Speech Therapy Question - It Takes Two to Talk

[jollys]

Hello & Happy New Year

I am the mother of a 3yr3mth old girl. She has severe speech and language delay. No expressive speech and about 10 words that she understands. I dont post much here and genearlly just read on Mum's Net.

Has anyone tried the It Takes Two to Talk pack? Its quite expensive and she has a private as well as NHS SALT so I dont want to spend money on something that the SALT might already be covering.

www.hanen.org/Hanen-Resources/Resources-For-Parents/It-Takes-Two-to-Talk-Parent-Resources.aspx

Thanks

[Handywoman]

Hi jollys, why not ask your private SALT what she thinks?

I'm not familiar with this pack but have used private SALT for my dd between the ages of 4 and 5.

If your dd is having therapy frequently enough which is being reinforced at home (and, most importantly, targeted to your dd's individual needs and language level) I would imagine this would not be necessary? Private SALT is expensive enough!!!!

Hopefully others who are more familiar with this resource will be along to advise.

Handywoman xxxx

[jollys]

Thanks for your response Handywoman.

The Private SALT only sees her once in 6 wk
The NHS SALT sees her once a term

Rest is all covered by her Key worker and at home.

[Handywoman]

Then I would probably ask your private SALT if she can recommend this or anything else.

HW xxxxx

[SallyBear]

I would start off with Hanen More than Words personally. Or look at going on a PECS course. here

[jollys]

Thanks... I wasnt thinking about the course. I didnt find the course anywhere. I was only thinking about the DVD + book

Let me ask my SALT about the course.

Sally - My daughter isnt interested in pictures. She is more interested in routines and objects

[SallyBear]

They're all interested in objects and routines PECS just gives them a "voice" for the objects and routines.

My DS is deaf, non verbal and autistic. He is nearly 6. On Christmas Day he suddenly took an interest in PECS when he realised that a picture was going to get him a drink. We moved from Phase 1 to Phase 3 in 9 days. I'm beyond delighted.

The Hanen is run by SALTs. It teaches you to give your child a reason to communicate and then wait. Very effective therapy.

[sickofsocalledexperts]

I would try ABA - salts did nothing for my boy (severe speech delay and autism). I can pm you an account I wrote of both if you'd like?

[jollys]

Hi again. The course is ~$1000. Has anyone tried their DVD + Book

www.winslowresources.com/more-than-words-set.html

[jollys]

Hi sickofsocalledexperts

Yes please send me the details.. I am not too sure of ABA becuase I dont understand it enough to commit that kind of money

Thanks

[jollys]

Thanks Sally Bear. I will keep trying PECS (we are using the laminated wrapper of her favourite cereal and snack at the moment). Not had much success

[sickofsocalledexperts]

Will send it. Reckon you can do some of the "mand" stuff I mention in the article yourself

[TheLightPassenger]

Hi, I was fortunate enough to do the It Takes Two course with NHS SALT. IMO just get the book, the DVD isn't all that helpful tbh, if you haven't got a SALT talking you through the examples etc on it. Have you asked NHS SALT point blank if they do the It Takes Two or similar courses in your area?

[MummytoMog]

Our first speech therapist had no luck with getting DD (3.4 with severe speech delay) to use PECS at all, but when we did a proper PECS session with two trained therapists, she picked it up incredibly quickly. She didn't talk at all in the summer, and the pecs really helped her with transactional language. It's not helping massively with conversation, but she seems to be developing that by herself.

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

My understanding is that 'It takes Two to Talk' is the Hanen course / book recommended if ASD isn't suspected at all and 'More than Words' is Hanen tweaked for those with ASD. I had More than Words and it was my bible for a couple of years, absolutely fantastic and I'm forever recommending it on here for young, speech delayed 'spectrummy' DC. Winslow is the cheapest source that keeps it in stock. If you are at all suspicious that your DC may have autistic traits or have sensory issues, either over or under sensitive, get More than Words. If you feel she is definitely not on the spectrum, get 'It Takes Two.' There is a lot of duplication between the two books so not worth getting both.

My DS's special pre school had all it's staff trained in Hanen and the SALT attached to the school used to run the Hanen course for local parents. Can't recommend Hanen enough. If you can get on a course, even better, but they seem to be hard to find in this current financial climate, if not get the book.

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

That is, get on a free course! Not £1000!

[mariammama]

Laminated wrapper might still be a bit abstract. She may need to grasp for herself that it gets her something.

What about the actual box / wrapper kept easy for her to access,
initially with a tiny bit left in so she has an incentive to grab it, but only accessible when you're there . When she does, fetch a decent portion.

Then same routine but without the little bit left in it.

Then same but front of the box / wrapper rather than the whole thing.

Then slightly smaller bit of box

Then the laminated box/wrapper, ie more like a real PEC

[salondon]

TheLightPassenger - No I havent asked. Will ask them. Chances are they wont.
zzzzz - Thanks. My daughter is very similar to your son. She is good at shapes but not good with pictures - on the book or on a laminate
EllenJaneisstillnotmyname - Thanks for your detailed response. I wish the libraries had these Hanen books
mariammama - She grabs the wrapper and the box when she wants the snack/ceareal. That is why we laminated it. and that hasnt worked yet. She points/reaches the cupboard where they are kept. Reaches to the wrapper if its on the table and she wants more snack. But the moment we laminated it, she lost all interest in the wrapper. Any tips?

[salondon]

I changed my nickname from jollys to salondon. Looks like it changes the name only on new messages

[Dev9aug]

What you are trying to do with the wrapper/box association is really PECS. I would start by promoting her hand over hand that the laminated wrapper gets her the cereal. Ideally you need two people for it. Person 1 behind her with the laminated card and person 2 in front of her with the cereal. This is how it goes.

Person 1 positions herself behind your dd ready with the laminated card

Person 2 shows her the cereal, as soon as she shows interest, person 1 gives the card in her hand and prompts her to give the card to person 2 who immediately offers cereal and also repeats the associated word "cereal".

Repeat steps the above two steps to reinforce that laminae card gets you cereal. You can also use this for other objects/activities. Offcourse your salt should be aware of the above and it will be best done with her present as the second person as you just don't want to get it wrong as we did.

[lingle]

as others have said, do get the books.

They are so clear, you can learn from them directly. It's not like buying a technical book that you then need a teacher to "translate".

On the odd occasion I wasn't sure about something I used to email the publishers and a speech therapist would get straight back to me.

It Takes Two is about training you the parent to use the best possible techniques in your interactions with the child. I started with It Takes Two because it's simpler (and to be honest I was too scared at the time to get anything that even mentioned ASD which looking back is daft but hey ho....). This meant that I already had good basic techniques when I started going a bit "deeper".

More than Words is, like the title suggests, about going deeper. It looks at how the child may very well not be "reading the signals" in various different ways when people talk to him/her. I think if you absorb the techniques there it will put you in a position to think very seriously about yet further possibilities that many on here have tried and recommend (PECS, ABA, dietary changes, etc). I had a lightbulb moment about three pages into More then Words and immediately knew that a particular idea had power and would help DS2 (for us it was all the visual learning stuff....)

[salondon]

Dev9aug Yes the SALT did recommend the 2 people approach. I struggle with that one. Need to do it more
Thanks lingle

[Dev9aug]

Can I suggest you have a look at this PECS course we thought it was quite hard, but after this course, it all became quite clear how simple it really is. The course is very good value for money. Best £150 we have ever spent by far.