In general, the session went well. He was co-operative most of the time as compared to the last visit.
Activities he did at speech therapy:
(1) Hanging monkeys game
The activity was targetted at saying a word with the middle 'c' or 'k' sound (monkey) and perhaps to get him to say longer phrases. He also learns the basics of board game type of activities - throwing dice, turn taking. I rarely play board games with him at home, so am glad he has that opportunity incorporated at therapy, even though I'm sure it's not one of the main objectives.
He was able to request for the respective coloured monkey tokens based on the colour shown on the dice he threw. He'd say for e.g. "red monkey please".
I did note he throws the dice differently. He picks it up with his pincer grip, then throws it down. To me its a small matter, not one I'd like to pursue, as I've more urgent things to tackle.
The therapist & I were pleasantly surprised though that his fine motor has improved! I was so happy that he could use his left hand throughout this game to manipulate the monkey token in order to hang it by the tail onto a frame.
(2) Pictures on Laptop
This activity was for him to describe what he saw in the photos (getting him to speak in phrases), with some of the words containing the 'k' sound. Also to get him to speak louder, he was to describe it to someone else who can't see the photo & that person would say he/she could hear it.
So for e.g. he'd say "cutting apples" and either my helper or myself would say if we heard it or say what we heard.
He didn't complete this activity. He was very fidgety. He moved from one seat to another a few photos. The main reason for this was because he was having a bowel movement!
(3) Pasting pictures of ice-cream & cake
The target was for him to say which item he wanted to paste onto a picture of a picnic basket. He could choose from a selection of 4 ice cream or 4 cake pictures. He completed this well.
To emphasise the 'c' sound, the therapist reminded him that the 'c' sound comes from the back of the throat. She did this by placing the back of her palm to her throat while making the 'c' sound. Since he was not comfortable for her to take his hand and place it on her throat to feel the vibration, I did it instead. It's the sort of thing we've been doing at home as we've been targetting this sound for a few months now.
I found it rather cute the way he voluntarily ran to me & give me his hand so I would take it and place it on my throat whenever he had to say 'ice cream' or 'cake'. He was so compliant! There were a few times he could produce the 'c' sound. We were happy.
(4) Pound The Ball
The therapist saved the best for last. She noted from a previous session that he loves this game. We have the exact same toy at home & boys being boys love to pound/hammer things - the louder the better!
He was to say the phrase 'pound the ball' and then proceed to doing so. Very simple & effective.
The therapist and I discussed several things:(1) Hard to do specific speech therapy activity session at home
I shared how hard it was for me to come up with and get him to do a speech therapy activity at home. I could do it in the past, when he was younger. For e.g. I could prepare pictures and get him to say the words. But I failed last month.
The therapist said that it's part of normal development that he no longer wants to sit for an hour of speech therapy session at home. As they grow older, it's harder to get them to co-operate.
She said that it's in fact better to do what I did instead, which is to build in bits of speech therapy targets throughout the day. For e.g. correcting him for the 'c' sound or for missing phonemes. This way, the brain gets repeatedly reminded throughout the day and not just for an hour, then forgets the rest of the time.
I was so relieved to hear that. Partly cos I wont need to spend so much time in thinking of, making, and struggling to get him to participate in a speech therapy activity, and partly cos I've been doing the right thing the last few months.
(2) 'k' or 'c' sound
I shared that I read on www.babycentre.com that kids his age are not adept at producing the 'c' sound, replacing it with 't' for example.
She explained that's common for western kids due to the accent/local environment there, since it's a US based website. Whereas locally, the 'c' sound is used far more often and he is indeed delayed in producing that sound.
How interesting! Never realised that was the case.
(3) Cognitive & language developement normal
I shared that there's been a change to his speech. He was beginning to say things by himself without prompting or modelling.
For e.g. when he heard an aeroplane passing by, he said "toyota aeroplane...hahaha (he's being silly cos there no such thing)...red and white...like Air Asia...same but different"
She said that's a good sign. It shows he's progressing in terms of cognitive & language development. He's able to draw concepts from his memory without needing to see it in front of him.
(4) Next session mid Jan
Hooray! The therapist is comfortable with his progress and what we do with him at home that we don't need to see her next month or even the month after that. We'll only be seeing her again in mid January next year!
She said that she wanted to work on some of his other sounds but decided it was not necessary based on what she heard him say during this session. She was also pleased with his overall progress, not just in terms of speech but also gross & fine motor. She thinks that the NeuroSuit therapy has helped him greatly in his gross motor (he's more stable) and breath (speaks more).
She suggested mid Jan cos by then, he would have started kindergarten and we would have identified problems and deficiencies from his schooling which I can then highlight to her for help.
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