Jul 28 2009
Celebration! Echolalia and my Delayed Toddler
Well, here it is, my first celebration post! Way back in May, I shared about B’s echolalia. In particular, when B wanted to be carried, she was holding her arms up and saying, “Carry you, Mama!” as an echo of me asking “Would you like me to carry you?” Well, yesterday on the way home from the park, B did her usual bit of getting in front of me so that I couldn’t walk. She held her arms up and asked, “Mama, you like you carry me?” Now I know that it’s not 100% correct, but it put a smile on my face to hear her use the words “carry me”.
It took months to get us to this point. The technique we used was one I learned in the More than Words workshop called Interpreting–saying the words as your child would if they could. Whenever B asked me to “carry you”, I would say back to her, “Carry me, Mama” so that she had the correct model to follow. It’s not always easy, because my first reaction is to respond to what I know she is saying. It’s great to see the lessons we’ve learned put in to practice and paying off.
Good one! It’s always fun when you can play along when they get mixed up. Sometimes B will nod her head for yes when she means no, so I will give her what she didn’t want.