delayedtoddler

Tonight was our first session of the Sensory Integration (SI) workshop put on my our fabulous OT and SLP from the hospital. It was neat to go back there and see them and for them to see how much progress B has made in the last few months. (We brought G & B with us and they stayed in the therapy room with some volunteers). Hubs came with me and I think he got some good information out of it as well.

I chose the picture below for today’s post because, well, I love Banff–it is beautiful and I think I would probably live there if I could afford it (and of course if I could get services for B there)–but also because it is just such a fresh image, a fresh, new day. Starting this course feels like a new beginning for us. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last year, but I think that working with the SI and behaviours is going to be a big help for B.

We had an interesting moment when we went to pick the girls up from the play room. Neither one wanted to come home, but G’s 7, she gets that you have to go. B, however, refused to leave. She was playing on a “Sit and Spin” and told me “I go ’round!” When I told her it was time to go bye bye, she refused. She said she wanted to go around some more (it figures she’s getting sensory input spinning when I’m leaving from this particular workshop!). I tried reasoning with her and eventually just picked her up and headed out the door. My husband mentioned to one of the volunteers, “Gee, can you tell which child is the one with special needs?” and the teenage volunteer shrugged and said, “No, I just see children.” Wow. When a teenager volunteering in the hospital for their high school volunteer hours (they have to have 40 hours to graduate) can say something like that, it just puts it all in perspective. Because we know B has special needs, we tend to focus on that, but other people don’t. They just see a little kid.

Day Care update: I mentioned awhile ago that the new SLP suggested a daycare setting might benefit B as she would be in a same peer group and have more structure. She sent me a brochure a couple months ago and I finally stopped procrastinating and called. The person I spoke with was great. She gave me lots of information and then asked me lots of questions about B and how she interacts with others. Depending on the day care setting, we would have a resource teacher available to help B adjust to the daycare and also to help the day care workers work with her. The resource teacher would also do home visits to help us work with B as well. And when she’s ready for kindergarten, the resource teacher would also go to the school and help B adjust there as well. I’m really excited about the opportunities that are available.

What finally convinced me to call about the program is that I realized that B spends all of her time with me. She’s becoming dependent on me to act as her interpreter and her buffer from the world. And I’ve been spending so much time with her that I’m losing my sense of self too. It just seemed like the right time to start looking at our options. We need some time apart from each other so we can both experience new things. Don’t let this make it sound like it was an easy decision, because it totally wasn’t. I worry so much about B, she’s my baby and I feel like I have to be there to help her every step of the way. I’m very possessive of her because I am the one who knows her inside and out. I’m her advocate and interpreter and the very thought of allowing someone else to take over for me is very hard to accept. See what I mean? She definitely needs some space from me!

Anyway, we’re on yet another wait list, this time for special needs space in the daycare (they use quite a few day cares, so we may not have to wait too long). I have to get two medical professionals to write a letter to suggest that B would benefit from the program and then we wait. The service is free, but we will have to pay for the day care costs. I’ve requested subsidy applications to see if we can qualify for assistance because the cost of day care is really what has prohibited us from putting either of the girls into a formal program (and it’s also the reason I work part time). …so, that’s what has been up with us.

Echolalia is a funny word. It is basically what it sounds like–an echo. Toddlers with communication delays may use a form of echolalia (there are several different forms).

B uses immediate echolalia which means that she repeats a word or phrase immediately after hearing it. Here is a video showing an older child displaying immediate echolalia:

You will notice that he repeats each word immediately after it is said to him.

B also uses delayed echolalia which is a repetition of a word or phrase at some later time. Sometimes she uses echolalia because she does not know the right words to use. For example, when she wants to be carried, she’ll stand in front of me, hold her arms up and say, “I wan’ you carry you!” This is delayed echolalia. The reason she says this is that I would ask her “Do you want me to carry you?” She understands that “carry you” means she gets picked up. It has taken me some time to learn to interpret for her, using the words that she would use if she could (a technique taught in the More than Words program). Now, when she holds her arms out and asks me to “carry you”, I will respond by saying, “Carry me, mama!” She’s getting closer to getting it now, but it’s still tricky for her.

When B is very excited, she will repeat the same phrase over and over.  When we are going somewhere special, she’ll repeat it “We goin’ liberry!”  Sometimes it is a statement, sometimes it is a question.  Usually, I will just repeat it back to reassure her, “Yes, we are going to the library.”  It makes for some fun times.  We went to G’s school performance this week and B kept saying very loudly, “G’s gonna sing!”  People around us kept smiling because they could tell how excited she was to see her sister perform.

If there is a word you don’t really want your toddler to pick up on, that’s one that they’ll probably echo.  B’s new favourite word is “goofball”–sadly I taught her that one.  I think she just likes the way it sounds.  I’m just hoping she doesn’t start calling strangers “goo-bawl”.

Have a fun echolalia story?  Please share!