SPEECH THERAPY

Since we switched Braeden to Montessori, he is no longer getting a weekly group speech therapy session to work on pronouncing hard "Rs".  I took it upon myself to find him someone new and just pay for it.

He had to do an hour-long evaluation that was pretty boring.  She took photos of his mouth, tongue and teeth.  She watched him eat a chewy protein bar.  She watched him drink water through a clear glass.  She engaged him in all kinds of conversations noting which consonant R blends were worse.  I got a copy of her evaluation and a treatment plan. 

He wasn't very impressed with the evaluation (it wasn't very much fun, Gramma) so when he learned he was going back he asked if he could bring a toy or stuffed animal to keep him company (anxious).  I reminded him the evaluator said she promised the next visit would be FUN.  Let's give Allie, the therapist, a try at being fun and if she is not, then you can ask her if you can bring something.

WOW was Allie fun!!  First they just chatted.  She asked him why he was coming to see her.  And when he said he couldn't pronounce R's very well she said Oh my gosh!  That is the easiest thing to re-learn.  She explained that she was going to give him exercises for his tongue!  She gave him an M&M to place on the tip of his tongue and he was to press it to the roof of his mouth and hold it in place while he said R five times.  Then eat it!  Big hit!

Then they would play a game for a few minutes then SHOUT "R" words, and resume play.  She has an iPad game that is like a casino slot machine, where there were two slots.  He would press one button to get an adjective.  The second button would eventually show a "R" word.  Happy rabbit.  Silly squirrel.  Laughing aardvark.  Then mini marshmallow on tip of tongue and R R R R R.  

Another game and in between was saying a vowel and then an R.  A-R, E-R, I-R, O-R,U-R.   

As she was doing this exercise, she signed both letters.  He noticed and asked he if that was sign language ... then proceeded to tell her he had recently seen the Helen Keller movie.

And so on until our 45 minutes were up.  He left the building skipping and shouting R words!

Just wait, Alexa ... soon he can tell you to turn on War of the Worlds!