Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1.11.2011

Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry for my absence! With launching Loud Mommy, iGrady Talk took a back seat for a while so I could get everything semi-organized over there. I'm definetly not going to stop on this blog because this goes hand in hand with what I'm doing on Loud Mommy. This shows exactly what we want people to have, the experiences I want people to enjoy and the different games/applications I want to review and show off.

Grady has been showing amazing progress. I can't believe the changes in my little man in the past month. The biggest change has been the echoing that he has developed. Referred to as Echolalia the definition is when the child repeats verbal information stated by others (e.g., people's conversational exchanges, videos, books read aloud, songs, etc.). Echolalia can include repetition of part of the utterance as well as an identical repetition of the entire spoken utterance, sometimes including an exact replication of the inflectional pattern used by the speaker. Definition found at http://www.specialed.us/autism/verbal/verbal11.html. They also stated "The presence of echolalia in children with autism can be a positive indicator for future meaningful language development (8). It indicates that the child is at least processing language, although at a "surface" level."

With Grady, he is usually only copying one word, occasionally two. He copies the exact way that we are saying it, tone and volume. I love it! I love hearing what comes out of his mouth! Even though he isn't initiating it, I love hearing his little voice. It also most likely wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to a bystander if they were listening. When I ask him to say "I love you!" he says something along the lines of "Bub oh vu!" But I can tell you one mom that loves it...hehe! That is COMPLETELY from iCommunicate! He loves that picture and pressing it. One of my absolutely most favorite things that he has picked up saying is "Baby." It melts my heart! I think he just started copying me since I say Hi baby or I love you baby all of the time! I captured him saying that to share... :o)



At the same time that he got his iPad he started taking Speech Nutrient Supplements. I mentioned on the "Plan Stan" page above. This mixed with the added benefit of being able to communicate clearly with me on the iPad? Our lives have changed. He started babbling nonstop once he started taking this supplement and with the iPad he is able to see a picture and then mimic the word he wants. Its amazing.

Other families must have this opportunity with their autistic/apraxic children. So because of the generosity of family, friends and absolute strangers giving Grady the opportunity to do this: I started Loud Mommy. The concept is that because our children are silent, we as mothers must be loud for them. Its a support group for mommies and I plan on putting on a walk/5K to raise money for as many iPads loaded with the communication software as possible. To check it out go to LoudMommy.com. I'll be adding a page above soon!

That's all for now! Be blessed!!!


2 comments:

  1. Amazing hearing him speak :) That is how Owne started, things will only go up from here Tara! ox

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  2. Oh my gosh, I love it! What a sweet little boy!

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