Owl, Therapist, Voice Ramble

[Deleted]

We recently changed our MH therapy to the same day as Speech (ST) which has been interesting. Our MHT is very laid back, mellow, and speaks as if she has been smoking pot, she is the type of therapist who lets Owl work at her own pace now that she has attached to me. Our ST is demanding in a good way, stands her ground with Owl, and pushes for results.

The ST has been asking me to really push Owl to phonate (make normal volume vocal sounds rather than her whisper sounds) because she believes the selective mutism we are experiencing is a MH issue and has nothing to do with a speech problem. The MHT has been telling me that it's a speech issue and that it will come along with time in ST.

Well, tonight I decided that I'd push Owl's speech and see where I could get her to go. I know she can phonate, she does it when she's mad or frustrated, normal/regulated mood speech has been where the mute/whisper comes into play. I was feeding her and asked if she wanted another bite, she whispered " bi" while nodding her head so I did the usual I-can't-hear-you thing that we've been doing for awhile, no luck.. I pushed and put her hand on my throat, the other hand on her throat, and repeated "bite" loudly so she could feel the vibration in my voice and lack of in her whisper. It took a number of tries but she finally said "bi" with a voice! During bath I got her to say hi, bye, pee, poo, ba(th), papa, oh, ow,and feet, it was amazing!

I like our MHT but lately feel like she thinks Owl doesn't need to be pushed anymore, that all the pushing and challenging in the beginning was enough for her to feel like Owl was making progress. Owl has plateaued with MH because the MHT hasn't allowed therapy that that pushes Owl out of her comfort zone, something which needs to happen for her to continue progressing. I'm glad I pushed her out of her comfort zone tonight because she was so proud of herself for using her voice.

I know my little girl well enough to know that she can overcome challenges when pushed, in fact she needs that push to succeed.

*Forgive the formatting, my phone is acting up and being a pain while I try to edit.

[tattooedmeegs]

Have you tried talking to your MHT about this? Hopefully her laid back nature would allow her to let you guide this a little bit. It sounds like you made great progress tonight, and hopefully letting her know about that will encourage her to push Owl a little more.

[tattooedmeegs]

Ps. Great job Mama!

[Deleted]

We've discussed pushing Owl rather than letting her guide what we do but the MHT thinks pushing her will cause her to regress. From my experience, pushing her has caused her to attach more and become more confident, her regression comes when she finds a comfortable place where she doesn't have a challenge to tackle.

[2brides]

Way to go! You are an amazing mom!

[seattlekari]

Aww, that must have been pretty amazing to encourage and witness! Keep being her advocate, you're doing a fantastic job.