The Sound Learning Self Voice Programme

I have posted previously about the M's treatment at the Sound Learning centre in Palmer Green London. We attended the centre for ten consecutive days, where M received auditory integration and light wave therapy;
http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/04/thursday-17042008-auditory-processing_4958.html

There has been a limit to what we have been able to provide for M, with priority now being given to the provision of SALT services. I am also mindful of the time that M has spent in hospitals, schools and clinics under going assessments. I was, however, interested to read about the Self Voice programme offered by the Sound Learning Centre:

http://www.thesoundlearningcentre.co.uk/HWH_S+L.htm?gclid=CKi8rP7lg5YCFQuH1QodZgMFFg

This is what their literature says about the programme;

"The Self-Voice approach is based on the A.R.R.O.W. (Aural-Read-Respond-Oral-Written) technique developed by Dr. Colin Lane in the U.K.

The Self-Voice programme aims to address literacy problems through this specially developed technique in which the individual listens to his or her own voice whilst completing precision spelling and self-voice recording of factually related topics. In addition they may be required to listen to and read material in book form."

The whole family.com

http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutyourkids/child/normal_1.html I came across this post
"Understanding Early Childhood Speech and Language Development:How Is Your Child Doing?"
website today. I noted that it has some pretty useful checklists for speech and language, as well as information on the various aspects that can make up speech and language disorders. I've added it to the side bar, under useful links.

Diagnosis

One of the biggest areas of frustration for me, during my journey with M, was the lack of information available about taking a private/independent route to diagnosis. I was this that drove me to write this blog, in order to share the hours and hours of reading and research I have done, with parents in similar situations.

I have written extensively about our experiences with ICAN, without whom the virtual picture of M you see today, would have been very different. I have also been quite impressed with the literature and accounts I have read about the London children's practice. http://www.londonchildrenspractice.com/
One of the big advantages of the ICAN assessment, was that M was viewed holistically by a team, rather than by a web/network of individuals, which seemed to give us a rather a patchy picture of what was going on for him. It appears this practice offers a similar service.

The advice that we received from the NHS speech and language therapist, who originally assessed M as having speech and language delay, differed somewhat from the advice we have received during and after his diagnosis of specific language disorder. An example of this is that we were told to give a running commentary and we subsequently found that we were over loading M with words, when we should have kept instructions short and been using OWL (observe wait listen)

I have mentioned ASLTIP http://www.helpwithtalking.com/ which was where we have found both our independent SALT's. Whilst it is not my intention to criticise speech and language therapist working for the NHS, I would urge people to look at the alternative, where possible, if for any reason you feel that your child's needs are not being met. Sporadic visits termly or less, were not sufficient for M to make progress.

My halo has slipped

Yesterday M said "You used to be beautiful Mummy, but not anymore!" Felling a little crestfallen I asked "Oh why is that? "as I hastily checked for crow's feet and saggy bits. "It's because you can't play Nintendo DS!" he declared proudly.

5 Minutes for special needs

Today's link is for the above blog and this post details the use of physical cues, to remind a child of the consonants that end a word;

http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com/385/try-this-tuesday-10/

In the early days, M would often only speak the first part of a word and I believe that this is a common problem. Aimee would often use syllable clapping to help M retain the correct pronunciation of a word or phrase with three or more syllables.

You and me against the world

There are times when I have been feeling a little down and something happens that feels a chink of light, at the end of a very long tunnel. One of my inspirations for writing the blog and indeed the person who gave me the idea for its title is my friend J;

http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/03/23032008-sunshine.html

This morning J joined M and I on our walk to school. I could tell by his body language that, something was weighing a little heavily on his mind. He was talking about how he thought that his new teacher didn't always understand that he needed extra time to complete his tasks. "It’s because of my Aspergers you see," he said "I have this thing called autism and I don't know why, because my Mum don't have it and My Dad don't have it." He paused and looked up at me "Actually," he said "I don't really know why I got it at all, but I wish that it wasn't forever"

"Oooh that's a difficult one J" I said "It’s like that with M, he has a disability that he'll probably have all his life too." J nodded sagely and agreed "He finds it hard to speak doesn't he, that's why he makes funny noises and talks rubbish some of the time. Why did that happen to M?" I don't know if I will ever truly know the answer to that one J,” I said “but things were not straight forward when M was born and he had to have oxygen. “So what did that mean?” said J. “Well, I guess that sometimes, those tiny pathways that carry data to our brains don’t make all the right connections for some people. Its a bit like the branches of the tree not sending water to all of the leaves” I said, hazarding a guess."

