Tuesday, October 28, 2008
17 month old with Down Syndrome READING!
WOW! Did we miss the boat here or what?! Absolutely amazing!
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About Me
- Mommy to those Special Ks
- Colorado Springs, CO, United States
- My name is Renee, I am 34 years old, I am married to the Army... oh wait I mean I'm married to a Soldier, my hero. Same thing right? I am a misplaced Californian who lives in Colorado by way of Tennessee. I am a mini-van driving soccer mom... I always knew I would be! I am blessed to be able to stay home with my 5 amazing kids. Kassidy: my beautiful, too smart for her own good, funny, dramatic 13 year old who is starting her teen years with grace. Kameron: My high strung, smart, artistic, creative, silly, sometimes mysterious 11 year old who loves musical theater and acting. My 8 year old diva, Kennedy: who will most often be found dancing or dreaming of Justin Bieber. She's destined for the stars! Keeghan: my crazy, funny, silly, handsome 5 year old monkey who loves to ask me a million questions all day long; and our 6 year old Ukrainian Princess Kellsey who is finding her way in the world as she battles Reactive Attachment Disorder. Our goal for her is to make sure she knows she is always loved, wherever that may take her... I'm so incredibly blessed.
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21 comments:
WOW!!!! that is amazing. I loved the Gorilla sign.
How awesome! Reese's Rainbow needs to show this! The possibilities for DS and new and future therapy and Sign language are infinite!
That's impressive. Do you even think Keeghan could do that? It was probably more memorization, but either way that's great. Have you contacted this guy to see if he has any tips for you? This could be the future of therapy ;).
That is just amazing!!
sounds like that "your baby can read!" stuff...so cool =) I saw the infomercial the other day and decided right then that I'm going to do that with my kids =) But I've never seen that sort of thing with sign language or DS kids! The possibilities are endless!
That is so cool! I'd be curious to watch him do that flipping to random pages instead of going in order. His son looked like he was really getting it though, more so than just memorizing. I love seeing kids sign... it's so cool. But I know a different one for "cat..." guess I learned something new tonight. :)
Natalie
That little boy clapping is precious!
You been Boo-ed stop by my blog and find out! Dont worry its all children friendly!
Hugs
This is great! You're doing a great service to other young families with children with Ds by posting this video!
I'm glad you found it so you know about early reading. Please take a look at Love and Learning. It is a reading program specifically for children with Ds. I know several children who started reading well before age 2. We used early literacy for acquiring language. We signed and spoke the words when we taught her to read. When she learned to read, some words she signed and some she spoke. Early reading in Ds has been documented for at least 15 years. The goal in teaching a baby to read is not actually to read, but to have another inroad to accessing language. Babies/toddlers do not learn to read phonetically, but as sight words. Yes, Keeghan can do this.
http://www.loveandlearning.com/home.shtml
You don't really need a "program" to do this, just some index cards and a sharpie marker. Make some flashcards (and really, just flash them for a second), and use words that are high interest for the child--like "cookie" or "milk" or "truck". Flash them once or twice a day. Keep up the input, and soon your child will start to say (or sign) the words. It might take a month, in might take two, or it might take a week--it depends on the child (assuming vision is fine).
You might also be interested in Emma's Gifts, a documentary film of a 3 year old girl with Ds who also has a typical twin. The family started teaching sight words when the girls were just 6 or 7 months old. Both girls were reading fluently on a second grade level by the time they were four years old.
http://www.emmasgiftsfilm.com/
Oh, another good program for learning sight words is In a Flash.
http://www.lickitysplitlearning.com/
Oh My Gosh - how amazing is he! This was beautiful to watch! <3
Oh, wow. Incredible is just inadequate. You know, one should never underestimate what these kids can do. He just proved it.
WOW! I'm really more impressed with the little boy's ability to sign. Really fantastic signing! I would love to start this with Ralphie. He shows me everyday how smart he is...but most of his signs all look the same still. Thank you for sharing this.
