sutton093

It seems Maggie's speech has just exploded recently.  She is repeating so many words now - some words only Chuck and I can recognize - and many words that are very clear.   Here's a list of some words that I can think of that she is really saying good: purple blue  yellow ball no !!! bye bye Hi !!!! ( she loves to wave and say hi to anyone ) Hello ! ( Maggie  loves to talk on the "phone" and say hello ) water cold hot arm elbow uh oh ! dog - woof cat - meow monkey -oooo oh ! ma ma pa pa apple butterfly  bird hole hat out I love you ! Will Walker Where's  ? Home Bye Bye.

Maggie got to do some crafty art work at speech yesterday and she loved it !   I think she loved using the glue stick the most.  ( and yes, she is posing for this picture and showing a hint of a smile- love, love, love it ) She is working on the sound "p" this week, hence the "pop corn tree". (love the fish lips !)  Maggie is doing great with her "p" words. Her favorites to say are : papa, open, up and pop.  (More posing and smiling for the camera)

 I love this picture of Maggie and her big, bright smile.   Beautiful!!!  (Those luscious lips have no lip stick on they are el naturale !!)  Maggie is signing "dirty" in this picture.  She was looking at some mud under the tree in our front yard. We use the video series Signing Time   to learn American Sign Language.  Maggie learns so quickly by just watching the videos and we make sure we say what the sign is every time she signs.   It has become evident that Maggie is a visual learner and learns best by seeing something in a book or a video. People with sensory deficits in one area usually have a heightened sense in another.  So, it is with Maggie. It is kind of funny... Maggie had a hearing problem and she really does hear quite well now.  She actually hears without the BAHA if we speak just a little louder.  Now that she knows what hearing is and that it is important, she listens better too.  I kn...

Doesn't she look so big in the pictures ? Now for the update : 1. S ign Languag e:  It is somewhat controversial to teach a hearing impaired child sign language when that child  has the ability to hear through hearing aids.  One of the thoughts behind this is that a hearing impaired child will tend to hold on to signing and will not want to use their voice.  A non hearing impaired child will drop the sign language easily and talk.(  I am sure there is a ton of research and info out on this topic and I am just skirting the issue.)  So we had a decision to make a while back - to teach Maggie sign language or not.  Her Auditory/verbal teacher felt Maggie had just as much ability to speak as she did to sign.  But, she left the decision up to us and also Maggie is not your typical child.  She has other issues: orphanage,severe lack of stimulation as a baby and developmental delays due to orphanage....