|  Stacey's
Journal
Isaiah's World: Speech Therapy and Beyond
Visiting
Aunt Trina for Thanksgiving
November 25, 2003
Isaiah
loves my sister, his aunt and godmother, Trina. She lives
in San Diego. We see her about 5 times a year. Isaiah absolutely
adores Trina. Several months ago I taught him to sign her
name by forming the sign for the letter "T" and
tapping the left side of his chest 2 times because "Trina"
has 2 syllables.
Every so often Isaiah will come to me, look at me with his
big, anxious eyes and do the "Trina" sign. I usually
explained that we cannot see Trina right now because she lives
in California but we will see her soon. Generally he just
continues to look at me with hopeful eyes and repeatedly asks
for Trina by signing her name. I sometimes call Trina so she
can speak to him.
Each year we go to Trina's house for Thanksgiving. In September,
I told Karen, Isaiah's private speech therapist, along with
his therapists at school and his teachers, that one of my
goals for Isaiah was for him to be able to say "Aunt
Trina" and "Grandma" by Thanksgiving. We all
worked on it. At first he would say "T." About a
week before we were scheduled to fly to San Diego, Harold
called me at work and told me that Isaiah said "Aunt
Trina." I was so excited. Harold put Isaiah on the phone
and told him to say it again. It sounded like "Ah T T."
I was so proud of him. During the remaining days leading up
to our trip Isaiah practiced and practiced. By the time we
arrived in California, we was saying "Ah T T" consistently
and more clearly. He was also trying to say "Grandma."
But he was not yet able to say it very clearly.
It
is amazing how much Isaiah's speech has progressed. Now he
still uses sign language sometimes, but not as often. He now
tries to say everything. When he does use signs, we encourage
him to try to tell us by talking. To many it may not seem
to make sense to teach a child sign language in an effort
to promote speech. Some feel that it will discourage talking.
Isaiah is proof of the opposite. Isaiah's speech therapist
told us from the beginning that Isaiah would first start using
signs. He then may use signs and words together and eventually
stop using signs. This is exactly what is happening.
When
we finally saw Trina, Isaiah ran up to her and smiled. He
looked at me did the Trina sign. He then said, "Ah T
T!"
Stacey
11/25/03
editor@celebratingchildren.com
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