What a week for us! Monday was the first OT visit, and today was the first Speech Therapy visit.
If you want to know why we added speech therapy some reasons are here http://momlovesscifi.blogspot.com/2015/03/why-speech-therapy.html.
A. who is the EI coordinator came with M. the Speech Therapist today. My son just loves A. so much. He gave her a big hug again as his custom. We never met M. before so he was a little shy with her.
Since this was the first visit M. told us what we would be doing today. She did not do a formal evaluation as my son is too young to really be able to evaluate. Also, given that he has been receiving services for a year now, she can base where he is based on the assessment of her coworkers. In addition, the neurologist recommended her services. She said she will do one later, unless I am really looking for her to asses him, but based on the background that she is aware of, we qualify for services so it is not really needed. I told her I agree and we can do the official evaluation when she feels it is appropriate. M. asked me what my primary goal is and I would like my son to identify at least one object. We are not shooting for the stars here, I like to set reasonable goals. I would really just like to say, "Get the ball." for example and have him get it. Or at least look at it. M. asked if he has had a hearing test and other than the one given at birth, no he hasn't. She said she likes all her parents to get their children's hearing tested and gave me some numbers to do that. A. did say that my son had a nasty ear infection last year and before that he had about 10-12 words he said. After the ear infection, he lost all his words. Actually, after the ear infection it was a source of major concern because my son lost all his skills. He wasn't walking yet, but he stopped crawling, he stopped being interested in a sippy cup, he had a major regression. He had the flu earlier this year, and after he recovered, he didn't want to walk, he didn't want the sippy cup, and his language regressed even further. M. suggested the hearing test will see if maybe he has fluid in his middle ear. She thinks he can hear fine, but if he has fluid in his ears, he may need tubes put in. Basically the fluid can alter how children hear sounds which affects language development. She also wondered out loud (this is not her area) if fluid in the middle ear can be affecting his balance, if there is any, and that is why he doesn't want to walk after a sickness.
A. read and played with my son while M. observed and asked questions. M. asked what toys my son likes to play with. Basically he likes all the electronic toys, and all the other toys we have discussed here on this blog already. She also asked if he likes books. I told her he adores books. She said that is great. She also asked how he interacts with other children. I told her that he doesn't even when he is around them. She asked if there are any food textures he avoids and I told her not at all. He eats everything.
I did ask her about television watching. We only watch maybe two hours of children's television per day divided between Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger and Dinosaur Train. The television doesn't hold his attention long and with all our appointments I try to get his play time in as more of a priority. Also, now that the weather is nicer we go for walks in the mornings. I basically wanted to know if television viewing is detrimental to a child with language delays and/or how to make less detrimental and what should we avoid. She did answer my question, but first gave the disclaimer of not to add to his viewing habits based on what she said. She also said that studies show children who learn from a traditional teacher and teacher on an electronic medium, like an I-Pad, the traditional teacher model is still more effective. I think that is interesting since so many schools want to veer away from traditional teaching. Then she said shows like Sesame Street or Dora The Explorer actually use good language models since there is so much repetition and that is how we learn language. She said to avoid shows like Curious George that the main character uses sounds not words. She said except Curious George, most PBS shows are not detrimental to children with language delays. Again, I am not using the TV as a babysitter, nor as the primary way for him to learn speech, I just use it for a little entertainment in the mornings when I am still waking up a bit. She said music is a great way to learn language and some of her parents have enrolled their children in music classes. She also hinted that music classes would also be a way for my son to interact with other children.
Speech therapy will occur three times a month. Most of the visits will overlap with other services.
For us to work on for next time, when reading, I am to point out some picture on each page and point to it and repeat what it is. The hope is in time, he will point to that item when I say "Where is the x?". Also, we are going to work on naming physical objects, like a ball or a cup. So I will hold two objects, and name them, then ask him, "Where is the x?".
I think this service is also going to help us greatly.
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Yeah, Baby! Thoughts about Elmo and Seasame Street
Growing up, I really enjoyed Sesame Street. I don't ever really thinking I should be learning from it. It was a fin mix of muppets, songs, surreal cartoons, and songs. I definitely enjoyed it more than The Electric Company
Possibly the most important moment from Sesame Street was the passing of Mr. Hooper. This taught us 80's kids a very deep lesson in sadness. My mother says I was very distraught.
Of course, I outgrew the show. My much younger brothers watched it but was a baby show and I lost all interest. That is until one day. I heard a very familiar song and it evoked memories of listening to my Sesame Street record as a young child. The tune that I heard was "Thats Big Bird's Song" but when I went closer to the television, it became apparent it was not. It was being sung by Elmo. I felt let down by a childhood favorite that day.
I never really thought about Sesame Street again until I was in my late 20s. Most of my friends had small children, but I did not have any children at the time. When they came to visit I had very little to keep their children entertained. One day at Walmart, I happened to find a dvd of the first seasons of Sesame Street.
This was great. I had found the perfect dvd. Shortly after I bought it, a friend came to visit with his small son. I put on the dvd and we started talking. We were not paying much attention when a cartoon man came out and informed us this was for adult entertainment purposes only and not to be viewed by children. I sat there stunned. I did not remember buying a porn parody of Sesame Street. We both examined the box and it clearly stated it was a Jim Henson production. We watched the first episode and other than a very hypnotic segment that made us want milk quite desperately, there was nothing I found to be inappropriate, nor did he. He actually remembered watching the episode as a child.
When my son was about a year old, I decided that television in small portions would be acceptable. My youngest brother was 24 at the time and the last time I had any exposure to children's television was when he was little, so it has been some time. I was upset to hear the Mr. Roger's is not being shown in reruns. Then I found out Sesame Street is very much still on the air on PBS.
I am not very uptight when it comes to entertainment, but everytime Elmo came on the screen, I wanted to break something. It took me a while to realize it, but I don't think Elmo is very toddler appropriate. Every other sentence is "Yeah, Baby!" which is not a phrase I like. Maybe because of "Yeah, Buddy!" which is what I think when I hear it.
Then there is this:
Notice what is said around the 2:34 mark.
It is not just Elmo. There is this Wizard of Oz parody : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ2taTzhwrI. A well known adult movie is titled "Behind the Green Door". I did not really like the connection at all.
Maybe I am overthinking this. Afterall, doesn't Pixar have many "in-jokes" that adults snicker at over their children's heads?
My son still watches Sesame Street, I think overall its a fine show. I must say, I love how diverse the cast is. Leela makes a fine addition, even though she was not written as being Indian when first cast. Maria and Luis along with Gordon and Susan are still on the show. Alan who runs Hooper's store is of Japanese descent. The songs still do a good job of teaching ABCs and 123s. I do change the channel when something I don't like comes on.
What do you think? Am I overthinking? What children's shows do you feel have controversial tones?
I do want to state, this is a blog. This is my opinion. I think that in the last few years people feel their opinions are facts, but they really aren't. I am not looking to start an opinion war, these are just random thoughts I had.
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