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Post by erica0730 on Oct 4, 2004 23:11:11 GMT -5
hi,
My names Erica and I have a 3 year old son named Nicolas with Down Syndrome. He has been slightly delayed in his gross and fine motor skills but his speech is extremely delayed and I am getting really worried. He has a few words but he does not pronounce anything correctly. That doesn't bother me as much as the fact that he still does not call anyone by a name. He never says mommy or daddy or even makes some sign for people. Did anyone else have problems like this? If so can you give me some advice on how to get him to call people something? I would really appreciate some guidance.
Thanks,
Erica
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Post by YoshsMom on Oct 5, 2004 12:18:30 GMT -5
Try getting a little photo album and putting in pictures of the people whose name or title you want him to learn. Try and get a picture with just that person, a polaroid camera is great for this. Write the name under the picture and read it with him for a couple of minutes every day. If Nicolas using sign lanuguage, sign mommy, daddy, etc., when you read it with him. Hope this helps.
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Post by DevensMom on Oct 5, 2004 14:31:56 GMT -5
Erica , I am sorry I can not be of much help and will be interested on seeing the response because you have just described my son to a T.
he is doing excellent on fine and gross motor skills but speech is nada , non existent , ziltch.
he grunts and yiels but no words at all yet .
I know he understand everything I tell him because he respond with action to match what I ask of him.
My son will be 3 in January .
He does sign for : please,thank you ,more, all done and gentle but that is in and not consistently.
the speech therapist we have seen (only 3 times) are totally useless (long story).
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Post by steffipoo on Oct 5, 2004 14:46:14 GMT -5
HI Rickis mom has a great idea that we have used for my girl. It really enables our kids to communicate and then they can start to add signs and words. Heres an idea. Get a poster board and put it up on the wall where your child can access it. Now I would start with the most familiar words you want your child to learn. Not just names although they are very imp.) but also say juice milk food items fav tv show. WELL what we did was get velcro dots or strips(i get em at our 99 cent store) then take CLOSE UP pictures of familiar items and people. Things you REALLY want your child to be able to communicate to you. We started with mommy daddy kyle(her bro) milk, juice(I took pictures of our milk carton and juice carton) one of Olivia sleeping to suggest to her that if she's tired she can let me know and lots of things. Their fav toy etc. THEN line em up on the board attaching them to it with velcro. I made dots to fit each picture. Then when they want something they can go to the board and rip off the picture and you can say the word to them and ask em a  do you want MILK then point to the milk and sign it and have then try to copy you. Takes time to teach your child but over time its a HUGE frustration lifter for you and your child. I always made sure I repeated what the item or persons name was and signed it if at all possible. First just go over it with them and actually SHOW them how to use it. May have to motor em through it but they will do it by themselves eventually.Don't worry bout using this as a crutch like some do cause when they can say it themselves they will and drop the picture and sign. Then as more words come out of their mouth take those pictures off and add new ones. Its a HUGE help once everyone gets the hang of it and not too much trouble at all!!! gOOD LUCK!!! sTEFF |
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Post by meghans_mom on Oct 5, 2004 14:58:11 GMT -5
also do 'hand over hand' when showing your child the sign. consistency is key - when you say 'mommy' - sign it as well...then have your child sign it w/ help.
it took meghan a looooong time to actually call me mommy...she did say mama for awhile then dropped it, then i was 'ah-mee' and now i'm finally "mommy".
probably w-in the last 6 months, and she's 3 1/2 now.
good luck - i know this is the most worrisome issue for us as well.
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Post by Chris on Oct 5, 2004 18:17:10 GMT -5
I am a great believer in the Signing Time and Talking Hands dvds. My daughter has learned more from watching them than in her hour of speech once a week. I think watching other children sign has been a great motivator for her. I have also learned many signs from watching the dvds with her. She turned three in September and she rarely says momma or dadda. She will sign them if I talk about daddy. It is a slow process but she has really come a long way in the past four months. Hang in there. I think the picture idea is wonderful.
Chris
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Post by briarsmom on Oct 5, 2004 21:05:20 GMT -5
Briar is a little over 3 he is not saying much . He is just now starting to say more words (that only I or someone close to us can understand) . He does sign about 20 + words and probally says about 10 words. We put him in a developmental preschool and it has made a world of differance. He has to make it know what he wants. So he has to talk. They (speech people) are doing the picture thing with him. They told me to do it at home too.
Lori
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Post by MaggiesMom on Oct 6, 2004 22:52:26 GMT -5
Your child doesn't sound too delayed for a child with DS to me. Maggie is deaf in her left ear and has moderate loss in her right ear. We often struggle to know what we should expect with DS and hearing loss.
Have you had your child's hearing tested? It should be done every year. And ask them to do a tympanogram, which checks for fluid as well. The doctor cannot always visually see fluid behind the ear drum. And it can make a difference.
Maggie had to have tubes. Not due to ear infections, but due to fluid and having negative pressures in her ears. Add that to hearing loss and it's not a good thing!
I hope in your case it's just a case of waiting. Maggie has really started trying to talk this summer. Before she didn't even try. She still doesn't call me or her brother by name. But she does her Daddy. She's a huge Daddy fan!
Take care.
Robin M - Maggie's mom
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Post by rickismom on Oct 7, 2004 15:31:18 GMT -5
As steff wrote (nice of you steff to credit me- glad it helped you!)- use pics. This teaches that COMMUNICATIONS WORKS. Very important. [If you don't want to do with Velcro (although that Steff's addition and a VERY GOOD one) you can do it more simply with pics in a cheap photo album. But the velcro sounds great and is surely woth the effort.] After they realize that communication will get them what they need, speech will hopefully improve. Once they understand 50 works ("give me the giraffe" and they give you the giraffe card) you can start READING. This helps speech and PRONUNCIATION because:
- the written word doesn't fly away like the spoken word
- they see all the sylables, so they are more likely to say start or ends of words that were left off before
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Post by erica0730 on Oct 7, 2004 23:43:33 GMT -5
Thank you all for the advice and support I am doing to try the ideas you have given me. Its also comforting to know that some many other parents are concerned about there children as well. That makes me fell better because that means it is normal and will my son isn't really far behind. I will write again and let you know how it is going.
Thanks,
Erica
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do you want MILK then point to the milk and sign it and have then try to copy you. Takes time to teach your child but over time its a HUGE frustration lifter for you and your child. I always made sure I repeated what the item or persons name was and signed it if at all possible. First just go over it with them and actually SHOW them how to use it. May have to motor em through it but they will do it by themselves eventually.Don't worry bout using this as a crutch like some do cause when they can say it themselves they will and drop the picture and sign. Then as more words come out of their mouth take those pictures off and add new ones. Its a HUGE help once everyone gets the hang of it and not too much trouble at all!!! gOOD LUCK!!! sTEFF