Re: Vocab

September 14, 2006

My son¹s ability to read has given him amazing access to vocabulary. Believe

me, in his early years, there were PLENTY of words he didn¹t know. And it

didn¹t take listening to other moms talk about their own children that could

make me crazy: all I had to do was remember what my daughter was doing at

his age. But reading has expanded his vocabulary exponentially, and reading

comics like Garfield (which I despise) has given his access to idioms and

sarcasm. Yesterday morning, as I was dryly commenting on something he was

doing, he rolled his eyes and said ³I¹m drowning in sarcasm here!². He has

an exceptional command of the language, and I really attribute a big part of

that to reading.

But I also remember how disheartening those early years can be. Keep doing

what you¹re doing, read to her, talk to her, sign to her, give her language

in whatever way works for you, and it will come.

Stefanie

Mom to Ben, 8, severe/profound HOH, and Isabella, 11, mild loss

on 9/14/06 4:35 PM, saraandchadd at saraandchadd@... wrote:

> Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

> other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing things

> or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

> picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab? She's

> only in K.

>

> Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling me

> that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

> with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited when

> he says bye-bye!

>

September 14, 2006

Sara - same here. I'd see other parents with kids talking up a storm

(and talking really clearly) and I was thrilled that my kid could say

hello **sigh**. And it's really hard to not compare. But like Stefanie

says, with the work you're doing, they can catch up. Both my boys were

one of the two best readers in their first grade classes so I think it

equals out.

Take care!

Barbara

Stefanie Cloutier wrote:

> My son¹s ability to read has given him amazing access to vocabulary. Believe

> me, in his early years, there were PLENTY of words he didn¹t know. And it

> didn¹t take listening to other moms talk about their own children that could

> make me crazy: all I had to do was remember what my daughter was doing at

> his age. But reading has expanded his vocabulary exponentially, and reading

> comics like Garfield (which I despise) has given his access to idioms and

> sarcasm. Yesterday morning, as I was dryly commenting on something he was

> doing, he rolled his eyes and said ³I¹m drowning in sarcasm here!². He has

> an exceptional command of the language, and I really attribute a big part of

> that to reading.

>

> But I also remember how disheartening those early years can be. Keep doing

> what you¹re doing, read to her, talk to her, sign to her, give her language

> in whatever way works for you, and it will come.

>

> Stefanie

> Mom to Ben, 8, severe/profound HOH, and Isabella, 11, mild loss

>

> on 9/14/06 4:35 PM, saraandchadd at saraandchadd@... wrote:

>

>> Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

>> other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing things

>> or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

>> picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab? She's

>> only in K.

>>

>> Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling me

>> that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

>> with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited when

>> he says bye-bye!

>>

>

September 14, 2006

Bree has an amazing vocabulary for a 3 ½ yro, on speech and language

spectrum she tested as far as 6 mo ahead of her age (at the time of

testing)… but from a mommy perspective I notice Bree has a hard time

finding the words to tell/retell about an event. It’s like she knows the

word but can’t say it or can’t recall it or maybe can’t recall how to

say it. I know there’s something missing there but I don’t really know

what.

My 3 ½ yro knows all of her colors, and has for about 6 months and can

count to 10- my 2 1/2yro hardly talks and what she talk isn’t real very

clear. I was worried about is because she didn’t say but 10 words at

2yro, but she’s gotten more vocabulary in 6mo- not a LOT but she’s made

an improvement. My best friend’s daughter a month younger clearly speaks

more and much much more understandable than is. Might have to do

with being the only child vs being the 3rd child.

Hang in there, things will fall in place.

-Robin

Memphis Mommy to Constance almost 7, Breanna 3 ½ (mild HL, possible AN,

toe walker, tight heel cords, food allergies), is 2 1/2yro- kid with

ears full of wax!!!!

Vocab

Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing things

or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab? She's

only in K.

Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling me

that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited when

he says bye-bye!

September 14, 2006

For our family, we just read, read, read. When we come to a word I

don't think my four year old (hearing) knows, I ask her what it means

and if she cannot answer, I give her an explanation.

