Courtney’s progress with her talker continues to be slow and rocky. She will show us progress and then regress, show us progress and then regress and so on. She continues to only use it independently for requests for favorite food/drink items and labeling nouns. Requests also continue to be stuck at one word requests. Beyond that she always needs some initial prompting. It’s been a very frustrating journey but a journey we continue to embark because I want Courtney to have a way to communicate.

Time to celebrate though! The first celebration came at a family party where she was sitting on my lap and out of nowhere, she used her talker to request tickles! A spontaneous request of an action! I was so excited!

The second celebration is even bigger. During a therapy session her butt was itchy because of dry skin. She used the potty and was scratching her butt cheeks and getting very agitated. Her therapist was asking her what was wrong and this is what she said using her talker…”tickle butt”

A spontaneous request for someone to help meet a need using two words! I am ecstatic! This is a first! I couldn’t be prouder.

Some mountains are very steep. Sometimes you will fall and even move backwards. But with hard work, you will continue progressing to the top. So proud of my little girl who continues this difficult journey of finding a way to communicate!