We walked in silence for a while, as I willed the right words to come and then added "I suppose in some ways you and M have some difficulties in common, sometimes its hard for you to understand what people are saying, even though you know what all the individual words mean. For M, its kind of like having bits missing from a jigsaw puzzle,” I continued. “What I do think though, is that M is really gifted at running and great at reading. I know quite a few people who have autism that are equally clever in certain areas, especially at organising things and remembering lots of information. J beamed in agreement ““Yeah I suppose I am really good at maths and I am excellent at catching fish. I won a trophy!”

Tonight M and J sat close together on the sofa sharing a game on the Nintendo. Although neither had played the game before, they both aced it within ten minutes!

The special parent

I think that one of the hardest things that a parent of a child with special needs has to bear, is the ease by which children and to some extent adults use derogatory terms about disability. In our case I often hear the words used against my son, by way of his own repetition "you are weird, weirdo, idiot, retard, slow, stupid". I worry for my son's blossoming self esteem because I know that these are words that can wound!

In the past I have been guilty of using some of the milder of these words such as idiot, in the course of conversation, without considering the real connotation. The old adage 'sticks and stones will break my bones but names can never harm me,' cuts little ice, when you watch the faces of the children who endure these taunts. I also find that the parents of these children show their embarrassment by lowering their eyes or even turning away, when I try to discuss M's disability. It is as if it is neither nice nor polite to talk about these matters, during everyday conversation. Perversely, it is deemed to be fair and just that I bear the brunt of their anger if M retaliates physically, in the only way he knows how.

I spent a good twenty minutes this morning reading this post from the blog the special parent written by Kyron on this very subject;

http://thespecialparent.com/2008/08/14/a-champion-ahead-of-his-time/

The featured You Tube video clip of Soeren Palumbo's high school speech, about his sister who has a brain injury, comes from the special needs site http://www.r-word.org/
It is well worth watching as it really packs a punch!

The Hanen Centre "When to seek help for your child's language difficulties."

I've been having a closer look and the Hanen Centre website this week and thought that this link, with its helpful language checklists, may well be useful to those parents who are beginning to have concerns about their child's speech;
http://www.hanen.org/web/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8ayDOsAXrM4%3d&tabid=150&mid=528

In addition, you may remember my post regarding the Hannen programme "It takes two to talk" and "Talkability" the latter of which I still refer to quite a bit today today;
http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/03/hanen-society.html

I note that there are now a number of DVDs to accompany these programmes which also detail the views of parents who have used them;

http://www.hanen.org/web/Home/HanenOnlineStore/HanenOnlineStoreInternational/tabid/185/Default.aspx

Birthday Boy

I've been driving in my car

We have a little Elvis thing going on here!

You win again.

The best pals a boy could wish for.

"Happy 7th Birthday Sunshine!"

There’s a kind of hush

There has been a kind of stillness floating over the house this evening. It has the kind of reverence we usually only feel on Christmas Eve or at the start of a big race. My sunshine will be seven years old tomorrow!

The house is clean and tidy, the presents wrapped and M has been as good as gold. He has watched us put up the balloons and banners, heralding his special day. In years gone by you couldn’t have left a pile of presents anywhere near his vicinity, but this year he seems to have relished the countdown. Whilst he keeps wandering through to look at them with wistful glances, he hasn’t touched them once!

