An energetic toddler is continuing to grow an impressive vocabulary of more than 100 words months after beginning to receive services from an early intervention specialist at The Warren Center.
Tayo’s family brought him to The Warren Center when he was 26 months old due to concerns with his communication. In his initial evaluation, Tayo’s dad reported the child was not using any words at the time and would occasionally imitate some words. He also did not have great play skills or an extended attention span, as he would briefly move from toy to toy and mostly bang toys and trucks on the ground. In between the initial evaluation and initiation of an individualized family service plan, Tayo already began making progress. Mom reported he would say a few words, but still less than 10.
Since therapy started at The Warren Center, Tayo’s mom would have new updates every single week of ways Tayo was progressing and learning new words. Mom was a key player in Tayo making all of this progress, as she would implement the strategies Tayo’s early intervention specialist showed her, such as labeling object names in play, modeling environmental sounds, such as animal and transportation noises, and modeling functional language.
As Tayo progressed, his mom began keeping a running list of the total words Tayo would say and when he reached 50 total words, his mom celebrated with a special muffin treat. Tayo has been receiving specialized skills training therapy since October and has made tons of progress. He now says around 130 words, which is a list that continues to grow each week. Watch a video of Tayo counting to 10 in the social media player below.
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Working with Tayo’s mom and Tayo is a reminder of the importance of early intervention. Between weekly therapy sessions and mom’s willingness to implement strategies into their daily routines, Tayo has made immense progress.
Additionally, it used to be really difficult for Tayo’s mom to take him to his older brother’s basketball games because he wouldn’t listen to her, he would climb all over the bleachers, and try to run on the court. After strategies and planning with his early intervention specialist, Tayo has a basketball game bag with things to play with specifically during games. He even talks to the parents and other children that are at the game and will play with the cheerleaders once the game is over. Something that used to be stressful for mom is now something fun that her and Tayo can do together while supporting older brother. One of the mom’s at the basketball game even told Tayo’s mom, “If you hadn’t told me he had a communication delay, I would have never known!”
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