Summer Speech

We didn't take a vacation this summer. We wanted to, of course, I always want to go somewhere with the kids...but we needed to do something more. My almost second-grader (who will start school this week) has had some speech issues and after many months of 'communicating' with our insurance (and those involved,) we realized that speech therapy wasn't covered. So we decided to invest in two or three days a week for speech therapy during the entire summer.

It was well worth it.Initially, I couldn't figure out exactly what he was doing incorrectly, especially with his 'r' and 'l' sounds, therefore I couldn't help correct him. I just knew it didn't sound right and he sounded like a little kid. My friends just think he has an accent from somewhere else (Boston? another country?) and thought it sounded cute. Perhaps. But as he is getting older, he needed to understand what he was doing differently and correct it. Once he realized he needed to keep that tongue "Tight, Up and Back," it got easier.

While he enjoyed the many games designed to teach him as well as have fun, he really loved the eating part! During one visit, the therapist and he made pizza (bagel, pizza sauce, mozarella cheese and pepperoni) in a toaster oven and he was hooked! He loved being able to make it and we had to do it at home as well. Of course, the reason she did that was to make a 'recipe' and have him repeat some phrases while doing it. I had him to that at home as well as she also sent home a 'recipe card.'

This is a picture I took on the last day of therapy. They are playing Angry Birds and she had already cleared out the therapy room of all the games and took down the projects they had made from the walls. He loves long sleeved shirts (even though it's VERY hot outside) and had just recently aquired a bright orange vest (like those who go deer hunting.) He likes to look like a 'hunter.'



I have always been a 'correcter' and find myself even correcting my grown children if they make a grammatical error so I know I'll continue to assist my kiddo as he learns to say these sounds correctly. It'll take some time but it was a fun summer nonetheless! It's amazing how FAST it flew by!!