If I were to list some of my favorite baby moments, watching a baby sign would be somewhere at the top. It just makes me go "Aaaaawww, that is soooo sweet". And we're having plenty of those moments these days with Angel's expanding 'vocabulary'.
We started teaching Angel to sign a couple of weeks ago after I read some articles that said that teaching a baby to sign not only helps them to have a meaningful interaction with other people but also helps to increase their IQ. Because babies with Down Syndrome could have some speech delay, teaching them sign language could go a long way in broadening their horizon.
Though our initial efforts weren't consistent, she picked up some of the signs pretty quickly. She has already learned to sign 'bath', 'eat', 'no', 'stop' and 'hello'. The first thing she learned was 'bath'. So everytime we would take her to the bathroom, she would sign 'bath', sometimes moving her little hands over her tummy really fast just so we got the message :) Oh yes, this baby loves her bath time.
The developmental pediatrician who saw Angel last month was surprised that we were teaching Angel to sign - all credit to the various sites and blogs I read :) Anyway, she recommended the book 'Baby Signs' which I didn't find at any book store here so will order it on Amazon. Until then I'm relying on the internet for all the information I need. There are some very interesting sites out there and one of them called My Smart Hands, which has been developed by an enterprising mom, is quite good.
The speech therapist (who we met later) reiterated the importance of signing and suggested that we use gestures for every word. We have plenty of scope to get creative and have fun. It's like we're doing action play all day. Even Princess has caught on :)
If you are a new parent and would like to teach your baby to sign, here is a great video that could help you get started:
There's another good video that you can find here.
Teaching Angel to sign has been a high point for us. Yes, my baby can now 'talk' - in her own sweet way. And I'm loving it.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Baby talk
We've finally started Angel on speech therapy. Yesterday, we met a therapist who was recommended to us by the pediatrician at Ummeed. And I'm happy to say that it was a nice, positive experience.
I was initially apprehensive that we were probably very late in starting Angel on speech therapy considering she is already 15 months old. Thankfully, Palak (the speech therapist) reassured me that it was fine to start now.
She did an assessment of Angel's speech even as the two of them carried on a conversation. It was great to watch them both talking. I could see Angel was in a happy place, what with the new toys and someone actually 'understanding' what she was saying. That itself was a big learning for me.
Palak drew up an therapy action plan for us to work on with a two month timeline. What I really liked was that all of it can be done easily at home. The key actions that we have to incorporate in our daily routine are:
- We have to use short sentences, stretch words and use a lot of gestures while speaking with Angel.
- She has to learn to sign 'eat' and 'finished'.
- We have to incorporate doll play into our routine. We have to take the doll everywhere and make the doll do whatever Angel is doing.
- For oro-motor stimulation, Palak recommended we buy a set of training toothbrushes and use the beginner brush - which looks more like mini paddle - and roll it around her mouth five times each day. The brush has to be dipped alternately in honey and lemon juice and we need to do five repetitions each time.
- We have to record Angel's vocalizations and play it back to her.
- We have to imitate her vocalizations and do vocal play with her.
- We also have to talk for her. So when she says boo....we say boo...book? Do you want your book?
- Within the next two months Angel must be able to recognize 20 commonly used objects.
- We need to buy her some cause-effect toys. If you'd like to pick up such toys make sure you have the time to look around all the stuff before you pick what will really benefit your child.
- We have read the book 'The new language of toys'
- Palak also suggested that we play a DVD on signing for her. It's called - My baby can sign. We haven't managed to locate this and the book yet but as soon as I get them, I'll add the details to this post.
I left Palak's clinic happy and with a sense of having achieved a milestone even though it was just the first step. I guess you, dear parent, will know what I'm talking about.
We'll keep you posted on how the talk therapy is going with us.
Thanks for reading,
JD
I was initially apprehensive that we were probably very late in starting Angel on speech therapy considering she is already 15 months old. Thankfully, Palak (the speech therapist) reassured me that it was fine to start now.
