I've been meaning to write more on the blog, but we've been busy with creating video content and spending time with our kids. Right now we have what is on the Youtube channel, plus a handful of videos scheduled to publish over the next couple of weeks.

To provide a little more background on who we are, we have four children. Our third oldest--and only boy--has struggled to speak intelligibly and even to attempt to articulate words at all. He's three and a half. Beginning about a year ago we sought out various early intervention options available through state agencies and otherwise. These have been helpful, but they hadn't really resulted in much progress on its own. Following extensive testing earlier this year, the local experts through the university hospital have cautiously indicated/diagnosed that our little boy (we'll call him J) suffers from childhood apraxia of speech.

When we first received this diagnosis we hopped online to try to figure out any way to help him. We got on the phone and fought to get speech therapists involved as soon as possible. That was more difficult than we suspected. Thankfully in the last couple of weeks he has been able to get into to see a speech therapist and to attend speech therapy on a routine basis. Still while we were placed on a waiting list for the speech therapist, we wondered what options we had to help him develop verbal skills.

He loves to play with his parents and siblings, but he has a short attention span. He also has a reluctance to look at people's faces or to focus on their mouths.  If he ever gets the chance to get a hold of a screen, he loves unboxing videos or other videos where people play with toys. We decided to give the combination a try and  created the Yak Back Pack video series. They're part unboxing/play video, part speech training.

The good news? We're seeing progress we never imagined. He's speaking in short sentences and trying to use his words to ask for things like a drink. He never used to do that. He articulates colors. He never did that before. Almost every new word that he uses on a routine basis today is something that we focused on with Yak Back Pack. The things he does say are increasingly intelligible.

Now to others, that may not seem like much, but to us who have watched this smart little person struggle to communicate anything it's absolutely amazing. What's even more impressive is that it has changed the way he plays with toys and the way his siblings play with him. Before he never had interest in things like puzzles or games. Now he'll sit down and talk (either to himself or others) as he puts together a puzzle. He'll say colors. His big sisters have changed, too. When they play with him they name the objects slowly and deliberately just like the videos. They describe the things they are doing to help illustrate how to use language. It's been a game changer for us.

For our family, Yak Back Pack videos are a big deal. We committed that if the only person the videos helped was J, it will have been worth it. So far, it has. If it can help your little one as well, that would be amazing. If it is helping, please, let us know.

Here's a video of our little guy playing with his big and little sister. (Excuse the mess, this is a real video.)

 

Again, to others this may not appear to be much, but for us this is a massive change.