Avivah Werner

Category: Parenting

  • College staff: “Your daughter is remarkable – how did you do it?”

    College staff: “Your daughter is remarkable – how did you do it?”

    Dd20 is now a college graduate!

    Dd20 graduated a day before her twentieth birthday with a specialization in technical engineering/industrial design. At the graduation event, dd was called up to receive a certificate of excellence, which she was later surprised to find was accompanied by a generous check.

    I got teary eyed during the speeches as the significance of this milestone sank in. Less than five years ago we moved from the US to Israel with a fifteen year old daughter who couldn’t speak Hebrew, who faced every challenge thrown at her with a good attitude and never gave up.  And here she was, not only coping in an Israeli educational institution in a very challenging field but excelling.

    Afterwards the head of her department came over to me to and told me that not only is dd the top student in their college, but she would have been the top student in the best university in Israel.  She went on to detail the personality traits she based her statement on and asked me, “I honestly want to know – what is your recipe for raising a daughter like this?”  I deflected the question and said that dd has had the main part of turning herself into an amazing person, but the department head told me that she has seen many, many students and she is convinced that how dd was raised is a big part of her success.

    People have asked me how I raised my children to be high achievers.  My honest response is that I didn’t actively set out to do this.  The fact that my older kids have all excelled in the academic and work frameworks they’ve been in is a reflection of their personal motivation and work ethic.  If they hadn’t excelled, I would think just as highly of them all.  If they do their personal best then I see that as a success, regardless of how that compares with anyone else.

    I tried to create a home environment in which their internal motivation had space to develop, where their unique personalities and gifts were recognized and supported.  I didn’t have a personal agenda that I pushed on them.  I didn’t give them the message that I needed them to succeed in a certain way to make me feel like a successful parent.  Parenting isn’t supposed to be about me – it’s about helping my kids become who they are meant to be.

    I’ve tried to communicate to them my deep belief in them without pressure to perform or produce.  I trusted that they would all develop according to their own individual timelines, and to believe in their abilities and competence even when I didn’t yet see it.  I encouraged them when they were unsure of themselves but didn’t push them to do what they didn’t yet feel ready to do.

    It was important to me that they were hardworking and responsible – and they are – and those qualities have served them well.  I wanted them to believe in themselves, to invest themselves fully in whatever learning or work experience they were involved in.  And they have.

    It was nice to be recognized as having had a part in dd’s success, but really this is her success, her hard work, her investment in herself and in everything she’s done.  We are so, so proud of her!

    Avivah

  • Things People With Down Syndrome Are Tired of Hearing – video

    Last night we attended the graduation exhibition for dd19, who today will be graduating after three years of college!  (More about that in another post!)  Also in attendance was the sister of a graduate, a young mother who has an infant with T21.  Dd19 happened to have Yirmi (4) with her when she was chatting with her, and they were very encouraged just seeing what a child with Down syndrome actually looks and acts like – not at all like the misconceptions that are typically thrown around.

    There are unfortunately a lot of limiting and false beliefs about what Down syndrome is and what it means for the life of the person who has it.  I loved the following clip, sent to me this morning by a blog reader, because it’s so real  – people who themselves have Trisomy 21 responding to common assumptions regarding Down syndrome.

    Our expectations are that our four year old son who happens to have T21 will need a bit more time and support but that’s he’s fully capable and will be able to do the things that most of us can do.  Just like any other child!

    Avivah

     

  • Why to parent smarter, not faster

    Why to parent smarter, not faster

    I spent the last two days in a hospital in northern Israel with my mother, who just underwent hip replacement surgery.

    I’m grateful that this kind of medical procedure is available.  At the same time, I really struggle with a certain attitude exhibited by staff towards patients and I’ve seen all too often.

    Simply put –  too many nurses aren’t kind to their patients.  They are brusque, impatient, rude and sometimes downright mean.

    After hearing the elderly woman in my mother’s room on the other side of the curtained partition repeatedly saying something in an agitated way and not hearing anyone respond (she was speaking Russian and I didn’t understand what she said), I went to get help for her from the nurses station.