She did an assessment of Angel's speech even as the two of them carried on a conversation. It was great to watch them both talking. I could see Angel was in a happy place, what with the new toys and someone actually 'understanding' what she was saying. That itself was a big learning for me.
Palak drew up an therapy action plan for us to work on with a two month timeline. What I really liked was that all of it can be done easily at home. The key actions that we have to incorporate in our daily routine are:
- We have to use short sentences, stretch words and use a lot of gestures while speaking with Angel.
- She has to learn to sign 'eat' and 'finished'.
- We have to incorporate doll play into our routine. We have to take the doll everywhere and make the doll do whatever Angel is doing.
- For oro-motor stimulation, Palak recommended we buy a set of training toothbrushes and use the beginner brush - which looks more like mini paddle - and roll it around her mouth five times each day. The brush has to be dipped alternately in honey and lemon juice and we need to do five repetitions each time.
- We have to record Angel's vocalizations and play it back to her.
- We have to imitate her vocalizations and do vocal play with her.
- We also have to talk for her. So when she says boo....we say boo...book? Do you want your book?
- Within the next two months Angel must be able to recognize 20 commonly used objects.
- We need to buy her some cause-effect toys. If you'd like to pick up such toys make sure you have the time to look around all the stuff before you pick what will really benefit your child.
- We have read the book 'The new language of toys'
- Palak also suggested that we play a DVD on signing for her. It's called - My baby can sign. We haven't managed to locate this and the book yet but as soon as I get them, I'll add the details to this post.
I left Palak's clinic happy and with a sense of having achieved a milestone even though it was just the first step. I guess you, dear parent, will know what I'm talking about.
We'll keep you posted on how the talk therapy is going with us.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Friday, January 8, 2010
Seeking Pollyanna in our education system
Ms Elle is all set to enter the hallowed portals of The Big School. The key question for us is "Which one should she go to?" Early on, one of my main criteria for shortlisting a school for Princess was that it should be one where Angel could also go.
As someone who has written on education for many years, especially on the changing landscape of education and schooling across the country, I was somewhat hopeful that more educational institutions in India might have made progress on the inclusion front.
And recently, I came across this interesting article in the Hindustan Times which got my hopes up even more. This story is about institutes that provide a welcome alternative to conventional schools. These are just the kind of schools where Angel can truly learn and any one of them schools would be perfect for her, I thought.
Unfortunately, what followed is not what I hoped would happen. I chose two city schools from the ones listed in the story and called them only to be told that they don't take children with special needs because they are not equipped to address their needs. It would be an understatement to say I was disappointed with the response. Dismayed is more like it.
As everyone living in Mumbai knows, this city has a dearth of quality schools because of which even average schools have a long list of applicants. I'm pretty much sure that the situation is no different in other parts of the country. It's no surprise then that many schools, especially those that are considered top schools, shun children with special needs.
I have not asked any particular school the reasons for rejecting these kids, but after reading up on the subject, here's what I have arrived at - Schools fear that taking in children with special needs will put additional strain on their already overstretched staff and resources. They also fear that when these students get to the point of appearing for a public examination, they might not succeed impacting the overall performance (and therefore image) of the school.
Ironically, much of the research on inclusion (see here) has found out that having an equal opportunities policy has a positive impact on the school and the community. Special needs students benefit from being considered as equal members of a community and other students benefit by learning to be empathetic. Fr Agnel School, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, is among the few schools here that understand this, as indicated in this story in the Hindustan Times.
I've would like to make a concerted effort to find good regular schools in India that even children with special needs can aspire to go to. And I hope to list them here as and when I get any information.
Here are a couple to start with:
Billabong High International Schools, which has an explicit inclusion policy.
Fr Agnel School, Vashi, Navi Mumbai
If you know of any inclusive schools, please do let me know and I'll add them to the list. My goal is to have a comprehensive list of such schools from across the country. After all, our kids deserve quality education too.
