Chatterbox?

Yesterday I got a phone message from Natalie's speech therapist, but didn't get a chance to return it until today. Ms. Becky, Natalie's SLP, was so excited about how Natalie did yesterday, but wanted to wait and share it with me in person.

Becky said she had a group of five, including Natalie, with her during group speech therapy. Becky had several objects, and picked a ball and asked, "What is this?" Then she heard a little voice to her right that said, "ball" as clear as day. It was Natalie! Becky was so pleased that Natalie spoke without being prompted, and participated in a group setting (normally Natalie is content to sit and watch others speak, without speaking herself).

This is great news, because it shows that Natalie is starting to participate more in class, and is showing the teachers what we've seen at home: that she can speak, if she's given time to speak. Becky also pointed out that Natalie is responding with spoken words much more quickly than she was three months ago. She is very pleased with Natalie's progress, and so are we.

I also pointed out that Natalie has only been walking less than a year, and so she's been concentrating on gross motor development, and maybe now she can work on language development now that the gross motor is more advanced. Becky said, "Natalie hasn't been walking a year?" I told her yes, Natalie only walked at 2.5 years, so she hasn't been walking that long. Becky said that she agrees, because walking comes before talking, so she better understands where Natalie is in her development. It's funny how a little piece of information--walking at 2.5 instead of 1.5--can help something make more sense.

I also had to share the note that Natalie's teacher, Ms. Stacie, sent me the other day:

Natalie had a good beginning of the week. She had speech and OT on Monday, and we had group speech and OT on Tuesday. She is really showing us more of what she knows in one-on-one situations. She showed us, as you already know, that she knows many alphabet letters. In whole group she still gets a little distracted and other children do not always understand that they need to not yell out answers. She is starting to hold her own better within the whole group. She defends her books during book time and goes along with her peers during transitions. Natalie does not let herself be left out, which is definitely a good thing. During group OT the children had to move around on scooter boards and pick up bean bags to drop in a box. Natalie really enjoyed this activity. She did quite well maneuvering herself around and picking up bean bags. She needed a little help, but was able to use her legs to move her scooter board quite effectively.

Go Natalie!