Before our first grandchild was born, we decided that I would be called Gram to distinguish me from his other grandmother who was already Grandma to his three cousins. I was delighted when, at 15 months old, Drew first called me Am. As time went by, however, and his speech didn’t improve, we learned that this was actually a symptom of a severe phonological disorder. He dropped the initial sounds from almost every word making his speech virtually unintelligible.
As Drew began speech therapy and he and Melaina worked diligently at home, we began to see a marked improvement in his speech. I was confident that the day would come when he would finally call me Gram and today was that day! My heart nearly burst with joy! The r isn’t quite clear yet but it’s there and the G is as clear as a bell.
Each time we’ve seen Drew over the past few months, we’ve noticed progress. Not only is his pronunciation so much clearer now but he’s also speaking in simple sentences and using lots of descriptive words… “big white garbage truck” “Drew’s sandals on” “play train games” and “baby ducks swimming” are a few of the phrases that we heard today. Life must be much less frustrating for him now that he’s able to express his feelings, ask for the things he wants and tell Mommy when something hurts. It’s definitely a delight for us to be able to carry on a conversation with him!
Following Augustine 