Julian's Journey – Life As We Know It

Anderson is following in his big brother Julian’s footsteps by learning some signs. Here he is signing milk just a few days before his 8 month birthday (which is today)! For more information on sign language and early sight reading as well, please visit this post.

Julian and I were playing around with the baby doll today, putting on and off his socks and shoes as he likes to do. Then I took off the baby doll’s diaper and said does baby doll need to go potty? Julian immediately signed potty and then took baby to the bathroom. This is what ensued:  Julian thought the baby doll should fall asleep after going potty as you will see…(perhaps passed out after a long night of partying?) The sound cuts off in the video because I took it on my phone and it malfunctioned. sorry about that. I think Julian also sneezed at the baby in the end of the video. The whole time I was watching this I was thinking about my baby’s emerging pretend play skills. He is trying to put on his own socks too lately and of course I thought of his self help skills….you mommas out there who have kids in OT or other type of therapies can understand the immediate thought to how these day to day happenings translate right away to therapy milestones in your head! Anyway here is the cute video complete with a nice little plumber’s crack on my love bug.

Here is a video of Julian at 32 months old saying the alphabet with his dad! He can say most of them except for tough ones like J and K and a few others. Most of the letters are not super clear but you can make them out. He says the alphabet while his dad sings the A You’re Adorable alphabet song.

See previous posts below for some resources we have used to teach him. We have read him tons of books (his favorite!) since birth. We also play with his doodle drawer and practice letters to make it fun, use flash cards and lots of Signing Time videos, which always incorporate the letters visually and verbally.

“What’s next”? How to Teach Your Baby to Read (& Sign)

Julian Speech Development 26 months 

VIDEO: My Baby Can Sight Read at 20 Months! (oh and he has Down syndrome)

VIDEO of Julian’s Sign Language at 19.5 months 

We don’t spend have Julian spend too much time on the iPad but when he does, here is a list of the apps we have so far.  I would love suggestions for other apps we could download that are educational, easy to use and fun!

Starfall ABCs ($2.99) -Very easy to navigate for a toddler and probably our favorite app! You click on each letter there are a number of words and pictures to go with each sound. Note that there are a few times in this app where there is a puzzle or a maze and we have to help.

I Hear Ewe (FREE) – You click on each picture of either a vehicle or an animal and a voice says this is the sound a Helicopter (for example) makes. It’s a fun app.

Itsy Bitsy Spider by Duck Duck Moose ($1.99) – Thanks to my friend Anna for suggesting this app. THere are a number of things to click on that do things as a result – the rain falls down the spout, the window opens and shut, a hat falls off a lady, etc etc. Julian loves this app.

Preschool Prep apps – we have the meet the vowels and meet the colors apps because i think they were free to download. Each app is pretty short and to the point but well made for its purpose. We own all of the other preschool prep materials – books and videos and such which we love.

small talk phenomes (FREE) – this is an app that requires parental guidance. it shows a mouth up close making sounds so that julian can see how he needs to move his lips to make each sound.

voice toddler cards ($1.99) -simple flash cards for your toddler.

kindergarden.com alphabet flash cards ($.99) – another set of flash cards that have sentences that match

alphababy (FREE) – when you touch the screen a different letter or shape shows up. a simple app even for babies.

Special Words ($14) app is basically all of the DownsEd See and Learn materials electronically for $14.  this is one of the more expensive apps and i’d say worth it if you don’t want to spend the time downloading and printing/laminating all of the downsed see and learn materials, or buying them pre-printed. the app requires parental help with the tasks and the types of activities are designed to help grow with toddlers as they get bigger and learn how to read.

I hope this post was helpful and again, please comment here with other apps that you use!

Ever since we started speech therapy with Julian the therapists and our family have been using touch cues to help Julian learn to make sounds with his mouth.

Touch cues are physical prompts that are done while making a sound to help Julian identify how to form his mouth and the sound correctly.

Here is a video I made with Julian’s speech therapist to show Julian’s daycare teachers some of his touch cues.

Do touch cues really work?

Absolutely.  They are a very effective way to help a child who has a hard time making sounds with their mouth to learn how to initiate that sound. For example, one of Julian’s first sounds he learned with a speech touch cue was the letter M. The letter M requires your lips to be together and is a long sound so the speech touch cue is  putting your finger across your mouth and putting your lips together. Mmmmmm.

Do kids like using touch cues?

All I can say is that in Julian’s case he has loved it because he is a very visual guy and great with using his hands because of all of the sign language he knows. Touch cues are a very good way to actually show someone how to make a sound which is a pretty abstract thing to try to teach.

Do I have to use touch cues all of the time?

No. We don’t use them all of the time. It just isn’t realistic to think you are going to do this. but we use touch cues incorporated into our daily lives at least a handful of times a day when emphasizing a word or getting Julian to try and say something.

How do I teach other caregivers in my child’s life about touch cues? 

I decided to record one of Julian’s speech therapists using the touch cues and send them an email. I have included a copy of the email I sent to Ashley the lead teacher at Julian’s daycare as an example. Feel free to copy and paste and use it as a template.

Hi Ashley, 

Anderson is now moving around on all fours.  Here is a video.

