Name Spelling

Patrick and I are constantly looking for ways to incorporate Ryder's verbal expression into any activity we are doing.  One, of the many, ways is spelling out the letters in his name (hung above his bed, as seen at the end of this old post) every time Ryder is getting dressed for the day, into his jammies, or when we are in bed at night praying with him.

Ryder can now spell his name easily, although he still struggles saying it.

Also, we are constantly pointing out letters (from any word) to him, and having him repeat us.  This serves two purposes: 1) teaching him letter recognition, and 2) practicing his verbal expression enunciation.

Maybe 2 months ago, while walking into a store, Ryder stopped in the middle of the parking lot, pointed toward the store, and said "hay (k), o, h, l, s - mom, whats that?".  Honestly, it took me a second to connect what he was doing.  His letter recognition has always been exceedingly high, but his verbalization of the letters previously only came with our encouragement.

Then, one night, as Patrick prayed with him, Patrick asked me to come into Ryder's room.  Ryder was trying to say something, but Patrick didn't recognize it.  "wywer".  We made multiple guesses and asked him to say it in a different way, but after no success, I told him I was sorry that I couldn't figure it out.  Within a few minutes, Patrick called me back into the room - he asked Ryder to tell him another way again.  Ryder pointed to his wall, and spelled his name - "r, y, d, e, r - WYWER!".  He was trying to say Ryder.  In the past few weeks he has improved the beginning "r" sound, but still struggles with the "d".

Last night, in the bath, he started searching for letters...and did this all on his own!...

When Ryder realized he only had one "R", he moved the first one to the end in order to complete the spelling.

Ryder would repeat moving the "R" from the beginning, to the end, and back again.

Ryder may not be able to vocalize his thoughts, but this was a good reminder that his little mind is a sponge - he may not repeat sounds/words, but he understands everything!