First we connect, then we communicate

Hi everyone, meet Kim

Meet… Kim! All around amazing speech therapist, mama to twin girls and a proud big brother, wine connoisseur and a great friend. In fact, when Maia says goodnight to the people she loves every night, this gal is on the list and we have her to thank for the beautiful sound of Maia’s bilingual voice.

I often pinch myself how lucky we are to have this outstanding speech therapist as part of our village, and… Well, with Kim’s latest upgrade to her Instagram, she can be in yours too! Simply pop over to @learngrowspeech and check out her highlight reel for amazing insight into all things speech and communication. And below, she shares her insight into the communication strengths of children with DS and the best tip that I’ve ever seen for that scrumptious, precious first year with our little ones.

What would you say to a parent on their entry to #theluckyfew community? 
Firstly, congratulations on your baby!! If you're here and seeing this then you have an adorable ticket into a pretty amazing community.  Secondly, the most important thing you can do for your new little person right now is simply to get to know them and plant all those seeds for love and connection. Babies learn about communication through their relationships - so relax and just focus on building that special relationship. Take notice of what makes your baby light up – this will be the foundation for everything you put in place later.

“The cuddles, smiles and cooing over your cutie is A-grade quality therapy!”

Third, find the team that is a good fit for your family. Take the time to find the ones that make you feel confident, like you know what is going on and that you feel comfortable telling when things aren't working for you. Chat to potential therapists and get a feel for them as people - and don't feel bad about changing things up if someone isn't the right fit (we don't take it personally!). By starting this process early, you can get on the waitlist for the best people for you instead of just having to take whoever had a space. With the right team, "therapy" can feel like less of a chore and more like fun! 

First we connect, then communicate…

Especially in the first year, simply being and interacting with your baby is the best thing you can do. It’s not the flashcards or toys that make a difference - it’s the silly voices and tickles in nappy changing. So… Relax, soak up those cuddles, get to know your baby’s personality and just enjoy each others company!

One of the reasons I love you is that you have such a strengths-based approach to your work (and life). While everyone is different with their own unique resources, are there any typical communication strengths that you see in the children with DS that you work with? 
We ALL learn better when it starts from a place of things we already like and are successful with!  Like you said, Children with Down Syndrome are like all other children in that they are more different from each other than the same, however, there are definitely some common strengths. If I was choosing one, it would be the desire and ability to connect and build relationships with people. Wanting to play, socialise and connect with other people is such a great foundation for building communication. It opens up a whole wide world of different learning opportunities. 

“For every child, the best Early Intervention recipe is more of a Venn diagram. One circle is your child's strengths and interests, the other circle is the skills that we want to help them develop. That overlap in the middle is where the therapy magic happens”.

In those early days, one of my biggest fears came from a phrase that kept popping up on Google: "non verbal". It terrified me and sent me into a frenzy of learning everything I could about all things speech therapy. I wish I had known you then... And while I can't get those frantic nights of googling back, other parents can benefit from your wisdom!  What is the most important thing to remember about language and communication?
Surviving night googling is almost a parenting rite of passage! BUT a lot of what Dr Google spits out is outdated information that won't apply to the majority of families today. Also, sometimes when people read "non-verbal", they translate that to "doesn't communicate". This couldn't be further from the truth! While my experience is that most children with Down Syndrome do learn to talk, talking isn't the only way that children communicate. They can communicate with sign language, gesture, picture systems and even speech generating devices to say what they want. Even without talking, we can have really fun, productive and meaningful interactions using all the other forms of communication. There's a Speechie saying that goes "not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say". These are words to live by!

find kim on instagram @learngrowspeech

WWW.LEARNANDGROWSPEECH.COM

Sensational people

Hi everyone, meet Tan!

This gem of a human is the founder of one of Australia’s most renowned occupational therapy centres, Sensational Kids. It’s not just something I say -  the families who fly in from the rest of the country to hang out in their lycra clouds are living proof. Because you see, Sensational Kids is POSITIVELY DIFFERENT. Just like our kids, the people working here stand out from the crowd. They’ve been a gamechanger for our lil family - and in those early days I remember thinking…

“YAY! Here is someone who gets me! Someone who knows that
therapy is play and play is therapy! Someone who looks for strengths, not
weaknesses. Someone who reframes challenges to great opportunities! Someone who
gets that while they’re offering a service, this is as personal as it gets…
Because this aint just business – it’s our life! Someone who is pro yet real,
who expects the world and helps your kiddo aim for the stars!”

