Shereen Idiculla has over 5 years experience working with children across all age groups with multiple disabilities, feeding issues, oral-motor difficulties, language disorders, speech disorders and general developmental delays.

She is a Hanen® certified Speech Language Pathologist for the ‘It Takes Two To Talk’ program. She has also undergone training for Picture Exchange System (PECS), Oral-Motor Therapy & PROMPT technique.

She works with children with various kind of disorders like autism,down syndrome,cerebral palsy, stuttering and articulation disorders.

Shereen can be reached on susanidics@gmail.com

Children with cleft palate typically have a variety of speech problems. Some speech problems result directly from anatomical differences such as velopharyngeal inadequacy.

However, sometimes children with cleft palate also have speech errors which develop as the result of an attempt to compensate for the inability to produce the target phoneme.

These are known as compensatory articulations. Compensatory articulations are usually sounds that are non-existent in normal English phonology, often do not resolve automatically after palatal repair, and make a child’s speech even more difficult to understand.

Speech-language pathology can be very beneficial to help resolve speech problems associated with cleft palate. In addition, research has indicated that children who receive early language intervention are less likely to develop compensatory error patterns later

But Then what will they Do?

By assessing the speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing skills of children and adults, speech-language pathologists can identify types of communication problems and the best way to treat them.

How will they Do?

Therapists use a variety of strategies, including:

• language intervention activities. In these exercises an SLP will interact with a child by playing and talking. The therapist may use pictures, books, objects, or ongoing events to stimulate language development. The therapist may also model correct pronunciation and use repetition exercises to build speech and language skills.
• articulation therapy. Articulation, or sound production, exercises involve having the therapist model correct sounds and syllables for a child, often during play activities. The level of play is age-appropriate and related to the child’s specific needs. The SLP will physically show the child how to make certain sounds, such as the “r” sound, and may demonstrate how to move the tongue to produce specific sounds.
• oral motor/feeding therapy. The SLP will use a variety of oral exercises, including facial massage and various tongue, lip, and jaw exercises, to strengthen the muscles of the mouth. The SLP may also work with different food textures and temperatures to increase a child’s oral awareness during eating and swallowing.

When Should I go to a Speech Therapist?

Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children enrolled in therapy early in their development (younger than 3 years) tend to have better outcomes than those who begin therapy later.

But then?

This does not mean that older kids can’t make progress in therapy; they may progress at a slower rate because they often have learned patterns that need to be changed.

So If I find a good one, is my job done??

Speech-language experts agree that parental involvement is crucial to the success of a child’s progress in speech or language therapy.

But I;m busy, have business & Jobs to look after, Is our involvement really important??

Parents are an extremely important part of their child’s therapy program, and help determine whether it is a success. Kids who complete the program quickest and with the most lasting results are those whose parents have been involved.

But I don’t know anything about it?

Ask the therapist for suggestions on how you can help your child. For instance, it’s important to help your child do the at-home stimulation activities that the SLP suggests to ensure continued progress and carry-over of newly learned skills.

Is this one year affair, how long will it take??

The process of overcoming a speech or language disorder may take some time and effort, so it’s important that all family members be patient and understanding with the child.

So our hunt for a Speech & Hearing Therapist was On… through some referral of Parents we shortlisted two of them and chose to visit one. We had taken our appointment and now looking forward to meet them.

Well Geet is now 17 months, she argues, she throws tantrums, she is always full while having food and still can accommodate chocolates and chips, she wants to eat everything with spoon including cucumber , she wants ice creams and plays with water all day. Not to mention how she creams the words Bye, Akka, Mummy, Catch, Boll among the first few in her vocabulary and still, yes still she does not say Pa

And to all those who say People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one and all the parents will agree with this..

Also writing coz this is again the time we feel we are unaware of so many things and we need to learn a lot..

15th Aug my Birthday

I know it is Independence Day and what a day to be born on

Every year I have someone telling “ You were born on Independence Day, WOW ??” I’m like “Ya Ya” behaving as it not such a bid deal, deep down I;m like ya buddy that’s why my birthday is special …he he he

Usual calls ( reduced as Facebook makes up for it ), a single slice of cake by Vanitha ( was a surprise ) and the mandatory calling of elders to take blessings.

But no gifts I know grown up and now have a one year old daughter, but then Gifts are Gifts and Gifts are always special

The Kid in me refuses to grow

As said earlier we did not celebrate Geet’s birthday, however Vanitha’s friends who stay in the same apartment complex demanded a small celebration. They helped the minimalistic decoration and the cake. So there were 4 ladies & 4 kids on Geet’s birthday.

I actually appreciate the fact that they did all this, took the trouble of balloons & hats ( well that was the only decoration ) as they did not want Geet’s birthday to be left uncelebrated

Today 6th of August, Geet is One.

This day Vanitha is also celebrating her First Day as a ‘Mother’ and me too as ‘Pa’

Though we had no plans of celebrating, Vanitha’s friends who are also neighbors forced her to have a very small cake cutting ritual, infact they even got balloons and stuck them to walls ( something Vanitha did not remove for quite few days )

So we had 4 ladies and 4 kids cutting the cake on a Landmark day of sorts Pics will be uploaded soon

I had made few plans, visited few party halls and also taken the quote for balloon modeling, caricature artist, face painter along with tarot card reader.

But now we have decided against celebrating her birthday, dont ask y, coz I really dunno

I believe it came all of a sudden, so until last minute I guess no one realised that her first birthday was coming and then planning for something was not possible.

I also believe there is too much tension at work & office, so we rather skip this ‘ First Birthday Thing ’  as this is not the right time to celebrate and have a grand celebration…

Too many things to believe…

So probably the next celebration with regard to Geet may be her third or fourth birthday, I again dunno…

People only remember & cherish Neil Amstrong, Yuri Gararin, Kiran Bedi, the first is always special, no one actually cares much about the second.