and complete sentences to him as I would a "normal" 2-year old child. I then grabbed him close to me and hugged him and said quietly to him, "Thomas, it is snowing. This is the first true snow that you've been able to experience. Snow is cold (brr), wet and white. What do you think of the snow, Booka (this is my pet name for him)?" He looked at me and said, "sss-noooo." He loved the experience and then I quickly rushed in and dried off his CI and HA.

This morning he went to The Hearing School of the Southwest for some school time with Ms. Tami and Ms. Eileen. I adore these women and their love for our kiddos is truly endless and amazing. I asked Tami how Thomas did today, specifically about his vocalization. She said that he spoke most often with a closed-mouth. I of course, ran through every expletive that I know -- fortunately, in my head and not out of my mouth. I then brought him home, fed him lunch and put him down for nap. Following his nap, I thought to myself, "Okay, I need to find another experience for him, like the snow, that would make Thomas open his mouth to express sound." I remembered that Ms. Becky said to buy a bubble pipe for him. Ms. Sarah, his AVT at the HSSW, also said to make him blow bubbles through a straw in his bath water. This kind of grossed me out because I see bathing as washing yourself in your own filth -- yes, it is a problem that I have. So, I decided to have Sidney and Thomas blow bubbles into a big bowl filled with dish soap and water. They had an absolute blast -- 20 minutes worth of fun and a grand opportunity for language development. Before Sidney, Thomas' 7-year old sister, would blow bubbles in the water, Thomas had to say the word "pop." Most of the time it came out at "o-o," but it was all said with an open-mouth. Then, I made him express the "p" sound to ensure that he was hearing the higher frequencies, because his hearing can and has fluctuated in his left ear. Finally, I made Thomas say "again" which came out more as "ah-gn," but success because he again said it open-mouthed.

So as Ms. Becky asks me each Friday following therapy, what are your take home points for this week? My take home points are this:

1. Maybe I was expecting too much of Thomas to vocalize complete words just 4 months following activation. Maybe I should allow him to progress at his own pace and not the pace that his mom expects.

2. Maybe as his mom should, I should rethink therapy time with him at the house. Yes, I'll put him in the therapy chair and make him "work" each day. However, maybe I should invent activities for him that let him be a kid and incorporate vocalization into those activities.

3. Maybe I should not ignore the power of his older sister because when she is having fun & is also engaged, she is the better audio verbal therapist than I am...and a great model for spoken language.

4. Maybe Thomas' problem with speaking closed-mouth isn't his problem. Maybe it is that his mother should realize that he learns differently than she does. Maybe she needs to spend less time pressing him for expressive language and give him more time to process and understand.

5. Maybe I need to simply chill out a little and let him be a typical 2-year old that wants to explore everything. Maybe I need to let go a little and see what happens.

So, this is my recap so far this week...we had fun with snow and bubbles in Texas. And, Thomas worked with me during "fun time" and made sounds with an open-mouth. As I said a month post activation...baby steps are better than no steps at all.