Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Talk Talk

I've always wondered what role Down syndrome would play in Bridget's speech development. (Most children with Ds seem to have speech delays, and some are significant.)

When Bridget was an infant, she seemed to be right on track--she was babbling in many different sounds and experimenting with sounds, repeating sounds we made, etc.. She was even trying to mimic singing when she was four or five months old.

As she neared her first birthday, she did not seem to be close to saying words we could understand. And it was not for a lack of trying. She was watching our mouths closely when we talked, and she was very vocal, but not verbal.

We had been playing the Baby Bee Vocabulary Builder DVDs for her, which she was interested in watching, but which did not seem to be making a difference in her language development (acquisition, maybe, but not development).

She has always seemed like she understands most of what she hears. Bridget is very perceptive and aware. She makes connections and is able to let us know that she is following everything that is going on around her.

We started signing basic, everyday words with Bridget when she was about 10 months old. We always said and signed words together so we could encourage both ways of communicating and give her the choice to select whichever way worked best for her.

She picked up signs quickly, earlier than she could speak words that we could understand. With signs, she was able to tell us easily when she was thirsty, or tired, or mad. She told us when she wanted to take a bath, or wanted more of something. Having a way for her to communicate her needs not only helped reduce frustration (for both of us), but helped others understand just how much she was processing.

Fast forward to last summer, when Bridget was three and being evaluated for preschool placement. She was still signing, and was still vocal...but still not verbal. She had begun to say some basic words (and some were very clear). She was not, however, saying more than one word at a time for the most part. The sweet speech pathologist who evaluated Bridget thought she heard Bridget say, "where my mommy go?". While we make a point to never underestimate her, Chris and I were pretty sure Bridget did not utter that sentence.

When preschool began in the fall, Bridget had added a few more words to her spoken language repertoire, but not many. I tried to get her to say the names of her teachers, therapists and aides to no avail. She could not say her own name, either. That first week of preschool, she came home and we ate lunch together mostly in silence. I wanted to know what she did at school, whether she was happy there, and whether she'd learned anything new. But she could not tell me any of those things. I only got information if I emailed the teacher, and I didn't want to bug her every day. There were a few days that I felt a twinge of sadness about it, but that didn't last for long. Bridget seemed to be loving school, and I knew the teacher would let me know if there were any problems.

It has only been four short months since the beginning of school, and we are seeing some major progress in Bridget's speech (as well as in other areas of her development--but that is another post altogether).

I've heard other parents say that their children with Ds became much more verbal somewhere between their third and fourth birthdays, and this seems to hold true with Bridget.

She's attempting to say everything we ask her to repeat. (She also says, "SAY...cup" or "SAY...go sleep!") Last night in the bathtub, she said each of the letters of the alphabet, clearly. Today, while eating lunch, she announced, "Emmy at 'cool' (school)".

She is also answering questions appropriately, for example, the question, "Are you tired?" often gets a "NO GO SLEEP" response. Last weekend, the social worker who came for our home study asked Bridget, "Is there a show you like to watch on t.v.?" Bridget shouted, "MAX!" (Max & Ruby).

I love her new verbal skills...and her spunk. You go, Bridget.

16 comments:

  1. That's awesome! So glad to hear she is making progress at preschool!! Good job Bridget!!

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  2. Speech is definately the area I am most concerned about for our Emily, she's only 7 months now and seems to be right on track with babbling, but I know that most likely delays will come later on since most children with DS have speech delays...but it's good to know that eventually things start moving forward...Go Bridget!

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  3. Yay! So exciting! It's a feeling like no other, especially when it felt like it was taking so long. So happy for you guys!

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  4. Lisa, I feel I could have written this post. Like you, speech has been my greatest area of concern and focus. Lucas started signing by 12 months and it was a huge help (for all of us) and I still feel it significantly aided in his language acquisition.

    Lucas is mostly still in the one-word stage (repeats just about everything, labels many things), but has started pairing two (and even three) words together like "I want cheese" and "mom play" and "Roscoe sit" (he loves bossing around the dog and cats). But, when I visit school and am around some of the other kids, I sometimes get a twinge of sadness because I really wish Lucas could express himself more (how was school? what did you do today? etc.) Your post reminds me that before I know it, I'll be wondering "when will he shut up?" :) There was a time I yearned to hear him say "mommy" and now he says/yells "mom" dozens of times a day...be careful what you wish for! Here's to more and more talk, talk! Congrats, Bridget...You go!

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  5. Yes, you go Bridget. I LOVE your spunk!!!!

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  6. Great news that she is progressing so well! Anna is 21 mos...and still doesn't say any words - only signs 5 or 6 things. We keep working though. It is encouraging to hear a story like this! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Great job, Bridget! The spunk you are now hearing, doesn't surprise me...you can see it in her eyes. :) Looking forward to one day hearing words from our little man.

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  8. Lisa, I have missed you! I love this post...I crave the information you share! Bridget sounds so amazing....is she palying poker yet?:) xoxo, Andrea

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  9. This couldn't have come at a better time for me, Lisa. It's hard to say, for many reasons, but speech is one of the things I worry about most for Ben too. He has a long way to go. But his 3rd bday is quickly approaching and I am hopeful this year will be the start of something BIG! I am so proud of Bridget and thrilled for all of you too! :)

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  10. Thanks for this post! Speech is often something I am concerned about (Colin is almost 9 months old) because he is starting to consistently make all different kinds of sounds. I just wonder what the future holds sometimes, but it's nice to get a little bit of a timeline from you! Thanks again :)

    And to Bridget...yay! good job Bridget! :)

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  11. Awesome, Bridget. Sounds like she's doing so well and her language is really taking off. I'm so happy to read about her latest progress.

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  12. I am praying for a big spurt from Leah in language development very soon! Bridget makes me very hopeful!

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  13. Your Bridget sounds so much like my Kayli did at that age. I just knew she would be a communicator, always with a drive to express herself, very outgoing. She is ten now and although she struggles with some sentence structure and linguistic structures she can certainly make her needs known clearly and now it's "can you stop talking for a minute!".lol

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  14. So true, so true. Payton has come so far this last year, but she still has so far to go. I want to see video! I have made a resolution to post more video! LOL

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  15. How Exciting!! I find myself getting a bit discouraged with Kendall's speech but I know that once she is ready, she will soar! What a cutie your sweet Bridget is!

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