Comments on: A Sunrise EI Moment You’ll Never Forget

By: Dana Childress, PhD

Dana Childress, PhD — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 13:35:18 +0000

That’s wonderful, Gabrielle! I love how you said you commended her efforts because, yes, that IS what it’s all about. Thanks for sharing your sunrise moment!

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 13:12:38 +0000

I just recently began working with a family with a child with a mild speech delay. The mom is very quiet, coaching is quite difficult because she doesn’t really talk. I saw them once last week and we worked on in and out and turn taking. Mom was very quiet, and only repeated the things I said, did not try any new word combinations. When I came back this week when we sat down to play mom was saying things like, “monkey in!”, “Hi baker,” “bye-bye baker”, “door closed,” I did not expect this mom to move from the single activity of putting a plastic piece of mail into a mail box, to generating language surrounding anything her child plays with! Her child even mimicked some of the new words that he/she heard!!! It was awesome! I pointed it out to mom and commended her efforts, and explained that she was doing the very thing Early Intervention was all about! It was pretty cool!

By: Dana Childress, PhD

Dana Childress, PhD — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 18:20:16 +0000

In reply to Michele.

Thanks for sharing your sunrise moment, Michelle! In the end, who originally thought of the song is much less important than the outcome – that the mother owned the moment and saw her power in impacting her child’s development. We do find ourselves in challenging situations on visits but focusing on the strengths (like the mother’s presence on the visits) and celebrating the joys are what it’s all about!

By: Michele

Michele — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 17:57:45 +0000

The home is dark. Mom’s primary communication with her 1 and 2 year old is to yell, scold, and command. But she’s always present during our visits. I’m there with them because her 2 yr old has speech delays. We have been working on rhymes and fingerplays during our visits. The latest, Wheels on the Bus. I return the following week and her mom is really excited to show me how they have been making up verses to Wheels on the Bus. She says she thought of it on her own. She never acknowledged that we started the activity last week. At first, I admit I felt briefly insulted. Then, my overwhelming sunrise moment occurred as I sat with this mother in her home and shared her joy of the moment she taught her daughter how to sing!