One of the nicest things about his birthday is that he has recognised that today is a very special day in itself and not just a stepping stone to his birthday. At ten to eight this morning he asked to phone Nanny, to wish her many happy returns. It seems that all the best people are born in September. Happy birthday Mum!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldoc9tRtlOs

Reality Bites

As a young child I had had the most fabulous and vivid imagination. My teachers consistently complained about my lack of concentration and tendency to day dream. I was perpetually away with the fairies in a world that was entirely my own. I remember asking my Dad if we could go on a real adventure. Despite his best efforts, taking me to some enchanted woods, where we found a real gypsy caravan, I was disappointed that we hadn’t been to Nutwood or Sandy bay.

An occasion that provoked one of my most vehement of responses, was a teacher’s assertion that M did not display any imaginative play. She had once followed him around the playground with great enthusiasm, because he told her that the piece of chalk he had in his hand was a train. “But he said nothing,” she said “I asked lots of questions, made suggestions about where the train could be going and who we might see, but there was no response” “Ah I said, there lies the problem. You want a child with little speech to give you a narrative!”

These days we have the opposite problem. M adores books and films and relishes acting out scenes from his favourite cartoons. He makes menus and scripts and creates stories all of his own. Recently however, I have come to realise that he has a problem distinguishing make believe from reality. M often asks the impossible such as “Can we make a rocket and fly to the moon? or can we go and find some real buried treasure? My toilet roll, cardboard efforts and the chocolate coins placed in strategic places in the garden, simply did not cut it.

I’ve been unwell with a virus for a few weeks and yesterday I had a really nasty coughing fit which left me struggling for breath. The Dad found M downstairs in floods of tears, clutching his doctor’s bag. “I thought I had fixed Mummy with my medicine,” he wailed “Its no good I’m just not going to be a doctor anymore!”

I haven’t come up with any books specifically on this topic; we try our best to talk about the stories from the books we read together. I have found this link which I think may well be useful;

http://school.familyeducation.com/school-readiness/early-learning/30618.html

This evening he has asked me to make him a baby brother. Hmmmmm! I may have problems with this one!

Mum is a winner

There is a pecking order in our house M is the winner, the Dad comes second and then its.... "Oh, pause, Good try Mummy!" This week however, it turns out that I have won a super prize.

Its been a while since I mentioned the Wise Sage and Garden Monkey, http://thegardenmonkey.blogspot.com/ whose blog keeps me amused for more hours than I care to admit. It was through this site that I found a link to a fantastic blog called Veg Plotting, http://vegplotting.blogspot.com/ which is written by a wonderfully funny, well respected and well loved member of the virtual gardening community. VP recently hosted a brilliant virtual open garden event to raise money for Water Aid. It isn't to late too visit and donate at;

http://vpopengarden.blogspot.com/

This is one of the charities close to my heart. We recently sponsored a child who lives in Uganda and I feel humbled every time we receive news about the difference that the project in his village has made, to so many lives. I treasure the photos and the drawings that he sends and M is beginning to understand that there are children living a very different kind of life, in other parts of the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of VP's fantastic garden and was delighted to read that I had won a copy of 'Gardening for Kids' I know a certain little chap who will be keen to get his hands on my prize, and I have to confess that he is a better gardener than I. Thanks VP, I shall post a photo of M with his book once it arrives!

Centre for Social and Communication disorders

Before we were lucky enough to find the ICAN assessment centre at the Meath School in Surrey, http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/04/wednesday-09042007-meath-school.html I heard tantalising snippets about how good this place was;

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/26739735/

I wasn't able to track them down, as I didn't have a full name or address for the centre. A colleague of my Mother's took her daughter to to be assessed by the organisation and was very impressed with the outcome. Like M, this little girl had auditory processing difficulties. I'm not sure how you go about obtaining a referral, or whether they'd accept private payment for the assessment, but the are full contact details available for enquiries. There are a number of interesting links on the bottom left on the web page, which I shall be investigating.

Who does Inclusion actually work for?

During my life BC (before Children) I viewed the education system as a kind of utopian state whereby inclusion meant that children with disabilities had needs that were met and that parents of NT children were fully accepting of these needs. Having met (personally and virtually) many many parents for whom this is not the case, I wonder at the discrepancy and quality of SALT services across the UK.

