Alex Starts Talking - 6 years & 2 months old

This video is a reenactment of how Alex started talking. Alex had started talking, in a session just like this, with this little friend Ashley (see therunman.blogspot.com/2007/03/detour-ashley-clarkes-year-to-remember.html) about 2 weeks earlier in February 1994. Alex was 6 years & 2 months old at the time and in grade 1.

Alex left the class for 20 minutes every day for speech therapy and was always accompanied by a classmate. Every classmate (and their parents) were offered the opportunity to be a peer helper during Alex's speech sessions and each and every one of them wanted to and was given parental permission to participate. Ashley and Alex were very close in grade 1, she moved away after grade 1 and did not see him again until she moved back to PEI during high school.

Although Alex had been through years of situations like this with his SLP & "MJ", and his parents, siblings, family and friends had all tried to elicit words from him, it was Ashley that held the key to his speech and it came after his 6th birthday. From that point on he repeated anything you asked him to and read aloud everything he had, until then, been reading to himself.

Part 2 of this video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRzsUMA6e0

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Alex
• Bain
• Autism
• Inclusion
• Communication
• Education
• Prince
• Edward
• Island

[PinkPixie74]

Is this when he first started talking? How exciting! My son is almost 6 and is still completely non verbal. It gives me hope to see videos like this :)

[thejypsy]

This video was actually made a day or two after the exact day he started talking. It is exactly like that day though, same room and classmate, same routine (started with repeating he clapping hands, stomping feet etc). Before this time Alex had a 3 word vocabulary: "no", "oh-no", and "bye". He generally said "no" when someone was about to say it to him, "oh-no" when something broke, spilled, or wasn't right and "bye" to TV shows when the credits rolled or to the house when we drove away.

[thejypsy]

No. She is a classmate, Alex was the only autistic (fully integrated) in that regular class.

[Grapejuice22]

Thats very good:)

Alex is a smarth boy and so cuite, mum and dad should be prowd of him.

[MalchowMama]

What a great idea to have peers help.

[kidzrspecial]

That is so wonderful! You have a very special young boy, who will continue to do many wonderful things!!

[Lindylovsbatty]

Alex is smart.

[kevinfruet]

Thanks for sharing your videos!