Ever wonder about your child's speech development?

This is a guest post from a wonderful friend who was my inspiration to begin my blog!  She also happens to be a fabulous speech teacher.  I asked Lisa to share some insight into what new moms can watch for as their children's language continues to develop.  I hope you enjoy this wonderfully informative post as much as I did!

Hey Y’all! I’m Lisa from Diary of a Newlywed and I am excited to be writing my first guest post for Katie. 

I work with Katie at the school house and we have become great friends.  Katie is a phenomenal teacher and the students and staff respect her in so many ways.

I am a Speech Language Pathologist in the middle school setting. You can call me an SLP or speech therapist.  I have experience in private therapy, inpatient/  outpatient rehab facilities, preschool aged children, elementary aged children and traumatic brain injured patients. I know I am crazy but I love the hospital environment. It feels like I am really helping someone out. I also love early development in children. If you ask my husband, he says whatever I am practicing at the moment is my favorite. That is why I chose this profession. There is so much to do within this field and that alleviates the chances of boredom.

Katie asked me to write about child development in regards to speech acquisition.  This is something I discuss a lot. When I am at a play date my oldest sister and my nephews, I laugh at how many mothers ask me to listen to their little Johnny’s speech and see if he is on target for his age. Unfortunately, many people (not all but a vast majority-including some of my co-workers) believe an SLP only works with articulation, lisps, and stutters. While we do work with those children/patients often, we also work with language development which targets pragmatics (social language), semantics (vocabulary), and syntax (word and sentence formations).  I could keep going but let’s face it, you want the quick and dirty.

Lists of age of acquisition for sounds in speech and common phonological processes are listed below: 

Sanders ( 1972) Norms for Speech Sound Mastery

(Concerns arise when the child passes the age of acquisition and cannot produce the sound

or has numerous errors making speech less than 50% understandable in conversation)

Age 3:  p, m, w, n, h

Age 4:  b, d, k, g, y (as in yes), f

Age 6:  t, l, r, ng

Age 7:  j (as in jump), ch, sh, th (unvoiced as in think)

Age 8:  er (as in feather, perfect)

              v, th (voiced as in the) s, z

            (zh is mastered later than 8)

Common Phonological Processes (Should not persist beyond age 5):

Final consonant deletion:                                             says “ba”  instead of “ball”

Syllable reduction:                                                           says “nana” instead of “banana”

Vowelization:                                                                    says “ca” instead of “car”,  “penso” instead of “pencil”

Gliding:                                                                           says “wed” instead of “red”, says “syide” instead of “slide”

Cluster Reduction:                                                           says “boom” instead of “broom”

Doubling:                                                                                             says “ho-ho” for “horse”, says “wa-wa” instead of “water”

Initial Consonant Deletion                                            says “all” instead of “ball”

Backing (not a common process):                             says “gog” instead of “dog”

Fronting:                                                                                              says “tat” instead of “cat”

Glottal Replacement:                                                     say “ba-tub” for “bathtub”

Another important rule is that of the Mean Length Utterance(MLU) of a language developing child.  It relates to the age of the child. If the child is one, they should be using one word to request something. When the child is two, they should be putting two words together to form an utterance. It may not be intelligible to all listeners but the words should be ones that are consistently used by the child that the parent can identify. A three year old should be using 3 word utterances. A four year old should be using four words and a five year old should be using five words in an utterance. As the age increases so should the complexity and length of utterances.   

I think that sums it up nicely for you as a quick little blurb! Please do not live by this because depending on the age of your child, location for therapy, IQ,  etc…other circumstances may apply when assessing, diagnosing, and /or treating a child. I hope to see you all soon over at my blog and I will of course come visit yours as well!

The Age Gap

I could never have imagined marrying someone seven years older than me.  I mean, do the math - when he got his drivers license I was 9.  While he was drinking a beer at an Alabama football game, I was 11.  

The dating world welcomed me, but tossed me around like a ship lost at sea.  From musicians to teachers, I always though I had found "the one", but remained the bridesmaid.  

