Straws and speech

6/21/11
We had a great speech session, whoop!
I hate it when Jewel can not join in on the games, well today was different.
We did the whole relaxation, breath, feel your body relax, and as soon as Jewel shifted we started.
Straws were the tool.  We started on lip puckering and closure, then I opened a treat to encourage sucking but it was too stimulating for Jewel and we lost her 'soft' body.  Then I rubbed the candy on her lips and she enjoyed licking it off, this is all fun but hard work.  Then the games begun, I used a tray that a friend gave for us to use.  It has a similar surface to a white erase board so I used the dry erase markers on it to draw horizontal lines in different colors to indicate new placement and distance.  Then the speech pathologist used three white and one pink cotton ball, we lined them up the middle line and Jewel had to blow them as far as she could.  Two goals, she needs to look and keep lip closure on straw to blow.  As each cotton ball moved into a different zone we cheered her on, and she got it, she blew them all to the end.  Then she said, "again!", with a great big smile.  The pink cotton ball is heavier and no problem, she got it over the line as well.  She mastered the game and played the second round even faster.  This is all Sara Rosenfeld Johnson techniques and ideas.  There is a lot of purpose and gains to be made using a simple straw.  I will play against Jewel and she will teach her sisters, what fun playing together.  Thank you!