Hungry Boy

Guess who ate only "big boy" food today?! No puréed foods or baby food! 

Tripp Trapp

One of the recommendations from the speech-language pathologist in the oral placement therapy program that we do with Caleb is for him to have really good posture when he eats. The chair should be adjustable (to grow with the child) and "should encourage a 90 degree angle in his pelvis, knees, ankles, and chin". The high chair we've been using doesn't really meet any of the criteria dictated by the SLP. And of course, the high chairs that do seem to encourage the best posture are super EXPENSIVE!

Considering that he had a feeding tube this time last year, I'm beyond thrilled that we've packed away the bottles and fully made the transition to straw cups! But there's always room for improvement. After talking with Caleb's two SLPs and some other parents of kids with Down syndrome, I decided a couple weeks ago that it was time to get a new chair. I did a lot of research online, and the ones I thought would work best for Caleb were priced between $200 and $400. I didn't want to spend that much, and my CPA husband really didn't want to spend that much. One afternoon, I decided to check Craigslist and found one of my top choices for sale here in OKC! The Stokke Tripp Trapp! The seller had the chair, the baby set and the cushion for $100. They were about a year old and barely used. If I bought all of that new, it would be $365 plus tax! After a little negotiating and then the seller dropping the price after she had to reschedule the delivery/pick-up, I ended up paying $70!

I haven't noticed a huge difference yet on how Caleb is eating, but I do think he seems a little more focused. I also like that we're able to push the chair right up to our table, so he really can "join" us at the table for dinner. And of course, he looks super cute sitting in the new chair!

iPhone pics... sorry for the poor quality!

Oral Motor Therapy

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we recently went to San Antonio and New Braunfels. The New Braunfels portion of our trip was to meet with a speech and language pathologist there. At DSACO's annual conference in April, we met one of the speakers. Renee Roy-Hill is a SLP and a course lecturer for Talk Tools Therapy. She did a presentation at the conference for parents of kids ages 0-3 years, and we were so impressed. We left the conference thinking that we had to get Caleb set up with a speech pathologist. After several unsuccessful attempts at trying to get him in with a therapist at a clinic in OKC, we decided to talk to Renee. She said that she could evaluate Caleb and then write a six-month program for us to carry out at home. We set up a two-hour consult for one afternoon in early July and also scheduled a one-hour therapy session for the next day.

A couple weeks before we went to San Antonio, the local therapy clinic called to schedule a speech evaluation. After weeks of calling and two referrals from the pediatrician, they finally got around to calling us! We went to the evaluation and were pleased with the SLP. We told her about our plans to meet with Renee and that we were going to follow her therapy program. The SLP seemed excited about what we were doing and said that she fully supported our decision and would like to work with us to carry out Renee's program... pending insurance approval, of course!

So fast forward to early July and our first session with Renee. She introduced us to several of the Talk Tooks therapy approaches, including drinking from a straw cup rather than a sippy cup. It turns out Caleb is already a pro at sucking through a straw, but he still needs some work on swallowing all of the liquid he sucks. We also learned how to help him drink from a specially designed open cup. Drinking from the cup will help him learn how to swallow more volume at once. Renee taught us some different ways to feed him purees and soft solids. She also showed us some facial stretches and some tools/toys that will help him build strength and good form. I wish I could go into all that we covered, but it was two hours worth of very detailed info!

The next day we returned to her clinic for a one hour session where we were able to ask questions and get a little extra practice. She recorded both sessions and sent the DVDs to us a few days ago. She will send the program soon.

We're still waiting to see if insurance will approve us to do speech therapy with the local therapist. Whether that happens or not, we're busy practicing all the techniques Renee taught us. I can't wait to get Caleb's program from her and really get started with it!

If you want to learn more about Talk Tools, check out their website. Most of the cups, spoons, and tools we use are available for purchase there.