Communication is a huge hurdle to jump. When Christopher was 1 1/2 he had no words and did not babble. I always joked before he was born that he wouldn't talk because with his sister around, he'd never get a word in. He was diagnosed just before his second birthday and communication was non-existent. After the diagnosis, we finally started with PECS and Signing Time videos. PECS taught him to communicate but I think the bigger skill was learning that he had a way to get something he wanted. Christopher has never been a fussy child. He's always been very happy and would just go with the flow of things. PECS began that exchange process. He says something, he gets something and after a short time it began to click. He also learned a lot from the videos. I would have to watch the video and try to figure out what he was signing. The signs aren't always perfect but may be approximations. Over time, he has fluctuated between the frequency of each use. We probably use signs the most currently. He tries to say a lot of things.
Christopher has really taken to singing songs. I can't understand the words but he gets the melody enough to know what he is singing. I'm not sure what he is doing as far as speech development. I can't pin point sound or syllable replacement and I'm looking forward to the speech therapist's evaluation. He will just babble away at times. Sometimes I know he is trying to tell me something but it is just the same sounds over and over.
I have toyed with the idea of getting the IPOD Touch or another system and getting a communication program downloaded but I have hesitated because the speech has been coming slowly.
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