Kai has been having speech therapy for over eight years. During that entire time, he has been working with the same wonderful speech therapist.
We met Alyson several months after Kai was diagnosed with autism. At that time, we had doubts about how much any speech therapist could help him. After all, his speech, such as it was, was limited to a few words, and he didn’t string any of them together at a time. He didn't respond to anything we said to him. The thought that we would one day be able to have a conversation with our son was a dream, and some may thought it was a pipedream.
But as Alyson worked with Kai week after week, we saw changes. Kai gained new words. And then, short sentences.
After a time, he started to respond to our questions, with just a word or two at first, but eventually with sentences.
Alyson always adapted her work to ensure that Kai kept making progress. When Kai was able to speak sentences and respond to questions, she worked on conversations - teaching Kai to continue the back-and-forth through asking relevant questions back and perspective taking.
She also worked on other aspects of speech such as understanding non-literal language. While most of us understand idioms or colloquialisms without having to think about them, a boy like Kai who had a deficit in communication skills needed extra help to understand what they meant. Alyson's work in this and other areas helped to ensure that Kai's language sounded normal, and not overly formal or processed.
Alyson periodically tested Kai through formal evaluations. These tests quantitatively measured his progress and helped her identify what to work on. She finished her latest round of testing a few weeks ago and last week we got the results – Kai’s speech was now in the normal range. He no longer needs speech therapy.
As you can imagine, we are very joyous that he has achieved this milestone. We sometimes struggle to notice all the progress Kai has made because our focus is on all the work that still needs to be done. A milestone like this reminds us of just how far he has come.
Tomorrow will be Kai's last session with Alyson. We have told him that he is ‘graduating’ from speech therapy and that Alyson will have a celebration with him to commemorate the occasion.
We are extremely grateful to Alyson. Besides being so fantastic at her job, she was always the most upbeat, enthusiastic person who Kai enjoyed seeing every week. He will miss seeing her, as will we.
But we will never forget the impact that she had on Kai. Thank you, Alyson. You are in our hearts forever.
Showing posts with label speech therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speech therapy. Show all posts
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Progress Seen Through an Elvis Song
Every December, our son’s school has a holiday concert where parents are invited to hear their children sing.
Two years ago, we sat through all the songs but Kai never came out to sing. He had had a meltdown and we found him after the concert with his school therapist, still visibly upset as he sat without a shirt, having tattered the one he had worn to school.
This year, Kai sang several songs along with all the other students at his school. I couldn’t attend, but my wife recorded all the songs with her iPhone. I could see that Kai sang nice and loud.
The school's music teacher is from Chicago’s venerable Old Town School of Folk Music, and Kai has spoken many times about how much he enjoys his music class. Watching the concert, you could see that he was not the only child to feel that way.
The highlight of the concert came when any student who wanted to sing solo was given the opportunity to sing the chorus of Teddy Bear, the song made famous by Elvis Presley. Kai was among the many who raised their hands.
I’m pretty sure that several kids who volunteered to sing solo, including Kai, were receiving speech therapy. So it was quite heartwarming to see them so confidant and wanting to sing in front of an audience.
For us, the contrast from two years ago was stark.
Who knew that Teddy Bear could be so meaningful to us?
Two years ago, we sat through all the songs but Kai never came out to sing. He had had a meltdown and we found him after the concert with his school therapist, still visibly upset as he sat without a shirt, having tattered the one he had worn to school.
This year, Kai sang several songs along with all the other students at his school. I couldn’t attend, but my wife recorded all the songs with her iPhone. I could see that Kai sang nice and loud.
The school's music teacher is from Chicago’s venerable Old Town School of Folk Music, and Kai has spoken many times about how much he enjoys his music class. Watching the concert, you could see that he was not the only child to feel that way.
The highlight of the concert came when any student who wanted to sing solo was given the opportunity to sing the chorus of Teddy Bear, the song made famous by Elvis Presley. Kai was among the many who raised their hands.
I’m pretty sure that several kids who volunteered to sing solo, including Kai, were receiving speech therapy. So it was quite heartwarming to see them so confidant and wanting to sing in front of an audience.