With my 21 month old (HOH), I read, read, read. She really likes to sit

on my lap and be read to, which is probably in part because she CAN hear

me best when she is on my lap. We read some books ten times in a row.

Other days we read 10 books in a row. We also sign along with many of

the books the signs that we know. n actually is starting to recite

parts of " Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? " at random times

througout the day.

We also try to add words to n's descriptions. If she says " hotty "

for " potty " , we might say, " Yes, it is a white potty. " That is a simple

example, but I hope it gets the idea across. I also try to use synonyms

with my four year old once she knows a word. For example, when she asks

me how she looks, I won't use pretty, but beautiful, fabulous, etc.

I hope that helps some.

in Manassas, VA

> Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

> other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing things

> or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

> picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab? She's

> only in K.

>

> Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling

> me

> that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

> with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited when

> he says bye-bye!

>

--

Letiecq laura@...>

September 14, 2006

My almost-12yo son had significant delays in speech

development because of his hearing impairment

(moderate to mild/moderate loss in both ears since

infancy, with hearing aids starting at 11mo), but it

was mainly in pronuncation and grammar. We had to

teach him when to add " s " to a word for plural, for

example, and he's still not completely compentent in

verb forms, especially past tense. He has been in

speech therapy since he was seven months old, and he

had *finally* gotten to the point of sounding

relatively " normal " (no nasality and normal rhythmic

tone) when he came down with Guillain-Barre

Syndrome--a disease that causes complete, but mostly

temporary, loss of muscle tone in voluntary muscles.

He recovered remarkably well, and must faster than his

doctors expected, but he lost significant tone in his

soft palate, so even four years later, he has extreme

nasality when he speaks, and tends to be very

monotone.

His vocabulary, though, has always been exceptional,

especially receptive. As he became more confident that

people would understand him, he started trying new

vocabulary. From a linguistic point of view, it's

common for children to try new words in new contexts,

and it is the best way for them to learn what the

words really mean. He does make mistakes, both in

pronunciation and context, so we just take time to

explain the mistakes, assuring him that the word is a

real word, but that is has a different meaning than he

assumed.

We also have a 15yo daughter with normal hearing whose

vocabulary comes primarily from reading. With the way

English is spelled, it's quite amusing sometimes to

hear how she thinks a given word *should* be

pronounced, and she sometimes actually stops us when

we're talking to ask if a word we just said (with the

correct pronunciation) is a word that she has learned

from reading (and for which she has a different

assumed pronunciation).

Kiminy

__________________________________________________

September 15, 2006

>

> Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

> other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing

things

> or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

> picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab?

She's

> only in K.

>

> Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling

me

> that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

> with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited

when

> he says bye-bye!

>

September 15, 2006

Sara -

This is true for my son Sam (profound loss in left ear, mild-mod

sloping loss in right ear). He struggles with vocabulary, but has

made BIG improvements in this area in the last 6 months or so (he's 5

years old now).

Sam also has the added problem of anxiety. I think this hinders a

lot, unfortunately. In preschool, they used to say the daily

weather and say what their job was for the day. It was not uncommon

for Sam to answer with " My job is raining " . I think mostly through

the stress of speaking in front of the group - he was trying to cram

everything in his brain and getting messed up. He also has difficulty

sequencing long series of words. He still can not recite his entire

alphabet, but he can identify each letter AND knows their

corresponding sound. But getting out ABCDEFG.... in a long run - just

can't do it.

Also, because of anxiety, Sam gets nervous about trying out new words -

if he says it incorrectly or can't be understand and ask you to

clarify, he quickly says " Oh, never mind.... " We work on this one a

lot!

>

> Do you find that your HOH children have less of a vocabulary than

> other children? I find that Hannah has a hard time describing

things

> or retelling a story. She understands the concept but she sometimes

> picks words that just don't seem to fit. Do you work on vocab?

She's

> only in K.

>

> Oh - and it really upset me today when a friend of mine was telling

me

> that her 20 month old knows all of her colors and is even starting

> with ABCs and 123s and here my 18 month old is and I get excited

when

> he says bye-bye!