    Her iv had come out, and the staff came in to replace it while loudly chiding her.  Apparently she was disoriented as a result of the post surgical anesthesia. A short time later they had to replace it again, because in her confused state she had pulled it out again.

    A short while later the staff had finished and my mother had gone to sleep.  I continued to hear the woman repeatedly asking for something in Russian but no one was responding.  Finally I went over to her side of the curtain and began speaking to her soothingly in English.  As I thought about how she must be feeling, I put my hands gently on each side of her face and as I looked into her eyes told her I know it was hard for her to be in the hospital, to be in pain and alone and frightened.

    She continued to talk to me, and while I didn’t understand what she was asking, I gave her what I could – my presence and compassion.

    She became more calm, and I continued to sit with her.  I stroked her arm and told her she was safe, that it wouldn’t be long before she could go home and be with people who loved her.  As I took her hand in mine she gripped it like a vise, with a palpable sense of desperation.  I almost cried when I then saw that that each of her hands had been tied to the bed rails so she couldn’t move (presumably to prevent her from taking out her iv in her disoriented state).

    She became more and more relaxed and after twenty minutes she fell into a deep sleep.  Even in her sleep, she didn’t want to let go of my hand.  Finally I loosened her grip and she continued to sleep peacefully through the night.

    ——————————–

    So often we’re in such a rush that we end up creating more work for ourselves.

    What if the Russian speaking nurses had spoken to this patient kindly when she first expressed her distress, instead of yelling at her?

    I know, you’re probably thinking, “But they don’t have the time!” It’s true, they have a lot to do.  Maybe too much to do. Nurses are notoriously overworked.  And taking this kind of time isn’t part of their job description.

    However, even when looking at this from a time management perspective (not from an emotional or holistic healing perspective), the most effective thing those nurses could have done is to have spent several minutes letting the woman know they cared about her and were there to take care of her.  In their rush to get things done, her anxiety went up, her agitation grew and twice they needed to bring in three staff members to hold her down, reinsert the iv and change the sheets (since blood had dripped on them).  In the end it would have saved them time and frustration.

    This is true with parenting, too.  Whether a child is screaming, seems out of control or is balking at taking direction from us, there’s a tendency to want to lay down the law, to insist they do what we want and to do it NOW.  There’s a perception that taking time to connect or  to understand, will make one’s hectic life even more busy – and there’s just not enough time for everything.  So how can a busy parent make time to slow down and connect?

    The answer comes from understanding that when it comes to people, fast is slow and slow is fast.  You can be efficient with things, but you can’t be efficient with people.  You need to be effective with people.

    Effectiveness is relationships means making connection a priority.  When you make time upfront to connect to your child and try to understand what the situation is and how he’s feeling, he feels safer, more attached to you, more interested in your guidance – and there’s less backlash and resistance to deal with later on.  Making the time for connection really is a time and energy saver!

    Avivah

     

  • Going Crazy With the Kids Home All Day?

    Going Crazy With the Kids Home All Day?

    I wrote the following article last summer for a local publication, and now that it’s once again that time of year I’m sharing it here with you!

    ******************

    We’re less than a month into summer vacation – are you feeling like the school year can’t get here too soon?!?

    It’s challenging being out of a routine and having all the kids home, and it doesn’t take long for everyone to begin to feel bent out of shape. However, along with the challenge of longer unstructured days together comes an amazing opportunity.

    Time.

    Do you know what the most powerful tool you have as a parent is? The answer is deceptively simple and can be summed up in just a few words: the connection your child feels to you is the most powerful tool in your parenting arsenal.

    What do you need to access your parental power and create connection?

    Time!

    Every interaction with our children can build our relationships with them. There is nothing – nothing – more important than building and maintaining a sense of connection with our children. Everything else flows from this core – behavior, motivation, emotional maturity and much more.

    By adopting a different paradigm when we look at the noise, mess and crankiness, we can see potential opportunities where previously we saw irritation and frustration. What a gift the summer can be when we realize that the more time the kids are around, the more opportunities we have!

