Things at Home 

We have officially started our at home oral-motor therapy. Amber (Emily's ST) gave us a great list of OM ST to work on with Emily. So far its been fun. We have been pick the really fun things to do like drinking milk shakes out of straw & eating hardened chewy candy. She has no idea that we are working on strengthening her little tongue, lips & jaw. 

We are also working on other communications things... I am continuously increasing signing & we are going to start working on PECs (picture communication exchange communication systems).  Its a system of pictures that Emily can choose & point to want she needs or wants. Since Apraxia is a motor planning disorder she has a hard time coming up with signs spontaneously (just like words). She will run through her list of signs (in a specific order) trying to figure out which one she wants to use. With the PECs she doesn't need to spontaneously come up with anything. She looks at the pictures & points to the one that represents what she is trying to say. We will then reinforce the sign & the verbal word. 

I have also been working on the alphabet in sign & verbal. I  find that Emily responds well to music. She may not be able to say the words but she is able to fluctuate her voice to match the pitch & rhythm of the song. We are working on writing... such as drawing straight lines & circles. We are trying to work on patterns but mostly with that we are working on repetition (for speech). 

She is a amazing little girl! Everyday I learn something new from her.