Also a picture of how I found him in the crib yesterday morning.

I think we are in trouble…

Many of you loyal readers might know about my struggle with postpartum depression the first time around when I had Julian. Well, this time around it came on later and with a vengeance around the time Anderson was 5 months old right before Thanksgiving. That is why I have been incommunicado with most of the world especially facebook, for the past month or so. Recently over the past couple of days some of the haze has lifted which is why I am able to write this post.  I have read my own advice that I wrote last time around to help get me through. It is not easy. This is a hidden illness that needs to be talked about more as I am sure many women have silently suffered when they really needed treatment.  My treatment this time around has been helpful to get me to the point I am today, which included a medication switch that I think has recently started to kick in to lighten the darkness a bit. Medication is only part of the puzzle though and is not a magic pill. The right medication can help lift the thoughts of suicide, inability to cope with daily functioning and life tasks, but it doesn’t help you get fully out of the darkness. I am still working on getting better. Anyway, I just wanted to share why I have been MIA lately and also raise awareness of invisible disabilities like mental illness.  I don’t expect to be able to update this too often so just know that this is a very tough time for our family and we appreciate your thoughts. If you or someone you know is suffering with depression or any type of mental illness, I urge you to talk more openly about it as that is what our society needs – similar to talking more openly about and advocating for more acceptance of cognitive and physical disabilities or other types of differences. If you are currently going through a depression or are a family member or friend of someone who is, please make sure to read my previous post about how to cope with depression. You can also send me an email anytime to glm0210@yahoo.com if you need to talk or want advice.

Check out the new top banner on my blog! Seriously, my little man LOVES music.  This was at Julian’s school fair this past weekend. Pictures taken and banner designed by my father.  The instrument room was courtesy of Playful Tunes.  Julian was really drawn to the mini violin and played with it for about 15 minutes.  Can’t wait for what the future holds for Julian’s musical talents!

Here is the latest video of Julian’s sight reading progress. He says a few of the words like hat, book, duck, dog, and stop sort of out loud…well at least tries to say some of the sounds in each word.  Below I have listed some past posts that contain some sight reading/flash cards/early reading programs/sign language resources we have used.

See previous posts below for background on where we started with Julian teaching him sign language, doing lots of speech therapy and tons of reading and books(his favorite!), playing with his doodle drawer and flash cards and using lots of Signing Time resources.

Julian Speech Development 26 months 

VIDEO: My Baby Can Sight Read at 20 Months! (oh and he has Down syndrome)

VIDEO of Julian’s Sign Language at 19.5 months 

“What’s next”? How to Teach Your Baby to Read (& Sign)

Thought I’d share the recent letter I wrote to Julian’s new teachers in the “Blue Room” at school so they could really know who Julian was as the unique individual he is… He recently moved up from the Purple Room (15 month to 2 years) to the “late toddlers” (2 to 3 years) room because he was ready! We are really going to miss Sarah, Jen and Jessica his old teachers and I know I am going to cry sometime about this transition….but so far I am in denial about my boy growing up. Anyway – here is the All About Me letter:

Hi Ashley, Mae and Kim – (cc Justine and all of Julian’s therapists and loved ones who care for him most) –  

Hi! I’m Julian Thomas Sherman. I thought I’d tell you a little about myself as we get to know and love each other in the blue room for late toddlers ages 2 – 3. I am so excited for all of my firsts I am going to have with you! Already I have had two firsts in the Blue room – I walked down the stairs on my own FORWARD FACING AND STANDING UP– and SORTED BY THE COLOR BLUE, both huge firsts for me!

Thomas is my dad’s first name and I am definitely a daddy’s boy and I say DaDa a lot. I also say “bye” and “hi” and my favorite word is Up! I like to say Up up Up when I babble and play.

My birthday is June 5, 2010 and I was born a month early. I had open heart surgery when I was six months old and I have ear tubes in both ears to help fluid drain but I get my eyes and ears checked frequently to make sure I can see and hear to absorb and learn as best I can!

My heart has been working like a champ since I had the surgery and I am a ball of energy!  I had left lower eyelid lifting surgery when I was 17 months and and then another follow up eyelid surgery when I turned two to lift it a bit more. Sometimes that eye waters a lot more than the other and is red. It’s just how my eye is. It is prone to having a little bit of infection too so I sometimes get styes. My skin is very very sensitive so sometimes I get rashes on my legs just from rubbing and touching things. And if I do not have a hypoallergenic sunscreen I will get a rash all over!  

Physically I haven’t yet learned to jump and need assistance with climbing but I really really enjoy climbing and exploring.  I like slides but need a little prompting or support to sit down and slide and sometimes I get a little scared going down on my own. Sometimes if someone cries next to me I get upset too. I just need a hug when that happens. If someone bumps me too hard I get sad as well. I am a little peanut and am still learning to navigate the physical world since I just started to walk around 22/23 months.