>

September 15, 2006

I saw this post from Kiminy & it sounds like I am exactly where she

was 12 years ago. My 7 month old was just confirmed last week to

have mild to moderate hearing loss by audiologists after we finally

agreed to do a sedated ABR. So now she needs medical clearance I'm

told to get hearing aids - i can't get an appt with the ENT for

another month. I was curious about the speech therapy for a 7 month

old that you mentioned - what exactly do they do at that age?

Joanne

- 7 months

>

> My almost-12yo son had significant delays in speech

> development because of his hearing impairment

> (moderate to mild/moderate loss in both ears since

> infancy, with hearing aids starting at 11mo), but it

> was mainly in pronuncation and grammar. We had to

> teach him when to add " s " to a word for plural, for

> example, and he's still not completely compentent in

> verb forms, especially past tense. He has been in

> speech therapy since he was seven months old, and he

> had *finally* gotten to the point of sounding

> relatively " normal " (no nasality and normal rhythmic

> tone) when he came down with Guillain-Barre

> Syndrome--a disease that causes complete, but mostly

> temporary, loss of muscle tone in voluntary muscles.

> He recovered remarkably well, and must faster than his

> doctors expected, but he lost significant tone in his

> soft palate, so even four years later, he has extreme

> nasality when he speaks, and tends to be very

> monotone.

>

> His vocabulary, though, has always been exceptional,

> especially receptive. As he became more confident that

> people would understand him, he started trying new

> vocabulary. From a linguistic point of view, it's

> common for children to try new words in new contexts,

> and it is the best way for them to learn what the

> words really mean. He does make mistakes, both in

> pronunciation and context, so we just take time to

> explain the mistakes, assuring him that the word is a

> real word, but that is has a different meaning than he

> assumed.

>

> We also have a 15yo daughter with normal hearing whose

> vocabulary comes primarily from reading. With the way

> English is spelled, it's quite amusing sometimes to

> hear how she thinks a given word *should* be

> pronounced, and she sometimes actually stops us when

> we're talking to ask if a word we just said (with the

> correct pronunciation) is a word that she has learned

> from reading (and for which she has a different

> assumed pronunciation).

>

> Kiminy

>

> __________________________________________________

>

September 15, 2006

If you are in the US, you should ask your child's

doctor (pediatrician or ENT) or contact your local

children's hospital for a referral to your local Early

Intervention/First Steps program. This is a

federally-mandated/state-funded program for children

with disabilities up to the age of 3, and is geared

toward keeping children on track developmentally as

much as possible so that the child is prepared for

school at the right age.

They can do a complete needs assessment, including

speech therapy or other therapies that may be

appropriate for your child.

At this age, speech therapy includes helping the child

learn to control their mouth muscles, as well as learn

to recognize and mimic sounds they hear. From a

linguistic point of view, children with normal hearing

develop these skills naturally during the first 6-9

months of life, and by 12 months, most children can

distinguish the different sounds used in their native

language, as well as tell when a sound is not in their

native language. Infants with hearing loss cannot do

this easily themselves, so even very early speech

therapy can help with this. (In our case, our son also

had oral aversions, so some of the speech therapy was

meant to address eating behaviors.)

Most infant therapy, in my experience, though,

involves evaluating the child, then giving the parent

exercises/methods to use to help the child in between

sessions.

Early Intervention programs are state-funded, so cost

depends on the state. Some states provide the services

at no cost, regardless of family income. Other states

charge for services on a sliding scale basis. They may

also be able help with the cost of hearing aids or

other devices your child may need.

Kiminy

--- joanneouch jdouch@...> wrote:

> I saw this post from Kiminy & it sounds like I am

> exactly where she

> was 12 years ago. My 7 month old was just confirmed

> last week to

> have mild to moderate hearing loss by audiologists

> after we finally

> agreed to do a sedated ABR. So now she needs

> medical clearance I'm

> told to get hearing aids - i can't get an appt with

> the ENT for

> another month. I was curious about the speech

> therapy for a 7 month

> old that you mentioned - what exactly do they do at

> that age?

__________________________________________________

September 15, 2006

Sara,

Don't do that to yourself, don't compare kids if you can help it. I know it

can be depressing to hear about other kids advances, but try not to compare.