In June 2005, a BBC article; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4071122.stm described how Mary Warnock “architect of England's special needs education system” was expected to publish a damning report on how inclusion has turned out in practice. She called for a radical review by an independent committee of enquiry. Mary Warnock went on to add that “pressure to include pupils with problems in mainstream schools causes "confusion of which children are the casualties".

As a parent, I now feel a little care worn with the bat and ball game between health and education authorities, to gain adequate services to meet my son’s needs.The labyrinth of red tape and hoop jumping we have had to go through has been both mentally and emotionally exhausting. It poses the question that if I, sturdy of build and broad (metaphorically at least) of shoulder, wilt at the army of professionals collating what seems to be the same information over and over, how must it feel to be a small child in the midst of all this?

I hope that I remain optimistic rather than cynical that the 'Bercow' and other reviews of the SEN system, will ring the changes and raise the profile of SLI. My fear is that this complex disorder will still be treated with a once size fits all solution, which is not tailored to meet the needs of the individual child.

Inclusion development programme

I was rather interested to stumble across this link http://89.151.115.131/ps/index.html

I also saw mention of it here;
http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/resources/blogs/special-needs-blog/

and here; http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/primary/features/inclusion/sen/idp

I'd like to throw it open to anyone who can fill me in on the roll out of this programme, which has come as news to me! My concerns are that teachers and Ta's will used in assessing needs, rolling out speech and language programmes and that children who have more complex speech and language needs will not receive sufficient access to qualitative SALT.

A Sneaky Weekend

Sometimes a boy gets a yen to spend time being spoiled his Grandparents.

And a Mum needs a breath of sea air,

Because days this bright are rare this year


And we haven't laughed this much in ages.

We missed the buckets and spades, and the big holes though M!

The walk to school

The walk to school takes approximately seven minutes door to door. I know this because as a non driver, I have timed it to precision.The journey to school is usually a quiet affair. We either have the company of another scootee, or M ambles along amiably by my side. On the way there, our walk is usually conducted in silence. I suspect that this due to either anticipation or trepidation. The trip home from school however, is totally different all together.

The children are let out by the class teacher one by one. It may be a figment my imagination, but M and I both seem to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of one another. The walk home is our golden time, seven minutes when we hold hands and share information about our day. We ponder the greater mysteries of life, such as why Tom is considered the bad guy as opposed to Jerry, when Tom seems to always be the one who comes a cropper.We wonder how many days there are to respective birthdays or Christmases and whether the ice cream man will have already done his rounds today.

Today, as I stepped out of the door to collect M, the heavens literally opened. I pondered the likelihood of being my struck by lightening, as I walked underneath the pylons. I paddled across the playground, which must have been three inches deep in water. My trusty shower proof boots let in water all along the seams and lightening flashed dangerously close to my brolly.

When M came out of class, his eyes were the size of saucers and his shoulders were all the way up to his chin. He exhaled and flattened himself against the wall. "When I came back from assembly, I heard the thunder and I was scared" he said. "I didn't like it either" I agreed "but I knew I'd be safe once I got to school and collected you". All of as sudden the rain came to an abrupt halt like a full stop. As as we walked away from the school ground, we glimpsed the most beautiful patch of blue sky up there amongst the Storm clouds. As we walked along I pondered, not for the first time, just who it was that saves who!

Autism and Imagination

Those of you who have known me for a while, will know how the question of how M's difficulties sit in terms Autism/SLI, has been a real source of angst for me. The paediatric question and answer sessions did little to put an end to my confusion between speech and language disabilities and autism. I worried that our insistence that M did not fit the criteria for autism may have prevented him from receiving valuable help and resources.

Our assessment at the Meath School and the opinion of Aimee our speech and language therapist have reassured me that our instincts were indeed correct. Whilst M displays some repetition and rigidity of thought, he fits the profile for SLI. His early acquisition of words and the way that his language spikes, point toward the typical profiles for speech disorder. All that I have read and learned about ASD will stay with me forever. I can now appreciate and accept M's sensory integration difficulties not only without fear, but hopefully with a little less ignorance.

