Picture this (PCS in action)

Here’s one way we got started on our journey to speech stimulation and development: PCS – picture communication system. I found the nearest education store and spent hours just looking at what was available. In another post we’ll talk about how not to go overboard with the spending. You know when you want to find stuff that will help and you pick up one of everything? Then you discover some of it just doesn’t work for you? Been there, done that. Will sell the tee-shirt soon.

Anyway, I found this delightful set of flash cards. The pictures are vibrant. Nice colors and you get simple introduction to the concepts. Naming words – hat, chair, spoon. Action words – run, jump, skip, walk. Remember, the child is a blank slate. Who decided that run was the word for moving the legs one way and walk was the word for moving the same legs differently? Doesn’t really matter who decided. The real issue is that my child, with a speech delay, needed to see these actions in pictures so that she could comprehend the distinction between the meaning of the WALK word and the RUN word. So, here are the pictures from my box of flash cards – brand name TREND.

The box came with a host of action words which I simply put all around the house. Kitchen still has - cook, bake, wash on the stove, oven, dishwasher respectively. Front door has the lock and bathroom has wash, brush (teeth). As you can see, it takes a little work but once you’ve done it once, they just stay there doing their thing. The flash cards posted here were used in the basement since we used the basement door to go outside. These are many of the things you could do outside. Inside and outside were equally challenging. What is ‘inside’? And who decided that outside was outside? With each new concept, I had to be creative and as another blogger (Woozle) says – patient. The biggest part of this journey for me has been developing patience and detective skills to determine what’s the missing piece of the puzzle for her.

And what about all of those things that we say, routinely, and assume that they have meaning. Good morning. Good night. It’s bedtime. Yup.  I created my own flashcards for these concepts. Look, the research and the educational product market is just catching up but the number of things we need, I certainly would go bankrupt if I bought everything that they made. Making some things for myself gave me a sense of involvement.  I’m doing this as my gift 2 my child. I could just as easily buy them but there’s a sense of joy, fulfillment, satisfaction – like baking bread or rebuilding a car – this is the work of my hands coming from my heart for the child of my heart.

I found a picture dictionary – there are lots of really good ones. Then I simply selected the pictures that I needed and copied them. Cut. Paste. And voila – my own flash card.  You can do the same.

Greetings came to life once I had the homemade flash cards. Four years after I created these, you can now find more photos created into flash cards. That’s what speech therapists have been using. Now they are available for purchase…I can’t afford to buy everything and there’s a lot to learn. This is just the beginning.  You’ll have to decide which things you will make (or even have friends and family make for you). Some things you buy, some things you make. Picture this – you need pictures to stimulate language development – some concepts are easier than others. Some take longer to grasp than others. My challenge was to make them as I needed – most times I didn’t figure out what I needed in advance but once I knew what I needed to make, the rest was easy.

Made it myself tip: Locate a good education store or office supplies store. Acquire some basic supplies: glue stick, markers, flash cards (pre-printed and blank), scissors, push pins, double-sided tape. With these basic supplies, you can make your own flash cards from pre-school up. I’m still making flash cards in 1st grade. They provide simple manipulatives that help her acquire, manipulate language and language concepts. Try it and see if it works for you.

Picture this – PCS (picture communication system) - either the official version or your own homemade version is a great way to introduce your child (with or without a speech delay) to language and language concepts. A picture really was worth a thousand words.  The pictures got us off to a helpful start and we are better off for having tried them.

Seen and Unseen (development milestones)

Remember when it was almost time for the baby to arrive? The doctor went through the delivery process including the APGAR score (appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration). You knew what to expect. You were probably also advised about what action the doctor would take if the score was low. Then they sent you home with the baby – no book, no notes, no tip sheet. Some things we know from common sense. Other things we’ve learned from the experiences of our parents, friends, colleagues and the abundance of literature out there.


The baby had 10 fingers and 10 toes. She ate; she cried; she pooped. Things looked good. What I didn’t know was that there was growth and development that could be seen and growth and development that was unseen. Physical development – is obvious and seen. Cognitive and Emotional development – they are actually happening as well. Perhaps the more enlightened parent knows what those facets look like. Sometimes, though, you’re so consumed by the daily routine and the visible signs of development, you forget that there is unseen development at work.


The good news is that with the internet and the explosion of information, there are many more accessible resources that give you robust information. I recently found two sites that I wish I had seen in those early years. While I was focused on feedings, gross motor skills, crawling, walking, and the other seen signs of development, I was unaware of the subtle signs of unseen development - in the cognitive and emotional arenas. Good news was – I have a great pediatrician. With each visit, I learned something new about the seen and unseen development milestones that my daughter was being measured against.


Lesson learned – they can’t give you all the information about every aspect of a baby's development as there is growth that is seen and unseen, known and unknown even to the scientists.


The same is true of the speech – language and cognitive development. Saying words is the starting point of the journey. The first words let you know that they have the equipment to produce the sounds and they can hear and imitate. At 2 yrs she knew over 100 words but at 3 the speech was still unintelligible. Once we visited Kennedy Krieger Institute for our developmental testing, I discovered the range of unseen skills that should have been developing.


While I wish the answers to the cure and cause question were available, I am grateful for all of the speech–language pathologists and practitioners who can administer the tests and clue me in to what is happening developmentally and what should be happening. The ability to name action and agent (what flies, runs, bites); the ability to draw a picture; the ability to repeat a sentence or the ability to repeat a string of numbers - these are just some of the tasks in the assessment that tell the practitioner what cognitive strengths and challenges we face. You can’t study for these assessments.  You have to be developing with the right stimulation, experiences, or professional guidance.
 

Enjoy your child’s development.  Remember, however, that while you can’t see what’s happening in the brain something should be happening. If your child is normally developing then the notion of seen and unseen development perhaps didn’t even register for you. For me, once I discovered that weight, height and knowing 100+ words weren’t enough of an indication of development, I wanted to know more about the seen and unseen development that should be occurring. Check out these websites if you’re interested in learning more about the development phases of children. They are just milestones but they are a guide that can be helpful to parents who want to know what should come next.


Development milestones

PBS child development tracker

If your child isn't growing (weight or height), you would want to know what you could do.  Same goes for developing speech, language, and thinking skills.  If there's a delay, you should learn what it is and what you can do to address it.  Weight and height are development milestones that you can see easily.  There are other areas of development that are unseen but these also deserve your attention and support.  Development includes aspects that are both seen and unseen.  Visible or not, all aspects need our nurturing.