Tired of losing myself in relationship after relationship, I took a summer and went to upstate New York to study music.  Freedom, lakes, and cold weather in July wiped my slate clean and helped me remember how I liked my eggs.  

Welcomed back to the Peach State and all of the "Hi Y'alls" that I missed, I wasn't even thinking about dating.  I was independent now and didn't need a boyfriend.  

Then, among magnolias, beer tents, and funnel cake I met my husband.  Enjoying the jam bands that Atlanta summer festivals are known for, we found ourselves yelling over the melody longing to get to know each other.  Catching a glimpse and accidentally locking eyes, we both felt something.

Pages of the calendar flew by, and I found myself spending a day on the local lake basking in the sun once again.  A special dinner was promised that evening and anticipation filled the air.  

Those same magnolias set the stage for a bottle of champagne, but still no promise for the future.  Dinner was in a hotel high above the bustling streets of Atlanta complete with silver platters and a wait staff that made me feel like a Princess.  

Laughter, drinks, and amazing food bled into dessert.  My plate arrived and the next thing I knew, he was on his knee.  

Then, the whole world shifted.  

This post was written for The Red Dress Club's Red Writing Hood challenge. The post must begin with "I could never have imagined" and end with "Then the whole world shifted". It must be no more than 600 words. I welcome constructive criticism from anyone who kindly takes the time to read my work. 

Taking a Look Inside

Blink.  It's that split second that we have to react to a moment.  We have thousands of interactions with people over the course of a week, depending on what we do, maybe more.  When people walk away from us, ponder the moment they just had, how do they feel?  

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. -Maya Angelou

Do you ever feel that even though you have the best intentions, the most positive attitude, that your balloon can be popped in a matter of seconds, leaving you to react or say something you didn't mean?

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy."  But I say to you, love your enemies. ---Matthew 5:43-44

How do we take those moments that we have with other people and make them feel respected and loved when they walk away?  Even moments when a  student that has just misbehaved, a friend  just hurt your feelings, when you find out that exciting plans just fell through, or your own child disappoints you.  

Action.  Reaction.  Space.

The words that we choose to let escape from our mouths are so precious, and in a fleeting moment they are gone into the air, leaving an impression on those who heard them.  It's so easy to experience an action and let our words be those of reaction.  Something I am working on (sometimes successfully and sometimes not) is allowing a brief moment of space to happen in my interactions with other people.  Space where I can choose my words, collect my thoughts, take a deep breath.  Space where I can ensure that when the moment is over, that the other person or people leave feeling respected.  

Today as I am writing, I hear Mr. Cheeks starting to babble in his crib.  I think of the middle school children that I will teach today.  I think of Hubby returning from a business trip excited to be reunited with his wife and son after a long week of work.  Today I will make it my purpose to extend love and respect to those I come in contact with.  Today, in that brief second of space, I will make sure that my words, my precious words, are the right words.  

Back In Time

We've all had moments in life that we wished would never end.  How can I freeze time, and make what is happening now last forever?

So what if time travel (with or without Michael J. Fox) became possible?  What moment would you choose to go back and relive?

I really didn't have to think.  I would want to relive the birth of Mr. Cheeks.  Ok.  Wait just a second.  Maybe not the birth.  But the moment I first met my son.  Miracle is a strong word, but bringing a child into this world is a true Miracle.

As I step out of my time machine, what would the scene of that magical moment look like?  Here are a few snapshots:

• A sense of peace and calm filled that sterile room after much angst and struggle.  Joy rushed through both Hubby and I.  And....I never thought something that looked so much like a wet hamster could bring tears to my eyes.
• Disbelief.  Is this possible?  Is Mr. Cheeks really looking back at me?  
• Ouch.  The other gift from God (i.e. epidderal) was all of a sudden missing from my life.  Where did you go friend?
• I want to show this baby to everyone!  If they (or my half numb body) would have let me run through all the halls of that Atlanta Hospital and announce this birth, I surely would have.
• Unconditional overwhelming LOVE.  It is truly undescribable the love that you feel when you have a child.  And the coolest thing?  It only grows stronger with time!

This post inspired by Mama Kat's Weekly Writer's Workshop.