My family lives in Lexington – my mom works in Public Relations in Burlington and my dad works in software in Boston. My mom has a part time work from home schedule so that she can arrange her hours to attend as many therapy sessions as possible with me during the day at school. But Becca, my Early Intervention coordinator, comes on Friday mornings around 9:30/10 to check in with me weekly. You will also get to know my speech therapists Jenny (new therapist through Early Intervention whom I have not yet met) and Margeaux (private therapist), as well as my physical therapist Marissa and my new occupational therapist whom I have not yet met either. It’s truly a time of change!

I am at my best when people expect me to be able to do something, and let me try to do it on my own. I love persisting and trying to do it on my own and sometimes even push your hand away – I am very determined an patient with activities and my attention span is great. And then if you see me struggling a bit or scared esp. if I am climbing, please just gently guide me a little with hand over hand assistance or verbal direction…and if I start making a sad face ask me “do you need help”? And I will let you know if I need help by saying “Hep” and signing it by putting my hands together and moving them upwards.

As you know my fabulous extra chromosome makes me extra special of course. I love to give hugs and sit in your lap and cuddle and I am very curious about faces and hair. I like to play with hair and push faces and grab glasses, but please remind me to be “gentle gentle” if I hurt you and say “ow, that hurts” and make a sad face. I have also taken an interest lately in where mommy’s milk comes from. So if I am curious about that area please gently redirect me.

I like to play by myself and read books a LOT. And I LOOOOOVE music, songs with finger movements – I do Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Matilda the Gorilla, and Mmm Ahh went the Little Green Frog – very very well and I also love doing art projects!  

Sometimes when I am not with the group I need a little bit of redirection and guidance and encouragement to come and play by gently saying ‘Come on Julian, let’s stand up, don’t you want to come and play with your friends?” A firm “Julian, come on, stand up and let’s go!” works too. You can even take my hand sometimes and encourage me to join in or go where you need me to go. Firm “Julian, Stand up” or “Julian Time to Sit down and eat now, please come here” work with me.  

Mom and dad want to foster social interaction as much as possible for peer modeling and learning and verbal models so please help me join the group with circle time because I love to participate once I am there. Or, if I really need some quiet time I will protest and let you know. I am very social and I know I am only two but the more side by side peer time I get the better for my development.

Know that I can understand everything you say to me and know many many words and I think you’ve already heard about my sight reading abilities. I know how to say probably around 200 or so words and show mom and dad my knowledge by saying these words in American Sign Language. I don’t expect you to learn all of my signs by my primary ones I will probably use to interact with you the most are likely to be (my mom can teach you the signs):

Book

More

Help

All Done

Eat

Milk

Water

Up

Down

Yogurt

Berry

Cereal

Potty

Ball

Colors (when he does art projects) I LOVE TO COLOR AND PAINT!!

Please

I’m Sorry (please make me say sorry if I hurt someone or after I need a gentle break)

Yes

No

Here is a video of me about 6 months ago doing a few signs. Mom and dad can show you and teach you my primary signs and any other signs you want to know if you are interested but the primary goal in the next few months is for me to learn to use my MOUTH to talk more and more.

When Margeaux my private speech therapist and Becca my primary early intervention coordinator come in a couple of weeks they will talk about how to best support my speech development  which is my primary area of delay at the moment (date TBD but it would be an upcoming Friday a.m. around 9:30/10 am).

There is a blog post my mom wrote recently about my speech sound development. Please read this carefully so you know what sounds I make and what they mean. When you are trying to get me to say a word sound please get down to my level and point to your own mouth so I pay attention to your mouth shape when working on making that sound. Exaggerate how you make the shape for making the sound. This is how I will learn. And then prompt me by saying “You Say” or “your turn” after you say the word.

My loved ones and therapists often encourage me to talk by asking me to “say it with your mouth please”. If I am frustrated with something, please ask me to “use my words or signs.” Usually I will respond by signing “all done” and then mom and dad ask me to If you are all done, please say “Done” or “Down”– then, I usually do the signs and/or make a “D” sound. We are trying to encourage only spoken words so please prompt me by saying “Can you Say Done?” – please try a few times and see if I will either say the letter sound D or actually say Done because I have said it once very clearly! Please use this type of method all of the time with me. Giving me a chance to try to imitate your words and then if I am not able to actually say it after three or four attempts say “Good Trying!”

I can sign the letters A, B, C, O and try to sign the alphabet so you might see me do this when looking at the alphabet rug. It’s fun. I like to try to make the numbers with my hands too but I can’t yet.

My mom keeps a blog just about me because she thinks I am pretty cool and wants the world to know it too. Please take a little time to read the following recent blog posts which will help you learn a lot about me as well:

1)    Julian’s Two Year Evaluation:

2)    Julian’s Speech Development  (this is very recent about a month ago when I was 26 months old, so is a good guide for what sounds I make and what they mean)

My parents might be a little delayed at getting that photo collage completed so please keep reminding us!  (we love constant friendly reminders over and over – they work for this harried family)

I can’t wait to get to know and grow with you! I have a feeling this year is going to be FULL of firsts and I will learn to use my words with my mouth more and more with your help and learn oh so many other things!!

Thanks so much for supporting and loving and teaching me.

Kisses and hugs,

Love,

Julian, Gretchen, Tom and brother Anderson, born June 28, 2012 (and two cats Flip and Flop)

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