    For the time to be beneficial to the relationship, it needs to be positive and enjoyable for you both. Take an hour to brainstorm things you can do with your kids that you’ll both enjoy. Look online for a list of 100 fun summer activities and see how many you can do together. Get your kids involved and ask them for ideas they’d like to add to the list.
    When juggling multiple ages, look for activities that will span an age range – like trips to a zoo, water park or even a local park.

    However, if your age span is wide, it’s almost impossible to find something that everyone will love. If the younger kids are all content, the older ones are bored and when the older ones are engaged, the younger ones will need a lot more active supervision! The best tip for how to maximize time with kids who aren’t interested in the family activity is to use it to emotionally connect with them – chatting together as you walk or sit together, an arm put around a shoulder, truly listening as they talk (even with all the inevitable interruptions!).

    My personal favorite family vacation has been outdoor camping. We’ve done this a number of times over the years with a variety of ages from teenagers to infants and every time, every single person has loved it. This doesn’t work for those who don’t enjoy the outdoors and/or don’t have a car, but there’s an indoor takeoff on this idea that we’ve also enjoyed. Set up a tent and sleeping bags inside for an at-home camp out, making complimentary foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, roasted marshmallows, etc. (This can be done on the mirpesset or in your yard as well.) Minimize your use of electricity and use flashlights at night, turn off the phone and ignore knocks at the door – it’s family connecting time.

    Don’t force yourself to do something that you don’t enjoy and don’t let the thought of spending relaxed time with the kids be intimidating – keep it simple and doable. You don’t have to leave the house or plan an outing to have fun. Get some great books and curl up on the couch together for a family read aloud. Gear this towards the older ages and the younger ones will often listen in and pick up more than you expect. If you have much younger children, I’ve found that starting with a short read aloud first; whether they choose to stay snuggled up with the big kids on the couch or to run off and play, they’ll be more relaxed after this time with you.

    If learning to do simple home repairs interests you, get your kids involved with you. As we’ve learned to do things over the years, our kids have worked side by side with us on a long list of home projects. Our teenage son recently got his 6, 7 and 9 year old brothers involved in plastering the walls of our mirpesset with him – even the three year old got in on the action! They had a shared enjoyable experience and did a great job.

    Involve everyone in a family baking session – even small kids can help add ingredients with your active supervision and it’s fun to eat the fruits of your labor together. Even preparing a daily snack or nightly dinner can be a time for connecting with your kids! Start earlier than you would if you were doing it yourself, and give each child a job. According to age and ability they can peel vegetables, add vegetables or pasta to a pot, and help set the table.

    All chores have potential to become connecting time when you work together with your kids in a relaxed way. Being stressed and demanding of their performance obviously won’t build relationships, and it’s critical to keep in mind what our priorities are when we’re trying to get things – relationship first! Again, take more time than you need to get the kids involved. My three year old takes armfuls of sorted laundry and delivers each pile to the bed where I tell him to put it. It’s not efficient but it is effective – he loves doing laundry with me!

    To sum up, it’s not what you do with your children that determines the quality of the interaction. It’s how you do it. Supercharge the value of even the most simple activity together by: 1) remembering that each interaction is an opportunity and 2) look for ways to engage your child while doing it, physically and/or emotionally.

    As you extend yourself to actively invest in the relationships with your children, don’t forget about taking care of yourself, too. It takes physical and emotional energy to be present for your family members and this can only be sustained if you make self-care a priority. Be sure you’re getting adequate sleep (insufficient sleep makes monsters of us all!), eat regular meals, stay hydrated, and think positive thoughts.

    There’s just six weeks left until school starts – make the most of of the unique summer advantage!

    Avivah

  • How to prevent burnout for busy parents

    How to prevent burnout for busy parents

    “My husband and I would like to know: How do you and your husband prevent physical, emotional and mental burnout, when high emotions, lack of sleep and nutrition is neglected due to the high activity?”

