Spay

We had the kittens spayed yesterday. It's a pretty non-controversial procedure. It was, in fact, a condition of their adoption. We signed a contract that said that we would have them spayed. I understand that it is the responsible thing to do considering the number of unwanted kittens out there. I know that it can help prevent future health problems.

And yet, picking them up, I felt guilty. They were disoriented and groggy. There were minor complications with Grace's surgery and I need to monitor her closely over the next several days. I want what is best for them and I want to be a responsible pet owner.

I suppose I just need for them to both heal quickly and well. Then I will feel better.

One particular post-operative instruction was good for a laugh at least. Our vet would like for me to keep them calm and from moving around too much - for a couple of weeks. Hmm. These are kittens. Two of them. Sisters. When they're playing it sounds like thunder. I love that about them. How, precisely, am I supposed to keep them still for two weeks?

At the moment I have them confined to a bathroom. At least there they are limited by the square feet of the room. I'll do that for 24-48 hours and then we'll see.

Apraxia Therapy Materials: Word Flips

Therapy Materials Review: Word Flips - Flips for Learning Intelligible Production of Speech

This is a review of Word Flips. This flip book is published by Super Duper Publications. The flip book contains three identical 40-word card sets divided into sections by consonant placement (bilabial, alveolar, velar, and palatal). All 40 words are CV words.

Target Audience

The target audience for the Word Flips will usually be children with severely delayed expressive language typically between the ages of 2-5. The pictures on the cards are appealing to children. This book is ideal for children working on early emerging sounds in CV syllable structure.

Description of Word Flips

This product is a 11 inch by 4.5 inch spiral bound book with hard covers. The book has a built in easel so you can stand it upright. Inside you'll find three identical sets of picture cards divided by tabs into sections according to place of articulation (bilabial, alveolar, velar, and palatal). 40 words are included and they are all CV syllable structure.

Phonemic Breakdown

• Bilabial: /b/-4, /p/-3, /m/-4, /w/-4
• Alveolar: /t/-4, /d/-3, /n/-4, /s/-3, /z/-2
• Velar: /k/-2, /g/-2
• Palatal: /sh/-4, /ch/-1

How to Use the Word Flips book

• Simple repetitions. Choose target sounds that are appropriate for the child and practice them in repetitions of three. Work on sounds that share articulatory placement, or if increased difficulty is appropriate, alternate between different areas of placement.
• Alternating sets of three.
  
  • Same consonant, different vowel. Ex. "boo, bee, bee; boo, boo, bee; bee, bee, boo; boo, bee, boo; boo, bee, bye; etc..."
  • Same vowel, different consonant (same placement). Ex. "bye, bye, pie; bye, pie, bye; pie, bye, bye; bye, pie, bye; etc..."
  • Same vowel, different consonant (different placement). Ex. "pay, pay, day; pay, day, pay; day, day, pay, etc..."
• Random variation. Ex. "pay, key, show"
• Combine CV words to make CVCV words. Ex. "sew + pea = soapy" The book includes a list of CVCV words you can make this way from the CV words in the book.
  
  
  
• Combine CV words into short phrases. Ex. "Go zoo." The book also includes a list of phrase suggestions.
  
  
  

Pros and Cons of the Word Flips book

• Pros:
• The Word Flips book is compact and easy to carry around.
• The Word Flips book includes a fair amount of variety using real words at a very simple, CV level. You get 13 phonemes. All phonemes except /ch/ are paired with multiple vowels. This makes it a great book for working with apraxic children.
• The flip book format allows you to do many repetitions of the same CV syllable or many repetitions of alternating syllables. Again, this is a great format for approaching therapy with apraxic children from a motor planning standpoint.
  
• The book is sturdy and has a built in easel.
• The illustrations are well done and appealing to children at a wide variety of ages.
• Cons:
I really only see one con here. Overall, I like this resource a lot for children with a severe delay. The Word Flips book does not go into any one phoneme at great depth. So, for example, if you have a child who can only produce one or two phonemes, this book may not provide enough stimuli for an entire session of work. You might look into my free articulation cards which include 30 CV or CVC words for each phoneme if you need additional depth for a specific early emerging phoneme.

Bottom Line:

This book is great for children with a severe expressive delay who need work at the CV syllable level. The only caveat is that you don't get a lot of depth with any one phoneme.

You might also be interested in the following products:

Apraxia Therapy Materials: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards

Apraxia Therapy Materials: Webber Jumbo Articulation Drill Book

Apraxia Therapy Materials: Phrase Flips

It's All In a Self-Assigned Name

It won't come as a huge surprise that the variety of vegetables that Ava will eat is small. She'll eat canned peas, but not frozen. She'll eat raw carrots with ranch, but not cooked carrots. She'll eat sweet potato fries, but not mashed sweet potatoes. And regular fries of course. And that's about it. No corn, no green beans, no tomatoes, no broccoli or cauliflower.

I finally resorted to subterfuge. I went back to making baby food essentially. (I still love my Baby Cook.) I steam and purée vegetables like butternut squash and carrot in batches. I freeze the purée in ice cube trays. Then I defrost and mix the cubes into her food whenever it wouldn't be noticed. I can get two cubes into her morning yogurt, for instance.

A couple of days ago I was making a batch of sweet potato. I had steamed and puréed it and was in the process of spooning it into ice cube trays when Ava came by to check out the action. She observed in silence for a few moments and then demanded, "I want some icing!"

I thought for a moment about correcting her assumption that the puréed sweet potato was icing, but that just seemed a waste of a golden opportunity. Instead I said, "Well, you can have one taste." Then I let her try a taste from the tip of my finger.

She made a face and I thought that would be the end of it, but a moment later she piped up with, "Mama, can I have a bowl of icing?". You can bet that I scooped sweet potato right back out of the ice cube trays and put it in a bowl for her. She then proceeded to eat three small bowls (about 4 ice cubes) worth of sweet potato. I guess sometimes it really is all in the name.

(It probably helped that she was starving because she didn't like anything I served for dinner that night.)