I hope that you all have a Tan in your life. And if not, I’ll share her with you – because when I asked her if she’d share some therapy insight for those early scrumptious days, Tan, as always, said YES.

What would you say to new members of #theluckyfew tribe?
What an unexpected but awesome journey you are about to begin!  Life, as you know it and expected it to unfold, is about to change but all for the better.  You are going to become a part of communities that become your tribe, professionals who will become like family to you and new friends that are also on this journey and will become your backbone when you need it most. 

There will be moments when you will doubt that you can do this, you will be confused between being a parent and a therapist but the most important thing is that that you remain PRESENT for your child as everything in development will be supported by this core foundation. So do what you need to invest in yourself and take care of yourself, find the people that are a fit for you and your family, and enjoy the ride that is ahead as you are about to see the world from a completely different perspective which is pretty darn cool!  

Sensational Kids is such an awesome name. Can you share why you picked that name?

Easy! I wanted a name that reflected how I felt about the kids that led me to this journey and that at the same time summarised the core focus of my OT philosophy. Sensational Kids do both!  Firstly, it addresses the fact that all kids are sensational and importantly, that you need a sensational relationship to support true development. Secondly, the name reflects our dedication to work from the bottom up to support development with a solid foundation in sensory processing (hence the sense component).

In my years as an OT, the greatest leaps have always happened when these two factors are the focus of therapy – and when I have been able to impart that knowledge onto the families that I work with.

Tan, when we first met I was completely overwhelmed by the new therapy lingo and all the things I thought I had to do. To help new parents feel calm and confident that they’re enough for their bubs, what are your three tips for those scrumptious baby days from a therapy perspective?

1: RELATIONSHIPS TRUMPHS ANYTHING. Value the importance of this higher than anything else you invest in...… It is the true foundation for providing a space for children in which they can be nurtured yet challenged and this is the key to keeping moving forward with development. And of course, that also means your own relationship both with your baby, yourself and the rest of the family. Just tune in and be there with your baby – learn to know each other and take everything from there. 

2: GET ON THAT TUMMY - this is such a crucial part of ongoing development and doesn't just have to mean being on your tummy, so be creative and have some fun. For example:

• Lay down on your back with bub on your tummy – then sing some songs, have a chat or just snuggle!

• Take a bath together and let bub lay on your tummy in the warm water. This is great for exploration and movement with some slight resistance and feedback. Plus, it’s like a spa for two!

• Lay bub over your legs, and put some books or toys down on the other side of your legs for your baby to look at. 

• Carry bub across your arm on their tummy, which will give them a great view at the same time as it works their core.
  

3: MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL - HAVE FUN!  Learning isn't meant to be boring, and kids (and adults!) learn best through play. So discover your child’s interest and work within this – and people who work like this too. That’s when the true magic will happen!

Imagine

Imagine for a second, that someone gave you a list of all the things that could go wrong in your life. A manual of negatives, a checklist of worst-case scenarios, a guide to a languishing life. Now imagine being handed this bleak outlook about your child’s life, only hours after your little miracle arrived in the world. 

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Life can be a bitch. We all know that, but no one welcomes a child into the world with a guide of all the things that can go wrong from now until old age. No one tells a woman, who has been a mother for 24 hours, that her little baby may get bullied in school. That he or she might get depressed, sick, anxious, difficult to understand and unhappy. No one. No one. Unless of course, that child is born with a unique infrastructure.  

With an unexpected diagnosis - whether prenatal, after birth or years later - the hopes and dreams you have created for your child are shred to pieces in an instant. “This is it”, we thought as we sat through meeting after meeting, receiving manual after manual with information about everything that could possibly go wrong in life. “This is it. Her life, our life, already spelt out in colourless font”. Except, of course, it wasn’t a picture of reality. It was simply a list of worst-case scenarios that will probably never come true! 

And that is why we created 21 Gifts; a welcome-to-this-world gift for babies born with Down Syndrome and their parents. Because if there was one thing we needed, it was something to help us see the big picture. We didn't need guidelines of everything that can possibly go wrong in life, but resources that shone light and hope for the future we couldn't imagine. Not a map of obstacles and challenges that may never happen, but a guide to rebuild the dreams and hopes for our girl, and ultimately, realise that these dreams and hopes are still the same as before we looked into her mesmerising almond shaped eyes. That life is still life in colour. Big, bold and beautiful.