Thanks-giving

The holiday was yesterday, our baby girl sat in her high chair and happily ate an entire container of squash while we ate our grown-up meal. She, of course, had no concept that she was involved in a celebration that she will doubtless partake in for years to come, but we were thrilled to have our daughter there. Bwa-bwa-bwa, ma-ma-MA-ma, her contributions to the conversation were genuine and well-stated. Yup, she has been officially babbling for a few weeks now, and it is wonderful to hear. My co-workers were thrilled for me when I reported that she had begun this important communicative stage. But, although I am immensely grateful for my happy and healthy baby, and excited that her communication is progressing perfectly, this entry is not really about all that.

As the year's end rapidly approaches, I'm reminded that I have a major goal that I haven't been able to try out yet. That is the goal of a private practice, a situation where I see only the types of patients that I want to see and structure the treatment exactly as I see fit, rather than being constrained by the typical practices of a large organization. Personally I prefer the adult patients, as the diagnoses and treatments are more interesting. I do enjoy working for Kaiser, and most of my pediatric patients are immensely cute and fun to work with. The adult patients, however, are the ones that I feel passionate about. They are the ones that run through my head late at night as I ponder the best way to help them achieve their goals, and that inspire my internet research.

I enjoy working with adults because they are fully formed people, with an entire life history and distinct personality. They are people who probably had something very precious taken away from them very suddenly, and they are motivated and determined to get it back. These people tend to be enormously appreciative for the guidance that therapy provides. When they say thank you, they shake my hand and look me square in the eye. They are sincere in their appreciation and they express it frequently.

Speech pathology is a helping profession, and those of us in the field are there because we like to help people. That in itself is gratifying, and at the end of the day I know I've done my part to make someone's life a little easier. But like anyone else, it's nice to hear that a job has been well done. It's especially rewarding to hear the thanks from the very person I'm trying to help. So thanks for the thanks, it helps me know that yes, I'm doing something right.

Now to get on with the private practice, so I can do more of what I love with the people who are grateful that I'm doing what I do. Plan begins January 1, with business open date of June-ish. Get to it . . . .

With a Sudden Squeal

Squeals and happy, high-pitched shouts are some of my favorite sounds these days. Raspberries and drool have taken on new meaning, and I find myself returning them often. Well, returning the raspberries at least, with the occasional errant saliva droplets vibrating off my tongue as I encourage my baby to keep expressing herself.

At 6 months old, Cleo is rapidly approaching the time when she will prefer to repeat a single syllable over and over, mamamamamaMAma-mamaMa, or perhaps dadada-daDAdadada (to allow equal opportunity babbling), and the speech pathologist in me looks forward to that time eagerly. That time known as "reduplicated babbling" will herald my daughter's foray into intentional articulation, choosing to make the same consonant-vowel combination over and over again simply because she knows how, and wants to practice her skill with making a specific speech sound.

But in the meantime, she expresses herself with wonderful combinations of non-speech sounds, squeals and growls and raspberries, often with a big smile on her face. Every morning she wakes up and begins loudly vocalizing her happy shouts and sliding-pitch squeals. My husband and I, after shaking our heads in disbelief that we're being awoken shortly after 6:00 a.m. -- AGAIN -- will lay there and listen to her for a while. Even the sounds she has made before are so enthralling for us, and she frequently manages to come up with new variations that leave us laughing and delighting in her self-expression.

Cleo conveys so much about her world and her perception of it with her unrestrained proclamations that she is having a good time, that she feels well, that she is enjoying our attention, that she is fascinated with her hand or one of her toys, that she just had a very tasty meal and all is right in the universe. She enjoys using her voice, she likes to stick her tongue out and feel the funny raspberries that she makes, she likes the tickly buzz in her lips when she makes "MMMmmm" sounds, and most of all she loves to open her mouth wide and feel the huge sounds coming out of her that fill the room, including her very own ears, giving her all the encouragement she needs to do it again.

"AAAAaaaahhhhhhhhhh--aaaaAHHHHHH--ppththththth--AHHH!" That's right, Cleo Tell us all about it -- we're listening and loving every note.