Speech Therapist Consult

Although every child develops at their own pace, there are activities and techniques to enhance their senses.  Elliott is really sweet, gentle and quiet little boy.  Quite intelligent and very observant.  His motor skills are advanced, however communication and feeding is a hurdle.  Elliott really needs our guidance and "special play time" to improve verbal communication and eye contact.

Met with a wonderful Speech Therapist this afternoon, Cara, who clearly sees Elliott is an extremely hypersensitive child, both physically and emotionally.  After a little assessment Cara noticed Elliott's communication is laking an important skill - eye contact.  Elliott gestures what he wants but doesn't look at us - didn't notice this before!!! 

Over the next 2 weeks we'll designate 1 hour a day to "special" play time with blocks, puzzles, shapes and books using Cara's techniques.  Elliott still gets free play-time and a Baby Einstein video, but Mommy and Daddy play-time will be priority.

Our phrasing requires some changes.  We tend to communicate in the form of a question, for example..."does Elliott want a cookie?".  Moving forward, we'll speak in the form of a comment, for example... "Cookie for Elliott!  Open bag for cookie!", "More", "Let's..." - using lots of expressions and delivering the words with enthusiasm to enforce him making eye contact.  Small descriptive words and lots of repetition is key here!