Approximately Berry

Well we've been in CT for about 4 weeks now and I know I have been very delinquent in posting an update.  June has been attending Speech Camp at Quilt Autism and Speech Center and I admit that I was initially a bit skeptical about the whole speaking thing, or any words in general, but my husband and I really knew this was the Summer to get serious...after all, doctors have been saying if she doesn't speak before the age of 5, it is unlikely that she will speak.  What we've found at Quilt has not been necessarily rocket science, but basically a positive approach, where the outlook is much different than what I've found in the medical world.  Their outlook is, "Your child will talk" and you treat her as such.  If she is making ANY sound at all, she is trying to tell you something, and it is your job to be a detective and find out what she is saying to you.

We didn't realize this, but all along we've been subtily letting June use other ways to communicate (aug comm devices, gentle tapping/leading with the hand, crying).  These ways worked and she was able to eat a meal without a tantrum.  What we didn't realize we were doing was allow her not to speak.  The owner of the program told me she gets kids in there who are typically 3 or 8. They are three years old because they have come early with hopes to get a kickstart on the delay in talking.  They are much easier to teach, but by eight, they have developed bad habits of using other means to communicate, therefore making it a much more difficult process.  By the age of eight, the school system has either helped them, or failed them, and if they are not speaking, parents realize it is not a developmental problem anymore, and they start looking for alternatives, such as Quilt.

So the team started with June like this.  They looked at her speech....what does she say regularly?  (Eeeeeee).  So, in order for June to get what she wanted, she would have to say "eeee".  If she wanted a blueberry, she said "eeee", if she wanted her hands washed, she said "eeeee".  They accepted her Eeeee as her words.  Then they moved on from there.  Because she was good at "eeeee", they started to ask for initial consonants coupled with "eeee", like "bawee" for "berry" and  "key" for cookie.  I am happy to report that it is working!  She is also transferring this knowledge to home as well.  She has been caught saying "lu" for "love", "baweee" for "berry" and (Aunt) "Brie", "gi" for "drink" and "keyoo" for "cookie".  Coupled with the three hour intense day of one-on-one therapy and being surrounded by people who love her, she is thriving and for this, I am grateful.  My secret desire would be, for her to attend Quilt all year round.  The Director and Head Speech Pathologist believes she would only need one year there before she could move straight to speech therapy.  It is exciting to know that June will be able to communicate with us using these word approximations! 

Thank you again for your financial and spiritual support.  We feel God carrying us through our time away from my husband and my family surrounds us with much love and physical endurance.

June's new recent love: Marmelade's reading glasses and a good magazine.

 June has been sleeping through the night for about 11 hours straight.  I believe this is partially due to her new gluten and dairy free diet which has eliminated much of her gastro-intestinal issues.