Learning to read is challenging. To learn each letter, each isolated sound, in order, and to eventually put it all together to read and to write is a powerful accomplishment!
Speech can also be difficult...
I took my three year old daughter to her yearly check up. I was surprised by her doctors words: "I am having a difficult time understanding her."
I recalled the times my mom asked me to relay my daughters questions.
The times her other grandma looked at me, asking:
-Que dice? (What does she say?)
All the times I answered with out asking Jazzy to say it again.
Her doctor referred us to a hearing specialist.
The doctor asked me if I thought her problem was with her hearing or her speech.
Her speech, I said. She agreed, Jazzy passed all her hearing tests.
Next was a visit to a speech specialist.
Turns out there were many difficulties in Jazzy's speech. Deletions of parts of words. Difficulties with letter sounds. Missing speech milestones she should have reached.
Last Friday we began Jazzy's first speech class. It was one-on-one via Zoom (video conference calls). It went well. Ms. Lori seems like a sweet woman. My Jazzy was engaged for about 30 minutes and after that she was all over the place. We sang songs to get her back on track. She impressed Ms. Lori with her eagerness to speak. "She has a lot to say, we'll get her there" she told me.
She will.
...
I called my mother to talk about Jazzy, she told me her sister, Lidia, also had speech problems as a child. All her mother, My grandma Graciela, could do was worry. In a small city in El Salvador, in Central America, no one could help her. No available health care. My grandmother and her young daughter were on their own. Thankfully by the age of 6 My aunt Lidia was speaking well enough to be understood. My mom said you couldn't stop her! Making up for lost time.
My mother told me not worry.
Jazz and I always sang, said our abc's and read everyday. Our daily abc recital turned into dragged out letter sounds and a clear emphasis on our mouths, teeth and tongues. Speaking slower and expecting her to say certain things back to me. It's all push and pull. If I push too much she'll want to stop. The pull has to be in kindness and fun.
Jazzy is such a sweetheart. I already hear her sweet voice changing. She is moving her tongue and lips more than before. She is listening to beginnings and endings in words, repeating words with pride. Although it is not always like that. She gets mad and pouts. Says no when I ask her to repeat, no matter how kindly I ask.
Crossing my fingers she can do her best for Ms. Lori and for Jazzy to continue to enjoy her journey in this world.
Say it loud and proud!
With love,
Kathy