Tag: ANNABELLE’S MONTHLY UPDATES

Belle is starting to imitate words more which I am excited about. To date, she has approximately 18 words and 18 signs. She is very animated and quite dramatic at times 🙂 Annabelle continues to eat well and is doing great with her new Straw #4. She has improved tremendously with her “chomping” exercises in the […]

Annabelle is continuing to do well with her straws and eating. Several of her teeth are coming in all at the same time so she is getting to eat a bigger variety of foods, which she enjoys. We continue to do her OPT exercises twice a day. She doesn’t love them, but I try to […]

I recently attended the “Three-Part Treatment Plan for Oral Placement Therapy” and it was great. Monica was the presenter and I really learned a lot. It helped to show me what exercises and goals we will continue to progress towards. I know that Belle has a long way to go, but being in a routine of daily exercises for the […]

Earlier this month Annabelle was spitting out almost all of her food. It was extremely frustrating, to say the least. We knew that she needed all the calories that she could get because she is still a pretty tiny little thing.  In addition, we knew that she had created a horrible eating pattern of pushing food out […]

Annabelle has seen incredible improvement over the past couple of months. Since her last update, Annabelle is continuing to eat table foods and drink from her Straw Cup using the Straw #2 in the Straw Hierarchy. As many of you know, her progress and work with the Straw Hierarchy is right on track. Using the hierarchy appropriately will teach […]

Watch the following videos to see Annabelle’s exceptional progress in her therapy! Working on Straw #2: Eating table food: Working on oral motor exercises: -Lanie Beetsma Annabelle has Down Syndrome and has been using TalkTools Therapy since she was born. Her story is a great inspiration for parents seeking help for a child with Down Syndrome. […]

At 13 months Belle has grown into having quite the personality. She finds it funny that we keep videoing her. She laughs and tries to follow the camera. We really have to keep up with her while feeding her pureed foods and puffs because she thinks this “camera thing” is quite the novelty.  While she […]

The past 12 months have taken us on a new and unexpected journey. We are so blessed to have the support of many as we reflect on Belle’s 1st year. At the top of our support list would be our inspiring Therapist, Whitney, as well as the knowledgeable staff at TalkTools. They have enabled us to […]

We have come a long way in the past several months, particularly since we teamed up with TalkTools to help provide therapy for our daughter Annabelle, who has Down syndrome. We love the progress our daughter has made in the past 12 months. She is so happy and lively, and frankly, we are too. She […]

We are so proud! Annabelle is 11 months old and is doing a wonderful job. We really have no cause for concerns because she has taken so well to her therapy. She is typically quite happy when we do the exercises with her. I am continuing to do her oral motor exercises 2-3 times a […]