Thanks for reading,
JD
As someone who has written on education for many years, especially on the changing landscape of education and schooling across the country, I was somewhat hopeful that more educational institutions in India might have made progress on the inclusion front.
And recently, I came across this interesting article in the Hindustan Times which got my hopes up even more. This story is about institutes that provide a welcome alternative to conventional schools. These are just the kind of schools where Angel can truly learn and any one of them schools would be perfect for her, I thought.
Unfortunately, what followed is not what I hoped would happen. I chose two city schools from the ones listed in the story and called them only to be told that they don't take children with special needs because they are not equipped to address their needs. It would be an understatement to say I was disappointed with the response. Dismayed is more like it.
As everyone living in Mumbai knows, this city has a dearth of quality schools because of which even average schools have a long list of applicants. I'm pretty much sure that the situation is no different in other parts of the country. It's no surprise then that many schools, especially those that are considered top schools, shun children with special needs.
I have not asked any particular school the reasons for rejecting these kids, but after reading up on the subject, here's what I have arrived at - Schools fear that taking in children with special needs will put additional strain on their already overstretched staff and resources. They also fear that when these students get to the point of appearing for a public examination, they might not succeed impacting the overall performance (and therefore image) of the school.
Ironically, much of the research on inclusion (see here) has found out that having an equal opportunities policy has a positive impact on the school and the community. Special needs students benefit from being considered as equal members of a community and other students benefit by learning to be empathetic. Fr Agnel School, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, is among the few schools here that understand this, as indicated in this story in the Hindustan Times.
I've would like to make a concerted effort to find good regular schools in India that even children with special needs can aspire to go to. And I hope to list them here as and when I get any information.
Here are a couple to start with:
Billabong High International Schools, which has an explicit inclusion policy.
Fr Agnel School, Vashi, Navi Mumbai
If you know of any inclusive schools, please do let me know and I'll add them to the list. My goal is to have a comprehensive list of such schools from across the country. After all, our kids deserve quality education too.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Perfect gifts
My sister has a knack for buying my girls the most appropriate gifts. Angel's very first Christmas gift given to her by aunt T was a book with animal pictures and different textures for their fur/ hide/ skin. Since then, she's picked up other multi-sensory books ("Hugs" is a big favorite), developmental toys and loads of other stuff.
The other gift that the girls absolutely love is a play tent given to them by uncle Godwin. Angel loves to play peek-a-boo and crawl in and out of the tent's many doors and windows. This is one of their favorite play things and it really makes me happy to see them spend some of their best moments in there.
My friend Gauri had got Princess an interesting developmental toy that helps to improve hand-eye co-ordination and I find it very useful for Angel. It's a box with a couple of colored balls and a wooden hammer that you use to knock the balls through the holes in the box. Angel's getting pretty good at hitting the balls and I'm sure it's doing her a lot of good.
Another interesting gift was given by Santa at our local christmas party. It's a ball with the outline of different shapes cut into its surface and it came with a whole bunch of corresponding shapes. Angel loves pushing the shapes through the various holes and clapping for herself when she manages to do it. It's a very basic toy but I'd rate it higher than some of the other toys made by the big brands.
One of the best gifts that Angel has got is from my sister and it is the entire set of Brainy Baby DVDs. The girls love it. Not a day goes by without them watching at least one of these DVDs. They are excellent, full of colorful visuals, catchy music and fun learning. Ok, I confess I'm hooked onto them too.
Here's a peek into one of the videos available on YouTube:
Of course, the very best gift my little girls receive is the gift of love :) What's the best gift that your child has received? Please do mail me at littlemommysunshine@gmail.com with your stories. I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading,
JD
The other gift that the girls absolutely love is a play tent given to them by uncle Godwin. Angel loves to play peek-a-boo and crawl in and out of the tent's many doors and windows. This is one of their favorite play things and it really makes me happy to see them spend some of their best moments in there.
