What should be done for children with severe intellectual and language development delays??

Good evening!!

Thank you for your hard work today as well😊

I'm sure everyone has a lot going on every day, but

let's keep doing our best!!💪🏼

Now, for this topic,

What should be done for children with severe intellectual and language development delays??

is what I will be covering!

I think many of you

might find it relatively easy to visualize

children like this, right?

This includes children who may respond to their name,

but have difficulty with verbal communication or

intellectual activities.

Among those reading this blog,

there may be some who

I imagine there are some of you

who actually have

interactions with such children,

but how do you handle them?

By the way,

in the approaches I have seen,

while the child is playing with toys alone,

people would watch over them while talking to them,

or offer them different play materials,

which is the impression I have of most cases.

I am also currently conducting training

with such a child.

Though the child doesn't think of it as training😅

Since it is difficult for that child to communicate through words,

people around them often first

"I wish they could speak"

and expect them to acquire some form of language.

However, the child still

cannot point

When training first began,

behavior similar to the crane phenomenonwas also observed.

There was also no recognition that the person in the mirror was themselves

at that time.

(By the way, they are long past early childhood.)

They can make sounds unconsciously,

(such as when laughing or feeling uncomfortable, etc.)

but when they try to consciously make a sound,

they are unable to do so.

Yawning is also observed,

but they are also unable toconsciously open their mouth.

They are in a state where they cannot.

Even eye contact from our side

even when entering the child's field of vision

is difficult to establish

The persistence of primitive reflexes is also suspected

For a child in this state

what should be done?

Just because there is hope for language

for example

would it be effective to conduct language training

using picture cards in a private room??

However, even if it were done

the child would not even understand

what they are doing

and also

getting them to imitate me and make sounds

Because they cannot do it

(The situation of imitating and making sounds

they cannot understand that itself, and

as I mentioned before, they cannot intentionally open their mouth either

)

They are not at a stage where they can do language training

Language develops while interacting with the body, emotions, and so on

and influencing each other

it develops

In other words, looking only at the state of language from the outside

and thinking about training cannot be an effective response

I believe it cannot become one

Therefore

I evaluate the person's current stage

(what level they should aim to acquire from)

and create a training plan

First of all

that their body is their own and

that they are the ones

moving their own body

to help them gain awareness of

I assessed that we should start from the stage of

As one of the training methods for that purpose,

first "having them touch their own body through imitation"

was where I began.

Since we started the training,

I believe about half a year has passed.

We have not yet reached the point of

intentionally making sounds or

opening their mouth, but

their recognition of the mirror has followed

the progress described below.

At first

They would not try to look in the mirror (pushing it away with their hand)

=> Even if they looked in the mirror for a few seconds, their gaze would immediately wander

=> They were seen checking the back of the mirror

=> They were able to watch their own movements (playing by moving their lips with their fingers)

for a certain amount of time (about 20 to 30 seconds)

successfully

Although there is still a long way to go

it seemed that their recognition of the mirror was progressing

Also

behaviors similar to the crane phenomenon

have almost disappeared recently

In addition

they can kick a ball lightly

(it was harder for them to be conscious of their foot movements than their hand movements)

and although they are still clumsy, they are starting to be able to

jump with both feet together

Although it is slow and little by little,

I believe thatdefinite changes are being seen.

Of course, I understand that it is difficult to have high expectations.

It is not about aiming for normalcy,

but rather what can be done in the current state,

and that what needs to be done should be done,

is what I think.

The brain has plasticity, but

if the people around them give up,

that is as far as it goes,

is what I believe.

Supporting the child's own improvement to the maximum

is one of my roles as a speech-language-hearing therapist,

I believe.

Also, the influence of the family members

who are in contact with them every day is truly significant.

Do not be easily swayed by the voices around you

I hope you do not give up on improvement

is what I wish for.

Well then,

thank you very much

for reading until the end.

See you next time!