Bubbles for Babbling

“Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles
Bubbles, bubbles, POP!”

Turns out blowing bubbles is good for developing speech.

“Bubbles” is one of the few words Kymee says which a stranger can understand. Of course “Baba” 

and “Bubbles” end up sounding the same, so one must taking into context whether she is hugging her “Baba” Stephan, or wanting to chase pop-able spheres around. Her therapist is also using bubbles to try and get her to say, “Pop” and “More.” (She does say "more" - Amanda just hasn't heard it yet)

If you listen real closely in this video you can catch the word "bubbles" or more like "bubu."

But the real therapy isn’t in the words associated with bubbles themselves, but the ability to blow them. 120 toddlers were studied by Lancaster University, it was found that the ability to perform complex mouth movements, like blowing bubbles, sucking through a straw and kissing, were strongly linked with the ability to develop language.

Kymee’s language challenges stem from a lack of control over her mouth muscles, due to her cleft lip and palate. Blowing bubbles exercises for the lips, breathe control, and mouth positions.

When blowing bubbles, the therapist is looking for a round shape of the lips. 

As you can see from this photo, Kymee can not yet  round her lips completely. 

 “Pucker up” and blow is the lip position for the sounds /w/, oo, and /o/.

Blowing bubbles also positions and strengthens the tongue for sounds that are made in the back of the mouth like /k/, /g/, and ng.  Funny, these were the first sounds that Kymee made after her palate repair surgery, but she has stopped making them for some reason.

So, I’ll get Kymee to blow some bubbles and work out those lip muscles. I’m hopeful that a byproduct of this therapy is that she’ll learn to give round, closed mouthed kisses instead of slobbering all over my face. 

Say "Moooo"

Amanda, "What does the cow say?"

 "The cow says moooo"
"Say 'moooo'"

 "What does the lion say"

Kymee, "Grrrrrrrr"

Amanda, "Grr, good"

                                              

I watched on a TV monitor from a cubby-hole in the video observation room as Kymee and her new speech therapist played alone in a therapy room. I realized I was paying $25/hr for a graduate student to sit on the floor and name objects, a task I perform daily for free.

I have no idea why, but watching Kymee interact with the therapist, was spell-binding. Best TV I've seen for a while. Don't ask me why it was entertaining to watch when she shook her head and said "no" when asked to exchange her plastic lion for a red fire truck, but it was. Even Andres couldn't keep his eyes off the monitor and read his book, and laughed out loud as Kymee loaded her baskets with the four-legged creatures instead of willingly being redirected by Amanda. She enjoyed loading and unloading these small critters into the baskets, and when forced to play with the "red fire truck" and "yellow school bus" (as Amanda labeled them) she insisted on lining the vehicles up perfectly on the table. Slightly OCD, or maybe just a melancholy.

I prided myself on the fact that she never once threw a fit, or screamed in frustration, and only hit Amanda twice. I almost feel sorry for Amanda, after one hour of Kymee time, she believes her to be a "quiet" little girl whose one true love in life is manufactured barnyard animals. But, as far as first impressions go, Kymee made a good one. Hope the graduate student isn't too disillusioned when the real Kymee shows up.

Scream and Point

Kymee was evaluated by ECI (a state funded program run by the school district for kids too young to go to school) to see if she qualified for Speech Therapy.

This is what 19 month-olds are supposed to be saying:

"The vocabulary of a typical 19-month-old toddler may consist of as few as ten words or as many as 50. Yours may be able to link two or more words together, and is starting to use more "action" words. Verbs like "go" and "jump" are common, and so is linking a verb with her name (or pronoun), as in "Come me," meaning "Come with me." (It will be some months before she inserts the preposition.) Many 19-month-olds are also well-versed in direction words such as "up," "down," "under," "out," and "in."

http://www.babycenter.com/0_your-19-month-olds-language-and-cognitive-development-versed_1214071.bc

This is what Kymee is doing at 19 months: 

"Kymberlee is waving bye-bye and uses signs and gestures to request what she wants. She is imitating several sounds: h,m,n and vowels. She can vary her voice to use inflections, and uses 5 verbal words and 4 signs consistently. Her sound repertoire is still limited related to her cleft palate. She is not eligible for therapy." 

This is what they really mean:

Kymberlee uses signs and gestures to request what she wants = She smacks you to get your attention

She is imitating several sounds = she growls like a lion, and barks like a dog

She can vary her voice = she screams loudly

She uses 5 verbal words = that are only understood by over-compensation, over-zealous loved ones

Her sound repertoire is still limited = she can't speak

She is not eligible for therapy = Because she can point and scream, we don't have to spend money on her therapy, you do!