    The truth is that you can’t prevent burnout without taking care of yourself.  You just can’t.
    That’s why we get burnt out in the first place, because we’re neglecting critical needs and treating ourselves like rubber balls that can bounce and bounce and bounce and never break.

    green glass ball

    Well, it’s not like that.  Sometimes when you drop a ball you find out it was made of glass, and not taking care of yourself will show you that the ball of self-care is a glass ball covered with a layer or two of rubber – it will bounce a bit and then as the rubber wears away, everything cracks into pieces.

    shattered glass

    Taking care of yourself is a process. Sometimes you do better and sometimes not as well.  There are three things that I’m going to suggest you start with, to keep yourself on an even keel:

    1) Get enough rest.  Everything is harder when you’re tired, and it seems more overwhelming. I’m a much more flexible and kind person when I’m rested – to myself and those around me!

    2) Regular, nourishing meals – What can I say, skipping meals leads to low blood sugar and irritation.  You have to eat! And once you’re eating, include foods that your body recognizes as food – not stuff that’s so processed than even a prehistoric wouldn’t have a long enough memory to remember where it came from!

    3) Make time to do something that you love, something that renews your inner self.  It doesn’t have to be every day, it doesn’t have to take a long time – but make some space for this to happen in your life.

    Now, I know you’re wondering, “but how can I take care of myself when there are so many more important things that need to be done?”

    Nothing is more important than lovingly taking care of yourself.  Really.  Read that again and again, say it out loud until you start to believe it.

    And then make the commitment to yourself to put first things first, recognizing where you belong on your to-do list: at the very top.

    Avivah

  • If you want to be happy, this is what you need to invest in!

    If you want to be happy, this is what you need to invest in!

    Sorry I’ve been AWOL for a while!  I’ve been having computer issues that have been dramatically limiting my computer access.  The issue isn’t resolving as quickly as I would like (to put it mildly!) so I’m using it as an opportunity to practice patience and remembering to allow life to happen on G-d’s timeline and let go of my idea of when things have to happen.

    —————————

    If you ask young people what’s most important to them, they’re likely to say ‘making money’ or ‘becoming famous’.  So much of our society is focused on these external goals.  While those goals are of value,  in a 75 year study of over 700 men, researchers wanted to determine- what makes a good life?  Is it the things that we strive for when we’re starting our adult lives?

    The primary message to emerge from this study is that good relationships keep us happier and healthier.  It’s nice to have more relationships and connections, but what matters more than the number of relationships is the quality of those relationships.

    As I watched the video above, I thought about my own life and agreed that this is what has brought me the most happiness.  My husband and I celebrated our 24th anniversary a week ago, tomorrow our youngest will turn 4 and two days later our oldest will turn 23.  So this is annually a period in which I’m conscious of completing one stage and turning the page to a new stage.

    Over this period of time, there have been times of financial stress and of abundance, of physical health and physical challenge, of struggles and of triumphs.  Sometimes external validation has been there and sometimes it hasn’t. But throughout it all, the relationships with my immediate family members has given me a sense of stability and satisfaction.

    It’s knowing the power of effectively investing in relationships that motivates my work as a parenting consultant.  As much as good relationships add to the quality of one’s life, constant conflict and stress in relationships downgrades your happiness  – even if in other areas you seem to have it all.  Often people feel hopeless and frustrated about relationships with their spouse and children, but just because that’s how it is now doesn’t mean that’s how it needs to stay.

    We all want happiness but as the speaker above said, relationships can be complicated and messy, it’s hard work and it’s life-long.  However, the benefits of creating those relationships are deeply valuable; they heavily influences physical health, emotional health, cognitive health and life span.

    After all these years of marriage, I continue to look for ways to invest in my marital relationship.  I shared with you about going away together for the weekend recently; we also go out once a week together.  It’s not where we go but just making space away from the house and kids that matters.  But once a week wouldn’t be enough if we didn’t connect during the week!  If a couple of days go by without having significant conversation together (not the day to day business of co-running a home kind of talk), it feels like something important is missing.

    How do you invest in keeping relationships healthy and strong?  If your relationships aren’t supportive of you, what can you do to improve them or find other ways to nurture yourself?

    Avivah

  • What you think about someone affects how you see them

    What you think about someone affects how you see them

    In a recent parenting class, I talked about the power that a parent’s thoughts has on a child.  Without saying a word, the way we think about our children affects how we act toward them and in turn affects how they respond to us.  To paraphrase the quote of Norman Vincent Peale above: “Change your thoughts and you change your child’s world.”