Funny story, my daughter did everything early, probably because we were

working with Ian and she benefited. But I was so sensitive to Ian being

compared,

that I would only share 's stages with close friends. I'm sure my best

friend got tired of it, but where else to brag? (grin).

Ian always struggled to retell stories or tell about his day. (He still

does.) It was partly lack of language, it was partly that the events of the day

never made it past short-term into long term memory. Whatever the cause, he

struggled. And when he did manage to tell us things, he used very few

adjectives. He did okay with colors, except for purples. Light purples and

lavendar

were " blue " for the longest time. I always though the tendency would be to call

it pink. (shrug)

We worked on descriptions, we worked on remembering just one thing to share

at the end of the day. He'd tell us about something and we'd ask back-up

questions. Was his friend happy about being able to use the slide? Did they go

fast or slow when they came down? How did his friend slow himself down?

(sticking his sneakers up against the side of the slide, always -- his friend

hated

to go fast) Did Ian do that? Why not? What makes going faster fun?

We worked using sequence story cards -- pictures of a story that he had to

put into sequence and then tell us the story. They were drawn in basic outline

illustrations, so we'd have him color them and then add in the color details

when telling the story. This also helped him identify the same person in each

frame. He had to work to make sure the same guy had the blue shirt for all

the pictures. Sometimes we colored first, sometimes we put them in order

first. He preferred to organize them first and then color. (I don't remember

which

was recommended by the teacher)

Heavens, I did anything I could think of to pull more info out of this kid,

and get more vocabulary into him. I'm still defining word for Ian, ones he has

used and has no clue what they mean. We started all this even before I knew

of Ian's hearing loss, we realized he was having trouble before he was

properly diagnosed and being a family of teachers, we started to work on it as

soon as we saw a need.

I know this will sound incredibly advanced, but remember that Ian is a high

school Junior -- last night I defined " proxy " for him. A word I know he has

used but now realize was unclear as to what it meant. I am constantly defining

words for him and giving him alternative examples of their uses. Sometimes I

think we'll be doing this via cell phone for the rest of his life. (grin)

Best -- Jill

September 15, 2006

My son Elias is 4, and has bilateral mod-to-severe SN loss, with BTE aids.

We also read a lot in our house. If I'm not reading to Elias, then my 6 yo

is (he loves

to show off his reading!). Elias has great receptive vocabulary, and a

pretty good

expressive vocabulary too. Where he has trouble, though, is with fluency -

he

doesn't get his sentences put together right. and he struggles to make

himself

understood. As a result, he is way behind where my older son was at this age

in

terms of things like making up stories, expressing more complicated

thoughts, etc.

Also, because he is hard to understand, other kids don't respond well, and

that

makes him even less willing to talk, so he doesn't get the practice.

I find that he is an incredibly visual learner, and I don't know if that is

just because of

the hearing loss or if he would have been that way anyhow. My older child is

also visual, but is also an extremely verbal child who read early and talks

nonstop.

Bonnie

>

> For our family, we just read, read, read. When we come to a word I

> don't think my four year old (hearing) knows, I ask her what it means

> and if she cannot answer, I give her an explanation.

>

September 15, 2006

Sara, this is something that Carol Flexer talks about a lot. Kids learn most

of their language by overhearing other people's conversations. But kids with

hearing aids can't over hear well due to noise, distance etc. So they can't

" catch " language, you need to " teach " it. I don't mean by sitting down like

you are homeschooling, but doing things like reading out loud to them (CF

prescribes 10 books per day) and " narrating life " . Here's an example of

narrating life: rather than say " put your coat on. " you might say " we're going

to put your coat on, it keeps you warm when it's cold outside, its big and

fluffy, put this arm in the sleeve, now put your other arm in the other sleeve,

now lets zip up your zipper. " Sounds like a lot, but it pumps in the language

and vocab. They hear you say this a few times and when they can say those

words, you move into something else. Talk about the color of the jacket or if

it is for cold weather or freezing weather, or right and left arms. Do this

with everything they or you do. Just keep them in earshot, remember if you

mouth is more than 6 feet from their ear, they might not hear you intelligibly.