My friend Gauri had got Princess an interesting developmental toy that helps to improve hand-eye co-ordination and I find it very useful for Angel. It's a box with a couple of colored balls and a wooden hammer that you use to knock the balls through the holes in the box. Angel's getting pretty good at hitting the balls and I'm sure it's doing her a lot of good.
Another interesting gift was given by Santa at our local christmas party. It's a ball with the outline of different shapes cut into its surface and it came with a whole bunch of corresponding shapes. Angel loves pushing the shapes through the various holes and clapping for herself when she manages to do it. It's a very basic toy but I'd rate it higher than some of the other toys made by the big brands.
One of the best gifts that Angel has got is from my sister and it is the entire set of Brainy Baby DVDs. The girls love it. Not a day goes by without them watching at least one of these DVDs. They are excellent, full of colorful visuals, catchy music and fun learning. Ok, I confess I'm hooked onto them too.
Here's a peek into one of the videos available on YouTube:
Of course, the very best gift my little girls receive is the gift of love :) What's the best gift that your child has received? Please do mail me at littlemommysunshine@gmail.com with your stories. I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Learning, with love
A few weeks ago, I read Colleen Bailey's story (click on Education in the list of contents and then click on the last piece - Inclusion - under education). It's one of those stories that makes you want to stand up and applaud the child, his parents, the whole family. They must have worked very hard to make Colleen the star that he is.
Wouldn't we all would love for our kids with DS to have such great stories? I know I would be thrilled for Angel (and all our kids). So our efforts to teach her to read started quite early. When she was about seven months old, I came across this wonderful website - Love and Learning - which is about a reading and language development program meant for children with special needs. The program has been developed by a couple - Joe and Susan Kotlinski - who have had remarkable success in helping their daughter (born with Down syndrome) acquire reading skills. They now offer the program to other children with special needs. The stories on this site are so heart-warming and encouraging, I decided that I must get Angel started on this program.
I got in touch with Joe and Susan and ordered the first two kits. Joe was very helpful and gave us some good advice on how to use the program. Each kit comes with books, a DVD, a computer program and an audio CD. As soon as we got the kits, we started reading the books to Angel. She watches the DVD everyday and loves to watch the animated letters and words on my laptop, whenever we run the computer program for her. She even knows that she has to press a key to make it go to the next word :)
Though we are not able to do much everyday, we still try to do a little and are delighted to find that she has begun to recognize words. She's tried to say apple when I showed her the word apple a couple of times, and she even tried to say bus and car.
Recently, I found another excellent resource on Downsed International. It's called See and Learn and you can find it here. This site has an entire range of downloadable material that is easy to put together and use. It took me less than an hour to get the first lot of the material ready and we were ready to go. The material is customizable and it provides a good template for you to create your own flash cards. I cut pictures of myself and Angel's daddy to make the mom and dad flash cards. Interesting and fun.
And now to the crux. We are at a point where Angel is easily distracted and would prefer chewing on the material rather than looking at it so I'm not sure how much of what I do is being absorbed but I still read it to her everyday. I'd like to believe that she will be reading soon and I can add her story to all the other beautiful and inspiring ones out there. I would love to hear about your efforts and your child's progress. I'm sure he or she is doing great. Please do write in with your stories.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Wouldn't we all would love for our kids with DS to have such great stories? I know I would be thrilled for Angel (and all our kids). So our efforts to teach her to read started quite early. When she was about seven months old, I came across this wonderful website - Love and Learning - which is about a reading and language development program meant for children with special needs. The program has been developed by a couple - Joe and Susan Kotlinski - who have had remarkable success in helping their daughter (born with Down syndrome) acquire reading skills. They now offer the program to other children with special needs. The stories on this site are so heart-warming and encouraging, I decided that I must get Angel started on this program.
