Where do I begin?

In the Sound of Music, Maria (Julie Andrews) attempts to teach the Captain’s children how to sing. She starts strumming the guitar and says “let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.  When you read, you begin with A-B-C when you sing you begin with doh-ray-me” and that is the very place that I started.

One of your first decisions as a parent, if you’re going to work, is "who will take care of my child?" You ask the obvious questions, "Is the place clean, safe, and are the caregivers loving?"  I already had a great child care provider so those questions had already been answered. With the new information about the speech delay however, I needed to ensure that other questions were answered. How can we tap into the strengths that this child possesses while building on the areas that need help? Will the daycare provider have an environment that supports language development and stimulation? 

Start with the basics: I started with blocks, puzzles, board books, manipulatives that continued to provide the knowledge deposits that she needed. I began to manage the language that surrounded her…not too high brow, not too low, certainly not vulgar or colorful. 

Discovery: You’ve got to be careful what you say. In the early days, my sister would say often “she’s not deaf; she’s just not speaking.” That was a reminder that even though you’re not getting a whole lot back in (expressive) language…the ears are working and that stuff you’re tempted to say will be stuck in there. Ain’t no telling when and how it could come flying out when you least expect. And that could be embarrassing.

So, with a house decorated with flash cards, what else do you do to support speech development? I certainly learned how to say things in different ways. There’s an unfortunate thing we do when people don’t understand what we’re saying…we speak louder. Duh? If they're deaf, speaking louder does not equip them with hearing. If there's a comprehension problem, speaking slower does not aid comprehension.  I had to learn to speak differently. 

I learned quickly that I had to find different ways to communicate the basic concepts.  Sometimes the flashcards had pictures that helped…those were the easy times. Other times, we simply had to get up and move to the place where the concept was visible or to demonstrate the concept itself.

That summer, she qualified for summer school and it was a great experience. She was familiar with the bus routine and the teaching staff. I bought some pre-school resources and tried to complement what she was learning in therapy and at day care. (more about the $$$ wasted on those resources).  She was great with colors, numbers, fruits and vegetables, and weather. All of those easy concepts that come with pictures. We started with the basics and that gave us a strong foundation in preparation for pre-school. They can’t survive if you don’t start with the basics!! 

Blocks and manipulatives of every kind, these were My Gift to My Child.