Proper Grammar Props

FMO has had online speech therapy since he started at the charter school. It has been a less than ideal experience most of the time. The system was fraught with technical issues that cause all the least desirable communication problems, such as sound and video delays, echoes, buzzing noises, and graphics malfunction. On top of those drawbacks, FMO has had a run of five therapists since the beginning of last year. I didn't even have him meet with the last one, since she didn't offer one time slot that fit our schedule. That said, the latest therapist, KH, is great! She has the perfect times for us, engages FMO very well, and, for some reason, is the first to have no technical problems at all.

The last therapist FMO worked with before Summer had some very good suggestions. She encouraged us to tell him to use a complete sentence, instead of one word or a phrase, to make a request. He needed a lot of modeling and prompting to get the idea, but he now is using full and complete sentences when we tell him to.

This is such big progress on so many levels of auditory function. For one, his recall of words to make a request has improved in accuracy and speed. He is demonstrating much generalized understanding, connecting different phrases together to verbalize complete ideas. Also, he is able to string together far more words and syllables than he has in the past. He is forming sentences up to as many as ten words.

When we were on our own with little to no useful support, I tried to devise a way to simplify communication to start him learning the bare minimum a person needs to be able to tell others about his own needs. I came up with four main basic concepts. I want. I don't want. Yes, please. No, thank you. For years, those phrases used properly were tremendous accomplishments for FMO. We were overjoyed when he began informing us of his need to use the bathroom, and when he asked for food and drink. It is very rewarding to see him expand his communication and gain so much more independence now. He is facilitating so much more of his own satisfaction and fulfillment by expressing his wants as well as his needs.

Best sentence ever: "I want to listen to Ninth Symphony, Second Movement, please."