smarter than the average bear

It's been a while since I posted about the Bear and his speech issues.  Which is odd,  as the reason that I started this blog in the first place was to be able to process some of the thoughts and emotions that his journey raises.

So let me tell you how he's going.  Well, he's doing very well with repeating words.  He now repeats about 50 words, including "day-ya" (shower), "dow-dare" (downstairs - said with force, to the dog), "dad-da" (no, not Daddy, but Jasper the dog), "nin-ny" (kindy) and "dee" (afternoon tea).  If he wants something, and we ask him to use his words, he will say "more".  Unfortunately, if he hasn't had "some" of whatever he wants in the recent past, interpreting "more" can be difficult, to say the least.  If he wants assistance, he is learning (with prompting) to say "eh" (help).  And when he wants a cuddle, he needs to say "uh" (up) before we will pick him up.

He is yet to initiate any words other than "har", which means car.  "Har" seems to mean, "Mummy, I'm a bit bored with you.  Let's go and get Daddy and the Gig."

My little Bear is also doing very well with his Occupational Therapy.  He has some motor planning problems (probably motor dyspraxia), and we are working on getting him able to draw descending vertical lines at the moment.  We are also working on sequencing activities, using flash cards to tell him what's coming next.  This is going well.  He likes knowing what's next, but isn't quite so keen on relinquishing control!

The third therapy he is receiving is a Playgroup attached to a Special Needs Early Childhood Unit.  We've only been twice, and each time he has done some spectacular door work.  The second time, his door work wasn't nearly as frenzied or desperate as the first time, so hopefully it will ease as time goes by.

In the meantime, here's what he's really good at - problem solving!