First Sounds

   Just as we often take for granted our health, our family, our home, there are simpler more every day tasks I've realized that I do not give enough credit. Take, for example, our ability to seamlessly form words and speak. You have a thought, you open your mouth to speak, and your thoughts become public. Last year when my son was one, I wrote about being his voice before he had any words. Anyone with small children on the verge of speaking knows how difficult this can be. What are you trying to say? you might find yourself asking repeatedly throughout the day. You may have even developed your own language with your toddler. In our house, the sound "Mmmmmm" means "more," for example. However, for some children, this inability to communicate effectively may go beyond their toddler years. Two of my close friends have children who struggle with speech disorders. A diagnosis of verbal apraxia can be hard to come by - children learn to speak at such different rates; many kids really are late talkers. My roommate from college kept quiet until she could speak in full sentences; how's that for being stubborn? But, of course, regardless of when your child begins to speak so that you can understand him or her, it can be frustrating and possibly unnerving while they are figuring it out.
   It was with these ideas in my mind that I decided to explore the category of books that cater to these children's needs. You don't need a diagnosis of verbal apraxia to enjoy any of the books I've found. It turns out, many speech language pathologists have written books for the children they work with. The first series I found is called First Sound Series by Lavinia Pereira and Michelle Solomon - Mama More, Pop Up! Daddy Do and Cow Cake are among the books in this series. Since both of my children love cows, I ordered Cow Cake and they both enjoyed it. This particular book focuses on the k sound. "Cow cake." Cow Wake." Read those two lines aloud and think about how your mouth moves, where your tongue goes. Again, we take for granted how nuanced these simple words are. What does your tongue need to do to make that 'k' sound?

    Generally speaking, there are two categories for these books - those that teach while they entertain - like the First Sound Series, and those that address the emotional side of speech disorders. For younger children - ages 18-36 months, many parents seem happy with The Baby Owl Says Hoo! and The Little Calf that Couldn't Moo. There is also a wonderful book called The Big Book of Exclamations. As it's described on Amazon, it's "written by a speech pathologist and designed to promote speech sound development and imitation of gestures, sounds and words." Like other books I've written about on this blog, this book is not a story to be "read" but instead, it provides situations on each page with prompts for the parent or teacher for how to use nonverbal ways to communicate about the images. 
    For older children, The Pirate Who Couldn't Say Arr! seems to be a favorite. Kids of all ages will be engaged by this story of a pirate named Red Legs Lamar (such a great name) who struggles with that quintessential pirate phrase. For any child who struggles with the sound of r - which seems to be one of the hardest sounds for a lot of kids - he or she will be comforted by Red Legs Lamar's story. Finally, for children of any age who struggle with stuttering, an eight-year-old girl wrote a book called Trouble at Recess, in which she tells the story of her own experience with having a stutter and educating her fellow classmates and teacher about it. This book is available through The Stuttering Foundation in PDF format. How's that for inspiring?
    So what this experience has taught me is that whether or not children have speech disorders, are late talkers, or even suffer from more serious disabilities, books do not discriminate. A classic picture book like Goodnight Moon can be enjoyed by every child, and a book written to help a child with their speech can be enjoyed by a verbose four-year-old. To them, books are books. They are not yet aware of hidden agendas or underlying messages, so check out any of the books mentioned above if you're looking for some new great reads....