Speech Therapy- week 2!

This little guy, John Cedrick, joined me for speech therapy last year!  He was very quiet! He used more speech this year- although still quiet! He made good progress in only a few sessions!  We'll see him back next year!

MISCELLANEOUS SPEECH THERAPY PICTURES!

SPEECH THERAPY CONTINUES THIS WEEK.  MANY OF THE CHILDREN FROM LAST WEEK COULD ONLY STAY FOR ONE WEEK BECAUSE OF SCHOOL, TRANSPORTATION ISSUES AND PARENT SCHEDULES.  WE HAVE 5 CONTINUING PATIENTS FOR THIS WEEK FROM DIPOLOG. THE 5 GIRLS FROM THE ISLAND OF NEGROS CONTINUE TWICE A DAY WITH BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP SPEECH THERAPY.

This is Allen Rey who had his palate repaired by Dr. Williams last year!  He joined us for 6 sessions through today (Tuesday the 24th).  He need to get back because his mother didn't want him to miss examinations at school! School is very important and most children will get excused because the school knows how much the children need speech therapy! We wouldn't want Allen Rey to miss his exams!  His speech improved, but like the 2 children below, he made need additional palate surgery to improve his speech.

 Cesar has been to 4 speech therapy sessions, with 3 to go!  They live quite a distance away, but his mother found someone to stay with in Dipolog so he could get therapy all this week!  He is such a hard worker!  His palate was repaired by Dr. Williams last July.  He has made some nice progress but may need additional surgery to improve his speech.  We hope to see him back for speech next year!

Ma'am Susan Stempel, as the children call her, at work with Ariel.  We use alot of manipulatives (like a colorful pegboard) to encourage imitation of sounds and make therapy more fun.  For the most part, the ABC's, numbers and colors are spoken in English.  I have mastered animal names and a few other words; Susan has mastered more of the native dialect although the inflection is so hard to match.  We tend to say the words as we would in our language and the parents will try and repeat the words numerous times- usually with no improvement on my part!

This is Ariel who joined us for 4 session of speech therapy to date...he is scheduled for 2 more!  He will hopefully come back next year and may be considered for a second surgery on his palate to improve his speech!  This rarely happens with mission trips because you often need a trial of speech therapy first to determine if additional surgery is needed!  Since Dr. Williams does follow-up in all the cities he goes to, this is possible for his patiens since adding speech therapy to the process!  Ariel will likely get a revision of his lip since it was poorly repaired initially (not by ICSF) and he is teased at school about it.  I look forward to seeing Ariel next year and making a plan to further improve his speech!