Elliw's Speech Development and School Update


Elliw started part-time school 2nd of September. Although she has been attending play school for the past year and a half it was still emotional watching her walk into the big school on the first day in her school uniform. From a young age we noticed Elliw's development was behind, especially if I compared her to her big sister Mia. Elliw didn't walk until she was 15 months and wouldn't step on the outside floor until she was 18 months old. The recent thing we noticed was her speech and language development. It was behind and I told my Health Visitor about it and that was when she put Elliw on the list for Speech therapy.

Elliw has been going to Speech therapy for nearly a year now is progressing really well. Before the summer holidays we were invited to a school in a town near us. The school has a side building just for children who struggle with their speech and language. My partner and I were really nervous meeting the teacher and other staff but they greeted us with a warm welcome. The room was amazing, so many things for the children to do and Elliw fully enjoyed herself there whilst we were talking and discussing things with the teacher/team leader.


A few months later I got a letter through the post to say Elliw got a place at the school. I was really happy but I was also really emotional. My youngest baby girl was having to go into a taxi on her own (without me) with other children to attend the speech and language school 3 times a day. Her set days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays in the afternoon (1-3pm). In the first two weeks I was putting Elliw in her local school 5 mornings a week and then the speech school 3 afternoons a week but I had a phone call from the local school to say she is not supposed to attend the local school on the days she goes to speech school because it is too much for her age, apparently.

Since starting school I have seen her speech develop a lot more. She has started to say fuller and longer sentences. She still has a little trouble saying some words but I know she will get there one day as she grows and learns more through both schools. Elliw loves going to both schools but she never talks much about neither school. She is always a happy bunny going and coming home from both schools so I presume she loves it in both.

She has a book from the speech school where they write updates now and then on her progress and write what she has been doing. She has done a lot of singing, crafts and colouring in the school and she is always so proud showing her book to us and anyone else who wants to see it (as you can tell from the photo below).

Elliw speaks English and Welsh, sometimes both languages in the same sentence which can be quite funny at times. She goes through a phase of speaking one language more than the other but we are trying to push welsh more on her as the village we live in and both schools languages are all welsh. It has been hard trying to help her with her speech but it's also been quite easy and pretty fun for all of us.


TIPS:
  • If you are watching TV, explain things to the child about the programme. Such as the colours, what that particular character is doing and ask the child questions about the programme. E.g. "What colour hat was XX wearing?", "Did you like watching that TV show?" etc.
  • Going for walks can be fun and educational for your child. Whilst going out for a walk you can explain to the child how fast or slow you are walking. Describe the animals by telling the child the animals name, colour and the noise the animal does. You could also talk about the grass, trees, cars or if you see anyone you can describe what they are doing.
  • If your child asks for something but just does noises, pick 3 things out (where the child was pointing), say each of the items names and let your child repeat which one they want.
  • Do not talk over your child. Let your child take their time in telling you what they want to say to you.

2 comments

  1. What a gorgeous picture. I know many children that have been helped so much by speech therapy. Hope she continues to thrive. #twinklytuesday

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  2. My daughters both went through speech therapy. Although their vocabulary and grammar were very advanced, their articulation was delayed and so people couldn't understand them. It made a world of difference! It's so interesting to see the range of speech of issues that can present themselves. So glad to hear that Elliw is doing so well! Thanks for linking with #TwinklyTuesday.

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