    The way we interpret what we see in our children from a young age gives substantial form to the people they become.  Do you see your child who flits from one activity to another as impulsive or creative?  When he pulls down all the books from the shelf, is he being destructive or curious?  When he would rather do something that interests him than a task you ask him to do, is he lazy or passionate about the things he cares about?

    In the following short video, six different photographers are asked to spend ten minutes getting to know a man in order to do a portrait of him.  Each photographer is given a false story about him.

    The result?  Six portraits that are portray a completely different person.

    I love the quote at the end:  “A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what is in front of it.”

    This is so, so true.

    One of the most important jobs we have as parents is to mirror to our child his potential and awesomeness – especially when we aren’t seeing that in the moment!   We have to believe in our children until they’re old enough to believe in themselves.

    In a different class, an attendee told me she felt this idea was in conflict with what I shared about the importance of accepting your child for who he is.  To me there’s no conflict.  You accept your child for who he is right now.  That doesn’t mean accepting a limiting definition of him in the present.  It means you see who he is right now in the most positive light that you can, and you also believe in his potential to grow beyond what you see in this moment.

    Not only does looking for the good in your child impact him positively, it also impacts you positively! As you view your child in a way that gives you hope and joy, you’ll find yourself parenting from a place of increased calm and connection.

    Avivah

  • “What kind of parents neglect their child long enough for him to enter a gorilla enclosure?”

    My latest article is up at the Times of Israel – “What kind of parents neglect their child long enough for him to enter a gorilla enclosure?”

    This is my take on why parents bashing the mom whose child fell into a gorilla enclosure this week at the US zoo need to set aside the judgment and find some compassion instead.

    Avivah

     

  • Why trusting your children helps them become trustworthy

    Why trusting your children helps them become trustworthy

    When a parent tells me her child isn’t trustworthy, I ask her: “What does your child have to do for you to trust him?”

    Often the answer is, “I can’t trust him until he earns my trust.”

    It’s understandable that a parent feels afraid to trust a child who has disappointed her in the past.  At the same time, treating a child with distrust (even nonverbally) isn’t a good recipe for raising a trustworthy child!

    Recently my ds17 went to the army for his mandatory initial check-in.  This is comprised of academic testing, a physical and testing for psychological stability.  To determine how he gets along with people, they began with questions about his relationships with his parents.

    “What happens when you want to do something and your parents don’t let you do it?”  

    Not wanting to sound like a goody goody, he tried to come up with an example but he couldn’t think of a time that had happened.  When he was pressed for an answer he still couldn’t think of an example, so they told him to make up something.  🙂

    When he later told me about this, he asked me if I remembered a time in the last couple of years that I didn’t let him do something he wanted to do.  I also came up blank.  Is that because I’m a permissive parent and I let him do what he wants?

    Hardly.

    It’s about trust.

    trust

    Here’s our informal process for discussing a request.  He lets me know there’s something he wants to do or somewhere he wants to go.  I listen to what that is.  Then I ask questions to clarify.  If there’s something I’m uncomfortable with, I let him know that overall it sounds fine but I’d be more comfortable if xyz were taken into account. He takes into account my feedback and acts accordingly.

    I don’t have to control him.  I don’t need to assert my will.  I respect him as a mature and responsible person and communicate with him accordingly.  I presume in every interaction that he’s trustworthy.  And he really is.

    How does a child become trustworthy?  And when do you begin to trust him?

    Not by making him jump over or through your ‘trust’ hoop a certain amount of times.  (You know what I’m talking about. Some of you have been doing this for years with your spouse, too!)

    Instead, you give your child the message that you trust them.  Then you give them opportunities to make independent choices.  After they’ve made their choices, let them know what you appreciate about how they handled that opportunity.  This starts at a young age and the choices get bigger as they get older.

    As they get older, let them go somewhere by themselves.  Maybe it’s the neighbor across the hall to return a bag of sugar, the park next door.  Let them do some shopping for you.  Give them a list and rather than specify what brand of the item, tell them to get the one that he thinks is the best buy.