September 15, 2006

Sara, I use to worry about 's vocab too. Still do to a degree. Instead

of using the correct word to tell you something, she would describe it. I found

myself constanting " interpreting " these descriptions to others. Instead of

saying " I went to the Mall " she would say " I went to a big place, we walked

around and looked at things " . You can see why it was a problem. Recently her

HI told me an exchange they had:

" I slept at Barbie's house "

HI " Oh, you spent the night at Barbie's house? Who is Barbie "

" Chelsea and 's mom "

HI " How do you know Chelsea and "

" ummmm they are ummmm sisters "

HI " Your sister's? "

" Noooooo "

HI " Well, how do you know Barbie "

" She's my mom's sister "

HI " Well, what do you call your mom's sister "

" Barbie "

HI " Is that your Aunt? "

" Yes, it's my Aunt Barbie "

So as you can see, we try and help her come up with the words she needs and if

she doesn't, we try to fill it in. I find it easier to talk to when the

opportunity presents itself instead of trying to teach her. I'm always amazed

when I discover that she doesn't know a word that I think she should. We had

one just recently, but I can't remember what it was. But I do remember

telling me what the word meant before she even tried.

Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 4, hearing

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

---------------------------------

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September 16, 2006

In a message dated 9/15/2006 11:24:20 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

babydewe2@... writes:

So as you can see, we try and help her come up with the words she needs and

if she doesn't, we try to fill it in. I find it easier to talk to when

the opportunity presents itself instead of trying to teach her.

We always found that Ian (and Kaite) learned best when the learning is

hidden within conversation and other activities. We did plenty of sit-and-learn

stuff with Ian, but he picked up an amazing amount from " just talking. " It's

the most common occurrence for my current role as walking dictionary. Like

defining the word " proxy, " I did that while cutting up chicken for dinner. I am

the walking English as well as ASL dictionary ... me, the senile one, LOL.

September 16, 2006

" Sara, this is something that Carol Flexer talks about a lot. Kids

learn most of their language by overhearing other people's

conversations. But kids with hearing aids can't over hear well due to

noise, distance etc. So they can't " catch " language, you need to

" teach " it. "

Carol Flexor also recommends using F.M. systems as much as possible

especially when their child is younger, so they can " catch " language.

I wear ours in the car, at the grocery story, to playdates. Not only

has it helped Rhett's vocabulary and behavior but he also gets to

" overhear " all of the good things I say about him to other parents

and all of the good things that other parents say about him. He gets

direct input of vocab as well as modeling of language usage/syntax

and behavior/positive social interactions. It always reminds me to

be more mindful of what I say and how I say things too.

I got to see Carol Flexer speak a month or so ago - amazing! - so

much info- parents are SO important.

Verda

mom to Rhett - 4 (mod-severe bilateral hearing loss) and Sela - 20

months (hearing)

September 16, 2006

Deb - that is an exact description of hannah. Its like she goes on this

roundabout way of describing things when I " know " that she understands perfectly

well what she means to say!!

Deb DiAnni babydewe2@...> wrote: Sara, I use to worry about 's

vocab too. Still do to a degree. Instead of using the correct word to tell you

something, she would describe it. I found myself constanting " interpreting "

these descriptions to others. Instead of saying " I went to the Mall " she would

say " I went to a big place, we walked around and looked at things " . You can see

why it was a problem. Recently her HI told me an exchange they had:

" I slept at Barbie's house "

HI " Oh, you spent the night at Barbie's house? Who is Barbie "

" Chelsea and 's mom "

HI " How do you know Chelsea and "

" ummmm they are ummmm sisters "

HI " Your sister's? "

" Noooooo "

HI " Well, how do you know Barbie "

" She's my mom's sister "

HI " Well, what do you call your mom's sister "

" Barbie "

HI " Is that your Aunt? "

" Yes, it's my Aunt Barbie "

So as you can see, we try and help her come up with the words she needs and if

she doesn't, we try to fill it in. I find it easier to talk to when the

opportunity presents itself instead of trying to teach her. I'm always amazed

when I discover that she doesn't know a word that I think she should. We had one

just recently, but I can't remember what it was. But I do remember

telling me what the word meant before she even tried.

Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 4, hearing

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

---------------------------------

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September 16, 2006

My kids did that too - rather than naming something they'd describe it.

Sara Chaddock wrote:

> Deb - that is an exact description of hannah. Its like she goes on this

roundabout way of describing things when I " know " that she understands perfectly

well what she means to say!!

>

> Deb DiAnni babydewe2@...> wrote: Sara, I use to worry about 's

vocab too. Still do to a degree. Instead of using the correct word to tell you

something, she would describe it. I found myself constanting " interpreting "

these descriptions to others. Instead of saying " I went to the Mall " she would

say " I went to a big place, we walked around and looked at things " . You can see

why it was a problem. Recently her HI told me an exchange they had:

> " I slept at Barbie's house "

> HI " Oh, you spent the night at Barbie's house? Who is Barbie "

> " Chelsea and 's mom "

> HI " How do you know Chelsea and "

> " ummmm they are ummmm sisters "

> HI " Your sister's? "

> " Noooooo "

> HI " Well, how do you know Barbie "

> " She's my mom's sister "

> HI " Well, what do you call your mom's sister "

> " Barbie "

> HI " Is that your Aunt? "

> " Yes, it's my Aunt Barbie "

>

> So as you can see, we try and help her come up with the words she needs and if

she doesn't, we try to fill it in. I find it easier to talk to when the

opportunity presents itself instead of trying to teach her. I'm always amazed

when I discover that she doesn't know a word that I think she should. We had one

just recently, but I can't remember what it was. But I do remember

telling me what the word meant before she even tried.

>

> Debbie, mom to , 7, moderate SNHL and , 4, hearing

>

> Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never

were and ask why not. G.B Shaw

>

> ---------------------------------

> How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

>

September 16, 2006

Everything you said describes what we did to get Neal where he is. You don't

have to do it so much after a certain point it seems, but it sure helps get the

child going in the right direction. Another thing I would suggest is games to

specifically get at those prepositions. Hide a stuffed animal and have your

child look under the chair, behind the chair, etc. Describe what they are doing

as they go " through the tunnel " and then " around the tunnel, etc. if you have

one of those fold up tunnels. Repetition is key at first. Have the child say

what they are doing too...not only listen to you. I think the most important

thing Neal learned in going through all of that was how to learn. He is now

very good at picking things up and remembering and applying them. Last week he

came home from school and said, " Guess what? I learned a college word. " I asked

what it was and he said, " Schema. " I asked him what it meant and he said,

" Everything you know. " His teacher had said it in 1st grade class and then told

the kids what it meant. I would guess that most of the kids forgot it right

afterward, but Neal is so used to paying attention to things like that now, that

he picked it up and added it to his vocabulary. He called his Grandma to tell

her about it. She had no idea what it meant. lol

Rhonda Savage

Mom to Audrey, 9 1/2, hearing; and Neal, 7, CII at 2.9 years

" Hard does not mean impossible. "

<

>

September 18, 2006

>

> Deb - that is an exact description of hannah. Its like she goes on

this roundabout way of describing things when I " know " that she

understands perfectly well what she means to say!!

Our Sammy (5) is just like this, too! Right now he tells

everyone, " For Halloween, I'm going to be a guy with a mask and a hat

and a sword and a cape. " Now, he knows he's going to be Zorro, but

he *never* says Zorro!

September 19, 2006

Wow - I never thought of it as a coping skill!!!!!!

" L. Buseck " cbolton@...> wrote: Congratulations to all your

children who find roundabout ways of

describing things that they don't have the vocabulary for. That's a

great coping skill! My daughter's TOD was actively teaching her

describing skills, in addition to teaching her vocabulary and

synonyms. The TOD explained that descriptive skills are handy in lots

of situations. The first your kids have already discovered -- for

when they don't have vocabulary. It can also help clarify when a

child mis-hears, " did you say 'mum' like a person's parent or 'bum'

like the thing you sit on? " They can also use describing in case a

listener doesn't understand their pronunciation. Enjoy your

children's creative use of language while it lasts; soon they'll know

the vocabulary and then you can enjoy that too!

Lori

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September 20, 2006

Congratulations to all your children who find roundabout ways of