The holidays are once again upon us. Here’s a few things I’d like to share during this special time of year:
1. This month marks the one year anniversary of “Jake’s Journey to be a Little Man.” My first blog post was published on December 6, 2011 and since that time, 22,000 have popped in for my weekly posts. I’m so blessed that I have been able to document our experience with apraxia and I can’t imagine life without my online support group!
2. I have two book recommendations if your child has a speech disorder: Nicholas Sparks’ Three Weeks with My Brother and The Rescue. Did you know Sparks’ son had a speech disorder? These books made my heart melt.
3. Want to get your SLP a Christmas gift? I’m loving Leslie Lindsay’s blog post this week “Honoring your SLP this Month – Gift-giving Ideas.”
4. Am I the only mama whose apraxic child has a hard time singing? Jake has just recently learned his first song. It took him months to perfect those few lines and now we’re faced with the Jingle Bells challenge.
I stumbled upon something that really worked for him. I made flash cards for each word of the song. Then, I held each word/picture up and this helped him break up the parts of the song instead of it coming out as one big approximation. After doing this many times, he was able to recite the song on his own. To keep the song visual at all times, I store the flash cards in a pocket chart that is hung in the living room.
5. A few of my favorite Pinterest speech activities that I hope to dive into next week …
6. You regular readers know that I am a huge fan of Kindermusik and it is time to sign up for second semester! This would be a great present for your child from family members. Jake has attended these classes since he was two years old and he is currently in the Imagine That! class for 3.5 to 5.5 year olds. This class has been an amazing speech, learning, and social outlet for my Lil’ Man.
Jake's Journey with Apraxia 