For us, the contrast from two years ago was stark.
Who knew that Teddy Bear could be so meaningful to us?
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Working on Executive Function
Like many kids with autism, Kai has trouble with executive function. Executive function is what allows people to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, and managing time and space.
Kai’s speech therapist extraordinaire, Alyson, is working with him on this.
Kai usually loves to see Alyson. Who wouldn’t? She is enthusiastic, smart, has lots of energy, and makes the sessions fun for Kai.
And if that weren’t enough, she has a large supply of snacks to choose from. When Kai is in irritable mood, the opportunity to choose a snack he can’t get at home is usually enough to make him less of a grump.
At his latest session, Alyson used Kai’s desire to get a snack to work with him on executive function.
She developed a template that helps the child to organize their thoughts and plans. The template has three parts: Get Ready, Do, and Done. The entire activity is planned out step by step. For now, she helps Kai by prompting him to identify the next step, and then by writing down his comment. When the planning is done, they do the activity, following along the plan that was developed.
In her latest session, they made a school of fish out of dried apricots, pretzels, frosting, and chocolate chips.
Here is the plan that Alyson helped Kai develop:
And here is the result:
Neat, huh? I think that would motivate me to learn how to plan as well!
Kai’s speech therapist extraordinaire, Alyson, is working with him on this.
Kai usually loves to see Alyson. Who wouldn’t? She is enthusiastic, smart, has lots of energy, and makes the sessions fun for Kai.
And if that weren’t enough, she has a large supply of snacks to choose from. When Kai is in irritable mood, the opportunity to choose a snack he can’t get at home is usually enough to make him less of a grump.
At his latest session, Alyson used Kai’s desire to get a snack to work with him on executive function.
She developed a template that helps the child to organize their thoughts and plans. The template has three parts: Get Ready, Do, and Done. The entire activity is planned out step by step. For now, she helps Kai by prompting him to identify the next step, and then by writing down his comment. When the planning is done, they do the activity, following along the plan that was developed.
In her latest session, they made a school of fish out of dried apricots, pretzels, frosting, and chocolate chips.
Here is the plan that Alyson helped Kai develop:
And here is the result:
Neat, huh? I think that would motivate me to learn how to plan as well!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Insurance Coverage Denied
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
My Son, the Snack Shop Employee
My son’s therapeutic school just opened up a snack shop where students can go during their break time. But, its main purpose is not just to be a place for kids to get snacks.
Run by the school’s speech therapist, its primary goal is to enable students to use their social/pragmatic language and math skills in settings that promote carryover and refinement. Both shopping and working at the snack shop is an earned privilege to students who meet their expectations in class.
Kai was one of two kids selected to be the first employees.
His teacher reported that Kai was very excited for his first day as a snack shop employee. She said that he greeted his “customers” warmly and made great eye contact. He did a wonderful job and will continue working there every Monday through the end of the semester.
With so much in the news lately of the poor quality of American schools, I feel fortunate that my son is going to a place that has such innovative thinkers as this speech therapist. What a great idea to have students “working” in a setting that will help them practice the skills they need to work on the most.
It wasn’t all that long ago that we were happy with any social interaction our son made. Now, he is greeting customers. I never thought I’d be so proud to say, “my son, the snack shop employee.”
Run by the school’s speech therapist, its primary goal is to enable students to use their social/pragmatic language and math skills in settings that promote carryover and refinement. Both shopping and working at the snack shop is an earned privilege to students who meet their expectations in class.
Kai was one of two kids selected to be the first employees.
His teacher reported that Kai was very excited for his first day as a snack shop employee. She said that he greeted his “customers” warmly and made great eye contact. He did a wonderful job and will continue working there every Monday through the end of the semester.
With so much in the news lately of the poor quality of American schools, I feel fortunate that my son is going to a place that has such innovative thinkers as this speech therapist. What a great idea to have students “working” in a setting that will help them practice the skills they need to work on the most.
It wasn’t all that long ago that we were happy with any social interaction our son made. Now, he is greeting customers. I never thought I’d be so proud to say, “my son, the snack shop employee.”
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