I got in touch with Joe and Susan and ordered the first two kits. Joe was very helpful and gave us some good advice on how to use the program. Each kit comes with books, a DVD, a computer program and an audio CD. As soon as we got the kits, we started reading the books to Angel. She watches the DVD everyday and loves to watch the animated letters and words on my laptop, whenever we run the computer program for her. She even knows that she has to press a key to make it go to the next word :)
Though we are not able to do much everyday, we still try to do a little and are delighted to find that she has begun to recognize words. She's tried to say apple when I showed her the word apple a couple of times, and she even tried to say bus and car.
Recently, I found another excellent resource on Downsed International. It's called See and Learn and you can find it here. This site has an entire range of downloadable material that is easy to put together and use. It took me less than an hour to get the first lot of the material ready and we were ready to go. The material is customizable and it provides a good template for you to create your own flash cards. I cut pictures of myself and Angel's daddy to make the mom and dad flash cards. Interesting and fun.
And now to the crux. We are at a point where Angel is easily distracted and would prefer chewing on the material rather than looking at it so I'm not sure how much of what I do is being absorbed but I still read it to her everyday. I'd like to believe that she will be reading soon and I can add her story to all the other beautiful and inspiring ones out there. I would love to hear about your efforts and your child's progress. I'm sure he or she is doing great. Please do write in with your stories.
Thanks for reading,
JD
Monday, January 4, 2010
You've come a long way baby!
Angel does the cutest things these days. She loves to pick up any phone that she finds near her, hold it to her ear and yell out "Yeah" :) She loves to explore the world around her, cruising along furniture and walls quite comfortably. And she's also very quick - she climbs beds and sofas in seconds. And boy does it make me happy. Especially since some experts had us believe that we would have to wait a long time before she achieved these milestones. Yet at one, she's showing just minimal delays much to everyone's surprise.
We recently got Angel's developmental assessment done at Umeed, an organization that helps children with developmental disabilities. This could easily be one of the most important things we have done in the recent past. It not only gave us an idea of where Angel is, it also helped to identify areas that we need to work on.
Angel started on early intervention (only physiotherapy) when she was two months old but we had never got a developmental assessment done and we were not even aware about it. Our serendipitous discovery of Umeed led to us making an appointment for the assessment. I know for a fact that many children here (in India) have no access to such facilities so if you are a parent of a child with special needs and you live in India I would suggest that you find out options through your pediatrician to determine your child's progress. This would be very helpful in designing a development program for your child.
Coming back to Angel, the developmental pediatrician told us that she's showing good potential in many areas. We do have areas that need working on - the main ones are speech and language. So that's going to be key over the next few months. I'll be making an appointment shortly with a speech therapist who offers an at-home programme. In the meantime, I'm trying to implement some of the recommendations made by the developmental pediatrician at Umeed. Will keep you posted on how this goes.
Thanks for reading,
JD
We recently got Angel's developmental assessment done at Umeed, an organization that helps children with developmental disabilities. This could easily be one of the most important things we have done in the recent past. It not only gave us an idea of where Angel is, it also helped to identify areas that we need to work on.
Angel started on early intervention (only physiotherapy) when she was two months old but we had never got a developmental assessment done and we were not even aware about it. Our serendipitous discovery of Umeed led to us making an appointment for the assessment. I know for a fact that many children here (in India) have no access to such facilities so if you are a parent of a child with special needs and you live in India I would suggest that you find out options through your pediatrician to determine your child's progress. This would be very helpful in designing a development program for your child.
Coming back to Angel, the developmental pediatrician told us that she's showing good potential in many areas. We do have areas that need working on - the main ones are speech and language. So that's going to be key over the next few months. I'll be making an appointment shortly with a speech therapist who offers an at-home programme. In the meantime, I'm trying to implement some of the recommendations made by the developmental pediatrician at Umeed. Will keep you posted on how this goes.
Thanks for reading,
JD
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