baby babble - BONANZA!

What do you do when you have a teenage non-verbal child, who has Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, who begins to babble and jabber (the beginning sounds and word approximations that are typically made by a baby/toddler) ?

Well, after you get over the amazement of hearing this new development taking place before your eyes and ears (many years after the typical speech timeline)...you roll with it (despite their age) and you encourage them to keep making sounds, you help them to put sounds together, and you might also want to consider seeking the help of a trained speech language pathologist, who can support your endeavor to teach your teen or older child to learn to produce sounds and verbally speak for the first time.

When my son, Matthew, was a baby and toddler, he didn't really babble or baby talk, and he didn't make very many sounds. He received speech therapy but when it became apparent that he needed an alternate way to communicate, we began working on using sign language and augmentative communication, (which we still continue to use and encourage).

However, I still always worked with and encouraged my son to 'talk' verbally by becoming his mirror (sitting directly in front of him making different sounds very slowly using my mouth and allowing him to watch me--hoping he would attempt to mimic me).

He rarely made a sound and would simply, but very intently, watch my mouth. He also loved to watch his own mouth in a mirror and he would make faces while engaging in mirror mouth play, which amused him greatly.

At age 7 he said his first word, "buh-bye", after he and I had worked on it together for almost the entire school year.

He also took his first steps at age 7, which I was told, by his developmental team at the Children's Hospital, defied the textbook odds!

Getting back to the babbling, which is something that my son has been doing for awhile now.

I have been looking for ways to work with him to develop/enhance his verbal speech and help him hone those delightful sounds, he is making, into words, which he is actually already beginning to do a little bit.

For example, he has learned to SAY: "puppy", "bubble", "papa", and he is trying hard to say other words such as: BALL, BOWL, BABY.

He is also (with my encouragement) making the first sound of a word (using his mouth)--even though he isn't able to speak the entire word. If he knows the "sign" for the word, he will sign the word (using sign language)...and then I will smile and say "yes" but will still encourage him to also SAY the first letter sound of that word, with his mouth.

For example: we will work on the word MILK and he will sign the word for "milk" when I say it, but I will help him to try to SAY the "M" sound "mmmmmmm" and he will repeat it, "mmmmmmm".

For some words, he will try to verbally speak the entire word, which may sometimes sound very close to the word (the actual sounds--and even the correct number of syllables) or may not--but he is trying and I am encouraging, and celebrating, each and every effort on his part.

I am impressed, thrilled, elated, jumping for joy and although I don't know if he will some day advance to verbal speech, I won't let that stop me from trying, trying, trying, enthusiastically encouraging him, and hoping.

I tell my son that I love that he is talking to me. I also tell him numerous times, as often as possible, with a big smile on my face, and and an outpouring of encouragement from my heart...

"You are talking", "I love it when you talk to me", "Tell me more"...

And he replies back with beautiful babbling stories and important things he wants to tell me.

It's not just me and his dad noticing this big bonanza of sounds, and long-winded babbling, taking place. He is also babbling out in public, at his hairdresser's, at the grocery store and anywhere else he feels the urge to express himself.

Sometimes he babbles a variety of sounds in a very long string of quick jabber that (as his mother) I know perfectly well HE knows what he's saying--even if the rest of us aren't quite sure.

Some of his babbling is definitely playing with sounds and exploring, but sometimes he will get in front of my face, seeking my attention, and he will try very hard to verbally tell me something. His speech pattern will slow way down and you can see him thinking as he very slowly produces what's on his mind, using a variety of sounds and careful movements of his mouth. I wish I knew what he was saying (and sometimes I do--simply because I know him and I know what he wants or what he is asking to do--like play games, music and videos on the computer, etc).

Several days ago I stumbled upon a blog that has been a Godsend! Thanks to Tori, Jake's Mama and author of Jake's Journey to be a Little Man, I discovered the exact tools that I have been desiring/looking for, that perfectly match my son's learning style, when it comes to watching mouths in the mirror and viewing videos of mouths making sounds, to help promote verbal speech.

After carefully considering and exploring the different products, I chose to purchase the following VAST speech "apps" in itunes, created by SpeakinMotion, for my son to use on his iPad2:

VAST (Video Assisted Speech Technology) is created for use on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

click to view a video sample of VAST Autism 1-Core below:

VAST Autism 1 - Core (also available in Spanish)

and

VAST Pre-Speech Oral Motor

They were an instant hit with Matthew and with Matthew's Mama, too!

