The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

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Blooie said:
Kendra is a genius, guys. A total, out and out communications whiz! Well, okay, maybe not that far yet, but she's writing words to tell me what she wants. We've been doing the pencil and paper thing, and she's making the connection. But now she's taken to going over to her letters on the fridge and spelling it out there! She stood at the counter the other day and pointed at the door where I keep her PlayDoh. Before I could even ask her what she wanted, she got back down and went to the fridge, made the word PayDo, then crawled back over, stood and pointed again. WOW! You betcha!! Here ya go!

So I started expanding on that for other things. She really surprised me by adding the word "want" when she wanted her iPad, but she had a little trouble and it was my fault. She knew there should be an "I" in there somewhere to say "I want" but she kept putting it in the wrong place. I didn't catch that right off, so I kept taking that letter out. Dumb Gramma, if I'd caught that I'd have put the word "I" where it belongs and then let her write the rest. Words she doesn't spell right are no big deal if she's never written them before - I let her do those phonetically, but I do make her spell words she does know correctly, just like we gently correct words our kids learn to speak when they start talking. In just one day we got "want lunch" (the word "want" I had finally just left up there) IPad, Coke, and Apple. Apple was spelled wrong, and she DOES know how to spell it right, but I gotta get more letters for double letter words and for phrases that need the same letters. She spelled "Eple". "Brown horse" drove her crazy yesterday! She's figured out that a "Z" can double as another "N", and that she can use an "H" and an "I" interchangeably. Also she'll switch between the "W" and the "M". She figured all that out on her own, but she usually says the correct name of the letter before she flips it. I really think this is gonna work for her!! Ken bought her a kid's hand sized mouse for the keyboard, and he's going to go back and get the "kid friendly" keyboard too, so she can get better at the computer for her on-line speech classes.

Anyway, much more than you wanted or needed to know, probably, but I'm so excited for her. She GETS it! Of course, now we have the issue of "if she can communicate it, she gets it" meaning she gets some things we'd really rather she not have, like "Coke". But it is what it is! My phone video camera got a workout Thursday and Friday, I'll tell you! I emailed the links to her speech therapist but haven't heard back yet with a reaction. (This is where you're supposed to say, "But Blooie, we wanna see one too!!" and then I humbly say, "Oh, well...if you insist!")
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OMG! That is amazing!
 
Blooie said:
She can “say” anything, Kelsey, and has been for doing that for a couple of years. By 2 she knew all of the alphabet, any case, any font, in any order. By 2.5 she knew all the letters’ sounds. (If you watch that video again, listen really hard after she puts up the letter “c”. She knew she needed the H and says “ch” to reinforce in her mind what other letter she needed to make that sound. Tell her the name of something once and she remembers and says it every time she sees that object, even if it looks different from the original one. Reading the words out loud? Again, been doing that for a long long time - nouns, sight words, names - and if she doesn’t recognize a word she sounds it out. She just doesn’t converse, and that’s what we have to teach her. It’s a heck of a lot harder than it seems like it would be because we don’t know how much of speech she understands.

Imagine that someone is speaking to you in a foreign language. Some words are universal, and some are heard so often you have a grasp of what those single words mean in English. But you still aren’t understanding the structure of the conversation, the other parts that make it make it understandable so that you can respond in correct, complete thoughts. I think that’s where Kendra is, but I can’t get anyone to believe me because I have no formal training to back it up. She can pick up on the familiar word in an entire sentence, and respond or use the word for that correctly. But if I ask her to say a simple “Yes, please,” I’ll either get “yes” or “please”, but I won’t get both together. Same with “want”. We go around in circles with that one...she says “want”, I say “Want what?” And she will repeat “what.” On and on. So I’m starting there on the fridge....with that simple concept....and I’ll try to build from there.

I don’t know. I’m winging it here. Every speech therapist we’ve ever had is totally flummoxed by her, including the new on-line sessions we’ve started. They give this long explanation of what they expect her to do, but she grabs a single word out of that long sentence and that becomes her focus. If the therapist says, “I want you to find the biggest butterfly and put it on the last flower,” Kendra grabs any butterfly and puts it on any flower. In her mind she’s completed the task. The therapist doesn’t see it that way and moves it back to start over. Kendra thinks she’s wrong and shuts down.

It’s just so frustrating for her and for me...sometimes I can see it so clearly and think I’ve explained what I think is going on, but it’s not what the “book” says so they nod politely and go on with doing it all as they’ve been taught. So every day I sit at the table with Kendra, or on the floor, and we repeat and build, repeat and build. I just don’t know what else to do but I can’t give up on her. We need play and giggle time too, so there are plenty of breaks. But I won’t accept less from her than I think she can give, and I don’t how much that really is.

Sorry, another book that nobody asked for but got anyway. You are all so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic for her I can’t even begin to tell you how that makes my heart feel. :love
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@Blooie your patience and dedication to help Kendra express herself is an inspiration. Sharing your successes, and failures, teach me a lot. Please keep sharing.
 
JaeG said:
Hey everyone! Thanks for sharing the video, Blooie - it must feel great for Kendra to know she can tell you guys what she wants now.

We had 5 days of sunshine and cold temperatures/frosty mornings. The ground was just starting to dry out but now we've got rain coming from the north which has warmed us up, but I shall once again be battling the boggy backyard as I go down to feed the birds each day. I did my back in the other day and I suspect a lot of it was because I'd got my foot stuck in a particularly boggy bit and almost fallen over - so in trying to stay upright (and not break my stuck ankle) I twisted my back just the wrong way. It happens occasionally though - too many years of working in a daycare centre and lifting too many heavy babies up and down off the change table.

I've been busy cleaning out cupboards and packing all non-essential 'stuff' away. We are slowly getting there.

Kelsey, the reason we are moving out of Auckland is because we cannot survive here on one wage (seeing as I'm home schooling the kids) so I understand about how difficult it is to find somewhere affordable to live. We don't even have a very big mortgage either! And now Auckland is being hit with a 'petrol tax' (despite the new government's promise that there would be no new taxes). Not that it will only affect Auckland - most things come through the Ports of Auckland so anything moved by truck will have to go up in price. The truckies can't absorb 11.5c extra per litre! Stupidest idea ever! But just more motivation to get finished and get out!
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Ouch Jae. I hope that your back feels better soon. You've got a lot to do, but put it on hold until it feels better.
 
Blooie said:
That sounds delicious!! I love the combination of the two, and raspberry/rhubarb is also pretty good! Crumb crust or biscuit-type crust? I make a really good strawberry/rhubarb jam....IF can get the rhubarb into the pot and not into my mouth!
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I made a raspberry rhubarb jam last year that was fantastic. I may try Saskatoon berry and rhubarb this year if the deer and bears don't eat all of the berries before I can pick them!
 
pertnear09 said:
Read on another thread that outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. "Groucho Marx"
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Groan!

@rjohns39 You are a wonder! You made perfect sense. All of this stuff goes so far over my head and trying to figure out how the nuances of the psychology of it all are so much more complex than fitting things into neat little compartments. @Michelle Farmer-Brown, be careful what you ask for - you will get it! Kendra is the one doing all the work....I'm just floundering along for the ride.
 
The short bread turned out great!

The crust is crunchy--you can tell from the picture

IMG_0591.JPG
 

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