Well I did it. I put my foot down. And really, I didn't even have to put it down too firmly. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I stopped being a pushover and opened my mouth to just say, "Hey, uh...is there something more we could be doing?"
I also mentioned (not for the first time) big bad words like 'apraxia' and 'frustration' and I think I got my point across that I need help with a more aggressive speech and oral motor plan for Georgia. The speech therapist left this morning and I have homework--so does Georgia.
I am in the midst now of (finally) making a sound book. (Thank you Google Images!) and in that book I will place pictures I have printed out of different images which we will use to work on different sounds. (i.e. a picture of a bunny will help us with the 'B' sound.) It's not magical, it's not rocket science, but it's these little tasks that I really needed help with. Ideas. Ya' know? Sometimes it's just these simple ideas that I don't even think of!
We also have a worksheet on ways to promote oral motor skills at home. I really wanted to get my hands on something like this before the baby is born because we will be taking a month off from therapies and I needed something concrete to work on with Georgia.
We have the early communication book for kids with DS, but sometimes you need some help figuring out what you should do from someone who knows who you are talking about (Georgia) and where she is in her developmental progress.
So now we have some passive and active exercises to work on. We've been told to aim for 3x/day for 10-15 minutes each. It's a lot. It SEEMS like it, but I am eager to get going.
I feel silly for not having done this sooner and because more than anything our "work" in this area has been mostly passive. I mean, we sign (words we know) and try to get Georgia to imitate regularly. It's a part of almost every single activity we do. Even driving in the car or putting on shoes or while eating dinner and brushing teeth we are "working" on things. Just by nature. So I don't feel like we haven't done anything...it's incorporated into almost every single aspect of our lives. But I needed some tasks.
Well I did it. I put my foot down. And really, I didn't even have to put it down too firmly. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I stopped being a pushover and opened my mouth to just say, "Hey, uh...is there something more we could be doing?"
I also mentioned (not for the first time) big bad words like 'apraxia' and 'frustration' and I think I got my point across that I need help with a more aggressive speech and oral motor plan for Georgia. The speech therapist left this morning and I have homework--so does Georgia.
I am in the midst now of (finally) making a sound book. (Thank you Google Images!) and in that book I will place pictures I have printed out of different images which we will use to work on different sounds. (i.e. a picture of a bunny will help us with the 'B' sound.) It's not magical, it's not rocket science, but it's these little tasks that I really needed help with. Ideas. Ya' know? Sometimes it's just these simple ideas that I don't even think of!
We also have a worksheet on ways to promote oral motor skills at home. I really wanted to get my hands on something like this before the baby is born because we will be taking a month off from therapies and I needed something concrete to work on with Georgia.
We have the early communication book for kids with DS, but sometimes you need some help figuring out what you should do from someone who knows who you are talking about (Georgia) and where she is in her developmental progress.
So now we have some passive and active exercises to work on. We've been told to aim for 3x/day for 10-15 minutes each. It's a lot. It SEEMS like it, but I am eager to get going.
I feel silly for not having done this sooner and because more than anything our "work" in this area has been mostly passive. I mean, we sign (words we know) and try to get Georgia to imitate regularly. It's a part of almost every single activity we do. Even driving in the car or putting on shoes or while eating dinner and brushing teeth we are "working" on things. Just by nature. So I don't feel like we haven't done anything...it's incorporated into almost every single aspect of our lives. But I needed some tasks.
And now I have some tasks.
We'll see how it goes.