I have mentioned the excellent about.com website in previous posts;
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/sensorystrategies/a/sensorybag.htm
but I was interested by this link to Linda Jo Rudy's Autism blog, on the subject of whether people with Autism lack an imagination;
http://autism.about.com/b/2008/09/09/do-people-with-autism-lack-imagination.htm

It is a subject which I have pondered often and found that this was beautifully illustrated by Donna Williams in her book Nobody Nowhere;
http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/05/tuesdsay-20052008-donna-williams.html
It’s great that these stereotypes are being challenged at last.

The Speech therapy web

I really like this site, which is written by a speech therapist and covers many of the speech and language associated disabilities, from autism to fluctuating hearing loss; http://speechtherapyweb.com/

This post in particular caught my eye, because it breaks down speech related tasks and activities into bite sized chunks, which can be completed throughout a child's daily routine;

http://speechtherapyweb.com/using-everyday-activities-to-enhance-language-development/

This is an extremely well constructed and useful site and you can even sign up to receive update.

Special stories

"Special Stories Publishing is an Irish publishing house specialising in children’s books that address a range of children’s health and social issues in a child centred and unique way. The Special Stories Series is the first in a number of collections to be released. "

I came across this link http://www.specialstories.net/CleftPalate.aspx via the Speech teach UK website; http://www.speechteach.co.uk/p_resource/parent/parent_intro.htm that I have featured before;
http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/03/speech-teach-uk.html

I have been looking for books that will help me to explain M's difficulties in a way that is straight forward and sensitive. I shall be ordering "First place" which is about a little girl with a cleft palate. It is aimed helping all children with speech and language disabilities to understand and except their difficulties.

Teach me to talk

Today's link is for a blog style website written by Laura Mize, a paediatric speech-language pathologist who also has a US talk radio show of the same title. http://teachmetotalk.com/about/

I found this post http://teachmetotalk.com/2008/05/06/foreign-language-and-late-talkers/ which may be of interest for those parents of bi or multi lingual children. There are differening opinions on this subject and I think that it is important that I air both here;
http://sunshinetc.blogspot.com/2008/05/plea-for-information-on-specific.html

There is also a 'Teach me to talk' DVD
http://teachmetotalk.com/2008/07/15/discover-the-best-approach-proven-to-teach-your-toddler-to-talk/ and some useful links to podcasts, resources and to the radio programme itself.

First day back

Just a short post tonight, to tell you that "he did it" and there were no tears this year. M was very perplexed though, because he thought that he would be seven when he went into class 7 and his birthday isn't for another three weeks.

We had a note in M's home to school book about his day and the reward system, which is a rainbow and M chattered and played animatedly all evening.

The new school year

Well, the new school year starts for M tomorrow. The shoes are polished, PE and book bags packed and a brand new uniform is waiting complete with all its name tags. M will look adorable and 'clean', for approximately two hours on his first day.Whilst this year isn't as big in terms of transitions, my stomach is currently doing a loop the loop.

Its the little things, that NT children take in the stride, that can floor M, as he tries to cope with a new routine. He has to go into the cloakroom and find his own peg, without me for the first time. He has a new teacher, TA and Speech Therapist. We weren't able to meet his new teacher last term, since she is new to the school. Despite all this, I am hopeful that this will be a happy year. Behaviour aside, M has made massive strides in terms of speech and language and I am hoping that as his frustration lessens, his anger will subside.

The Autumn term reminds me of a Pooh bear quote from a favourite DVD, we watched together the day before M started Foundation "Autumn is full of hot chocolately days and marsh mallow evenings." It makes me wish for some of those golden blue days and crispy walks, that make the long days of winter bearable!

Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse

I have forgotten where I found this link, but am very tempted to order this video, if it is available in a European format http://www.playzak.com/new_product.asp?id=16992

It teaches children calming methods and other strategies, using cartoon characters.