huge progress with sign language!

Max and I have been putting a lot of effort into learning sign language this year. And we are slowly but surely really getting the hang of it! It is absolutely precious to see him sign. I will definitely try and get a video of him soon!

Several people at the CHARGE conference said it was impressive he was already using a few purposeful signs...that was really encouraging! Plus the presenters really focused on the importance of COMMUNICATION to help with future behavior issues...so this has definitely been on my mind 24/7 lately.

Right now I am focusing on teaching him all the animals, since those are really fun signs. He knows the following really well: bear, bird, duck, dog, cat, cow, fish and our next group is: pig, frog, turtle, horse, donkey and sheep.

He also knows: eat, more, mama, and all done. The "all done" sign is definitely his favorite and quite overused I must say! Very funny...especially when he fakes that he is all done when he is using his walker. He will sign "all done" and you will go to pick him up. Then just as you head that way, he smiles and walks off in another direction! Absolutely hilarious! I just love his playful personality...getting cuter and cuter each day!

We are taking him to the local fair this week and I am sooooooooooooo excited to introduce him to some live animals! It is going to be great! :)

A new goal I added to "Max's therapy to do list" is more communication tools at home (signs, books, etc.) that are personalized to Max's life to improve his communication. One book will be him doing all of his signs with an actual photo of the item he has seen in person. Make sense? When I mentioned it to his speech therapists, they loved it. In therapy world, it's referred to as an "experience book," and the fair will definitely be a perfect opportunity for this.

Along those lines, there will also be signs on our wall with various activities, including: playing at the park, using his walker, watching a sign language video, playing with cars, eating, sleeping, etc. I will teach him to point to the one he wants to do. (He is really struggling on the "pointing" concept.)

So anyway, I could go on and on about all of our communication attempts, struggles, and goals...but I am tired and must get up early. Most importantly, he is making great progress. It just is taking a lot of work and boy do we have a long way to go!

I know I haven't been posting many photos lately, so here are a few cute ones. I tried to catch him doing a few animal signs...but again, I will definitely get a video soon! :)


PIG


















CAT

DOG (Max prefers to pat his chest versus his leg.)

COW