Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Puppet Therapy


Nolan has developed a deep love of puppets, probably because he thinks they are real. The boy will come up and pet them, hug them, and treats them as if they are alive. I have decided to use this puppet-love to my advantage, and have turned "whale feeding time" into a therapy activity.

Our whale likes to eat all sorts of strange items- from blocks to toy cars! I can make the activity as simple or as difficult as I want. For basic vocabulary, I could have Nolan feed the whale a "cow" or a "block." For positional words, I place blocks around the room and have him feed the whale the block that is under the chair or on top of the bookcase. Or I can have the whale eat big blocks, or things of a certain color. For really advanced listeners, I could have the whale eat things that are not red or things that are not made of wood. For my older son, I have the whale eat things that begin with a specific letter.

The best thing is that both my boys think this is just a game. They have no idea they are learning anything!

3 comments:

VBnBama said...

dang, look at you...don't be surprised is he ends up being the smartest kid in class, lol

CAUSE ME TO HEAR said...

Great ideas!!! Thanks so much for sharing! William loves to feed his bear "food." I'll have to try different items, too!

rouchi6 said...

How does he hear better without them?I think you should get it checked.In our class we have a 13 yr old who has mild loss but eventually had to use the aids at 11 as it became difficult for her understand things in the long term.It will affect his long term speech clarity.I would still say that you MUST enforce him to wear them 1st thing in the morning and to be removed the last thing before sleeping.Once he realises the importance, he would enjoy wearing them.Does Mattew also wear aids, if so then you should praise him for his clarity of speech, wearing aids without fuss. Jealousy and moms praises are something the kids will do anything for.You must show your disapproval the moment he is without aid and show you cannot understand what he talks.Correct his speech more often and the moment he speaks correctly, praise him. tell him that since he wears aids all the time his speech is getting better.your approval and disapproval would pay a key factor.Ask Matthew for help[ play acting] My son does it very well and Prisha is soon doing things we want her to do.
Its great they are doing play acts.nothing like that as it gives chances to understand their level of speech and correct them.Have a whale of a time.