Bu bu bu bu bu!

Anyone who has played with Hunter knows that he is obsessed with bubbles. We use them in almost every therapy session when he needs to pull it together because we know he just loves them! This technique where we count to three then wait for Hunter to make noise has tremendously progressed since he has been activated. He came home from the sitter yesterday babbling the B sound, so we thought it would be the perfect time to pull out the bubbles! Take a look at this video and see a miracle in the making :)

Just this past Monday I got a call from our Early Steps Speech Therapist. She used to work with our sitter when she was the ST for another little girl there, so I know they work very well together. But when she called, she said she wanted to sit down with Blair and myself before moving forward because she wanted to discuss her form of Speech Therapy. In not so many words, she told me that she does not agree with AV Therapy and that if after we talk, if we decide not to do what she knows, then she probably will not be able to service Hunter. Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place. I left my office in tears just feeling like everyone around here, including our sitter, just don't have any faith in AV therapy. Although I have to say the sitter has done leaps and bounds towards stopping signing for us, and she is willing to give AV a shot. But she is a true signer at heart. When I called our friend who used to work with the school of the deaf to talk about it, she told me, "As bias as I am towards sign, as much as I love to sign, I am also bias towards whatever the parents' decide is best for their children. And if AV therapy didn't work, it would have died out a long time ago". And I couldn't agree more. I don't think AV therapy is as common around his area because there is only one certified AV therapist in the state. So all of the other speech therapists around here go with what has worked for them in the past, and don't seem very willing to try something new. All in all, we decided that Shelley, our AV therapist would give the ST a call before we meet with her. That way they can talk their therapy lingo, and Shelley can educate the ST on what AV therapy is all about. She thinks it's just about putting toys in a box and shaking them while making noise. It's so much more to that, and she doesn't even know it! By next week, I hope to have everyone on board. This video is proof that talking to Hunter is what is going to get him to talk. Like Blair said, why would I sign the word "ball" to him 5 times and show him a ball, when I can say "ball" and show him a ball.

We are sticking to our ground on this one. And I am going to stand up for what we believe Hunter needs. And as I told the ST, this plan isn't set in stone. If things are not progressing like they should, we can always change the plan. But for now, it's been 6 weeks and we've already seen progression. For now, this is what we have decided to do!