He grabbed the iPad and began staring at each close-up video of a mouth moving making a sound or a word, and intently watched, then tried saying the sound or moving his mouth, then looked up at me for a dose of Mama make the sound for me, and went right back to his video mouth-watching on his iPad!

At 19 years of age, my son is bursting forth with babble, making a variety of bilabial sounds (consonant sounds using both lips: "m" "p", "b") and is also making some alveolar sounds (consonant sounds made by the tip of the tongue against the superior alveolar ridge [on the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper front teeth]: "n", "t", "d", "s", "z"). And, I will continue to help his babbling blossom into the beautiful potential inside of him.

The moral of this story is:

Don't ever give up hope, or think it's too late for your child to learn something new developmentally or educationally, despite their age.

The VAST apps are discounted 20% now through May 15, 2013 (just a few more days) in honor of their "Autism and Stroke Awareness Matters campaign."

Websites below: (that I found helpful in my exploration)

Proactive Speech-ipad technology for non-verbal individuals with autism

Consonantly Speaking-SpeakinMotion Application Reviews
This is an Speech-Language Pathologist's detailed reviews about some of the VAST "apps". Please note that her review is from March, 2013 and the giveaway is now closed. However, her review is quite helpful and informative.

Jake's Journey to be a Little Man-Vast Autism 1 Core
Thank you Jake's Mama, Tori, for your wonderfully helpful and very informative website, which led me to learn about the VAST speech apps! ♥

I welcome and encourage all of your comments.

And, if you use a specific speech "app" (or other speech therapy tool) with your child/loved one and find it helpful, please mention it specifically by name, and feel free to give as many details as you are comfortable sharing, in your comment.

disclaimer: I did not receive any monetary compensation from the company who sells the products mentioned here. I purchased the VAST "apps" (at my own out-of-pocket expense) as a tool to help encourage verbal sounds/speech in my child who has agenesis of the corpus callosum.

Communication - input from parents

The topic of speech-verbal language (or lack thereof), in some children who have ACC, comes up often by concerned parents in the ACC support groups.

Sometimes I discover that there are hidden gems of information buried in some of the larger ACC documents that have been posted on this blog. So, today I decided to revive this buried treasure (found in the ACC-Reading and Comprehension document) involving communication and kids who have ACC.

Below are some of the comments, written by parents of kids with ACC, regarding the topic of verbal language.

First parent writes:

"As a baby Abbie didn't babble. She was a very serious baby. At about age 2 she went from virtually no speech, apart from a few single words and their varied mutations, to almost full sentences. She'd obviously been listening and observing."

Second parent writes:

"Lexie never babbled either. No mamamama or bababababa. Also, she never said uh-oh like all other babies. Same goes with what does a cow say...."mooooo" Nope! She, too, was a very serious baby. At age 2 she had virtually NO words. Then suddenly, somewhere after 2, she began talking. I would not say full sentences over night, but to us it was drastic!"

Third parent writes:

"Ryan started speech therapy at 15 months old. For three long months, once a week, his therapist would go over the signs 'more, all done, open' and maybe 3 or 4 other ones. He couldn't care less! He never seemed to be looking at our hands (of course I kept trying to teach him)... he had lots of fun playing with her, but didn't pick up on the sign thing AT ALL!

At 18 months we were on vacation in Ireland, when his daddy realized he forgot the video camera in the car. So he went to get it. While he was gone, I was tickling and picking up Ryan for about five minutes. Then I stopped. Then we looked at each other and he signed "more". I screamed 'what'? And he did it over and over and over again. Just in time for the video camera! By the end of our two week vacation, he was signing more, all done and open. The amazing part is that it really seemed like he never paid attn to the therapist and to me for the three months we tried to teach him those signs!

Luckily he got kicked out of speech therapy at three yrs old when he said his first 10 word sentence. Speech has never been an issue again."

Fourth parent writes:

"I had worked with him [my son] for one whole year trying to teach him how to say the word "bye bye". We flew to Hawaii and were waiting for our connecting flight to Maui. My husband went outside for something and out of the clear blue tropical sky I heard Matthew say "buh bye" and I nearly did a little dance...the kind of I can't believe he just SAID it dance. My husband was gone and couldn't hear this wonderful new first word that our SEVEN year old child just said. I grabbed my cell phone and called my mom (as Matthew was still saying "buh bye"..."buh bye") and I got her answering machine. I put the phone up to Matthew's mouth and he SAID "buh bye" a few times. My mom heard it later and kept it on her answering machine for years.