What a sweetie!
Continuing to pray so very hard!
Psalms 28:8-9 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
Prayer Bears
As an experienced mother (Ricki is 14; If you want to know what life can be like with a young teen with DS, drop by us)
http://beneaththewings.blogspot.com/
Anyway, as an experienced Mom, I would like to say:
A.NEVER brow-beat yourself for "missing the boat". I started Ricki on site reading at age 3; today DownsEd advices much earlier. But you do the best you can .
B. Kids have much to study besides reading. While one should start sight-word reading early ....
(1.it helps you reach learning grammer at an age that is easier - learning grammer too late is harder
2. sight reading helps improve speech and memory)
While one should start sight-word reading early,a 17 month old needs to be learning gross and fine motor skills, different concepts, etc. It COULD be that this child's parents centered only on signing and reading. While they are important, YOU have to work on several different ares, and don't knock yourself down if someone else centers on one thing. I know that I worked very hard with Ricki on reading (to help get her included into a regular class, something new in Israel where I live), and for that reason she isn't so great in math (we didn't work enough on it...). Another friend of mine has a kid who is great with math, but has less general lnowledge than Ricki does.
c. For FREE materials (down-loadable) on sight reading, from leaders in the field (reasearch-based ), see:
http://www.see-and-learn.org/pilot/
He is so cute! That is really brilliant!
Lea White
http://whitesinnz.blogspot.com
It's snowing here in Canada! I posted pics on my blog for your sweeties
That's awesome! Dom was close to that age when we realized he could sight read many words....but I want to say he was closer to 2. Anyways, another 'vote' for love and learning here- we did that with Signing times and Dom has a great reading ability today. And in case you're wondering, we worked on other therapies with Dom too- it wasn't all speech and reading.
My mouth is open ... WOW!
What in the world! How completely amazing!
RAchel
PS. We believe that Xervier is truly reading here. He can read the words in any order. He can read printed handwriting and you can turn the handwritten word upside down so the letters are upside down and back to front and he can read it just as quick!
This is just like how an adult reads where they can read the paper uside down or recognise words easily even if the letters are jumbled, as in the following excerpt from a famous email:
Acocdrnig to a reschearer at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
And I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmtorant.
Reading sight words is like reading in non-alphabetic languages like Chinese where thousands of pictograms are memorised by children at school.
Woops!
I posted an introduction to myself and our son Xervier but it didn't upload so the "PS" has come first. Anyhow ...
Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in our little boy, Xervier. We think he is adorable.
We would like to emphasise that posting Xervier's video is not meant to provoke compaarisons. If there is one thing that having a child with Down Syndrome has taught us it is that all children are precious and they should all be cherished for the wonder that they are.
For those who are interested, we have used the videos, flash cards and books from www.yourbabycanread.com The videos were particularly good when we started Xervier on them at 4 months of age. He quickly developed a love of the videos and an ability to concentrate on them for 30 min at a time. We have also made our own flash cards and used a magnetic slate to write the names of meals as they are fed to him. It hasn't involved a lot of time. 30 minutes of video and one or two brief sessions with the flash cards each day. It is all just play to him and we only do it as long as he is interested.
We have been using sign language with Xervier since he was born. He developed the dexterity skills to use his first sign at 13 months of age ("milk"). He used a sign to show he had read a word for the first time at 14 months.
Xervier has recieved a variety of Early Intervention such as physical therapy, speech therapy, chiropractic, cranial osteopathy, vitamin supplements, etc (like many of your children). We have also been toilet training him since birth!
My wife and I are convinced that the MOST IMPORTANT thing we have done with our son so far (apart from boundless love) is to teach him signing and reading.
Again, thank you everyone for your interest.
Paul and Sabine Doney (Xervier's parents)
Paul or Sabine, if by chance you see this message, please contact me. My email to you came back as undeliverable.
Renee, thank you again for sharing this wonderful information. I would have never known!
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