Down syndrome self-advocacy is possible with the right early intervention. Dashiell's story shows how TalkTools Oral Placement Therapy (OPT), begun at just five months old, built the speech foundation he needed to speak clearly, connect with peers, and ultimately stand on stage before hundreds of people.
How TalkTools OPT Supports Down Syndrome Self-Advocacy
Notably, "When our son Dashiell was born in early 2004 with Down syndrome, we immediately began researching possible intervention and therapy options. We realized that in our talkative family, speech would be our priority.
When we found an article by Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP about her oral-motor therapy, the connections between feeding and speech really made sense to us, especially since we could start working on speech skills before Dashiell was talking. When Dashiell was five months old, I attended Lori Overland, MS, CCC-SLP, C/NDT's class on feeding children with Down syndrome and started doing the feeding and oral-motor therapy exercises at home.
When he was a year old, we started working with Sara and other TalkTools therapists whenever the visiting clinics came to our area. Dashiell has been using the exercises at home for almost 10 years.
Furthermore, he has worked his way through the feeding exercises, the straw hierarchy, and the bite blocks and is currently working on using the jaw exerciser, button pull, and tongue depressor push ups among other exercises. The TalkTools program has helped Dashiell immensely.
Because of his good muscle tone and habits, his speech is understood by unfamiliar listeners almost all of the time. His strong speech skills have opened many doors for him.
Accordingly, he loves telling stories and jokes, and his friends in a typical classroom can understand him. He has made presentations to many classes and groups about what it is like to have Down syndrome and even emceed an event for over 600 people.
For this reason, we are so grateful that Dashiell can express his feelings and ideas. He has a lot of great stuff to say!" -- Dashiell's parents
Dashiell's experience is a powerful example of Down syndrome self-advocacy in action — not simply communicating needs, but speaking to hundreds of strangers with clarity and confidence. Consistent, structured TalkTools OPT gave him the oral motor foundation that made every word count.