While Matthew is still non-verbal with only a handful of words...I continue to help him with speech because he makes a lot of sounds and is trying hard to put simple words together even though he doesn't know he's doing it. I hear him sometimes out of the blue say a word while he is watching TV. For example, he saw a baby on TV and said "bay-bee" clear as day without any problem. I will never give up on him talking and will continue to work with him and believe in all of the things that he is capable of doing no matter how old he is or what anyone else thinks."

Fifth parent (of 16 year old child) writes:

"My son William had a list of things (an entire page long) we were told he "would never do." REALLY? He was 3 years old when we received this list from our "doctor". At 3, he spoke 5 words that were understandable (mama, dada, jojo, baba, & more). His speech was defined as "largely unintelligible sentences" for *MANY* years. Meaning, we were the only ones who truly understood him....that was from age *3* to age ?? (sorry I lost track... but it was a LONG time).

Well, let me tell you what a difference 13 years of advocating for speech services can make...I CANNOT keep him quiet now...he pretty much NEVER shuts up (and I say that with TOTAL LOVE in my heart) and he is *completely* *understandable*. He talks "a mile a minute!" There is NO misunderstanding him now!! He is even described by his teachers as very polite and social. He has no problems with his socialization skills.

Oh yeah one more thing, about that list we received when William was 3 years old...I'm elated to say, he does everything on that list and much more, with ONE exception....he still cannot read, but he will (I have Faith)...and as GOD is my witness, if it is the *VERY* last thing we teach him...HE WILL READ."

ADDITIONAL STORIES FROM PARENTS:

Sixth parent writes:

"My eleven year old son who has complete acc has no problems with his speech per se and never has, he has always passed the milestones like an average child. He can read but it has taken longer, he is at the stage of reading slowly and in a monotone voice, has yet to read with intonation or inflection in his voice. I know this will come with time.

He does sometimes have trouble with his 'train of thought' when trying to relay something to me, he needs extra time and hates to be interrupted, which is understandable.

Otherwise , his communication skills are pretty 'normal' for his age."

Seventh parent writes:

"JM is 4 years old (full ACC), he still speaks no word, just makes some sounds like "tetetete."

However, we realize that he understands and makes requests through some gestures. The hearing test showed hearing perfection.

We continue to stimulate speech, we believe that it will come. At the same time, we will start using alternative communication."

Eighth parent writes:

"Our daughter started babbling dada and mama at 4 months. She was quick to add to her vocabulary list and by one year she had about 25 words. We noticed from an early age that she listened and responded to music in a way that was almost magical. She would seemingly concentrate on the words while the music inspired her to move and dance. She is still rather musically inspired and her concentration while listening to music has transferred to her concentration of listening to language.

She is now 2 1/2 and she speaks in full sentences with near perfect enunciation. She isn't necessarily slow when speaking, but mindful of saying each word properly. When comparing speech to her older sister, my younger daughter has a much more developed vocabulary at her age. (Of course having a sibling close in age undoubtedly helps.)

She also has playful voices for when she's silly, or a "scary monster." She sings songs and can recite nursery rhymes. We feel her grasp of language is more "advanced" than her sisters was when she was her age.

We found out that she was put together "extra specially" while I was pregnant. The doctors prepared us for very involved disabilities with little hope for a bright future. I know there are lots of children with ACC that are mildly affected if at all but we just never heard about those children when we started to learn about ACC. Our daughter has had very typical development and has even been ahead in some areas."

Ninth parent writes:

"I can respond to the delay in talking....My son is 13 years old and was diagnosed with partial acc when he was 9 months old. He received much therapy while he was young (until about 10 years old). He learned to walk at 22 months and communicated his first true interactive word through signing at 24 months. We were told back then that children typically learn to walk before they talk. This held true for my son. He quickly moved from signing to babbling, to words--all while in speech therapy. He was speaking by three years old and remained in speech for articulation issues until he was about 5. He continued with speech therapy (with a few extended breaks) until he was 10 years old to deal with using language for social interactions."

Would you like to include your input about your child who has ACC and communication? Please e-mail me your story and I will gladly post it here on this page.

I welcome and encourage you to share your own comments.

For more information about Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum and speech therapy, check out the document below, which was presented at the 2004 ACC Conference.

Speech & Language Issues Associated with ACC - by JoAnn Tully, MS-SLP

*Note: JoAnn Tully is the mother of a grown daughter who has ACC and is also a Speech-Language Pathologist.