    Sure, sometimes they make mistakes.    Maybe you sent him to the store for bread and milk, and he used part of the change for a chocolate bar.  Should you accuse him of stealing, or tell him that now you don’t feel you can trust him?  Or  that you won’t let him go to the store for you again unless you’re with him or until he shows he can be trusted?

    No.  You’re hurting both you and your child in the short and long term with a response like that.

    Have you ever had someone who didn’t trust you?  Even when you tried your best, they refused to notice your efforts and continued to fixate on and inflate your failings.

    How did that make you feel?  Like trying harder?  Or did you give up, knowing that whatever you did wouldn’t be enough?

    Maybe you did try again and again.  Are there people whose approval and trust you’re still trying to win, even after decades of unsuccessfully trying?

    When you give your children the message, either verbally or through body language, that you don’t trust them, you don’t give them something to live up to.  Don’t ever tell your child: ‘I can’t trust you’.  Or, ‘I’ll trust you when you earn my trust’.  You might feel this way, but this doesn’t give a child any incentive to try harder and do better.

    Our children reflect our thoughts and feelings about them.  Show them you believe in them, that you think they’re responsible, hardworking, trustworthy, able to make decisions – and then give them the opportunity to prove you right!

    believe

    They are going to make mistakes – it’s all part of the process.  When your child makes a mistake, give him the benefit of the doubt.  And give him another chance, perhaps with clearer expression of your expectations or boundaries.  Pay attention to the ways your child is trying to please you and let him know you notice his efforts.  Don’t let his successes be crowded out by bigger irritations and frustrations.

    Our children are a reflection of the way we think about them.  Let’s remember that power and use it wisely!

    Avivah

  • Gemiini – an amazing resource for kids with communication or speech delays

    Gemiini – an amazing resource for kids with communication or speech delays

    Since I like to try things out before recommending it to you, this post has been a looong time in coming!

    My three year old has a speech processing delay called apraxia.  Apraxia in simple terms apraxiameans that although the child knows what he wants to say and understands everything, the message gets scrambled somewhere in transmission between the brain and mouth.

    This means that a child with apraxia has to work much, much harder to speak and it takes much longer.  I suspected ds3 had apraxia when he was 18 months, but the speech therapist told me he didn’t.  At his 2 year old speech assessment, I received a letter in the mail a few weeks after our in-person meeting and discussion (when nothing was mentioned to me) and it was only then that I saw he had been officially diagnosed with apraxia.

    Based on what I had learned about apraxia I knew that weekly speech therapy was likely be inadequate to help ds3 learn to speak well.  So when two or three months later in December 2104 later I learned about Gemiini, I was cautiously hopeful.

    Gemiini is a video modeling program designed to help children with autism that was getting breakthrough results.  What was exciting to me was that someone on a  Down syndrome group shared that she had started using it a month before with her child with T21 who didn’t have autism and was seeing significant improvements.

    I took a month to look into it before signing up, and began using Gemiini with Yirmiyahu in Jan. 2015.  We’ve been using it since then on a regular basis.  I’ve been meaning to write about it for quite some time, but now that I just re-registered for a new subscription figured I shouldn’t keep you in the dark any longer!

    Gemiini has a huge video library of words, phrases, social situations, etc that your child can watch repeatedly.  This is really important for a child with a speech delay or social delay, as it gives them the opportunity to see what the word means, how it’s used and there’s as much repetition as your child needs.  It’s incredible to me how many aspects there are to this program (eg learning to read) and how many ways it can be used, in different situations and at different levels ranging from beginner to advanced, for people of all ages.

    When we began Gemiini, Yirmi had almost no sounds.  His sign language and ability to act out what he wants to tell us is excellent – someone in the park said a few days ago she’s never seen such a young child able to so clearly communicate without speaking – but spoken speech is obviously important.  Soon after we began using Gemiini, I saw him moving his lips as he watched the videos, trying to copy the word he was watching.  Since then he’s begun saying simple one syllable words and word approximations, which is very exciting.

    Generally screen time should be limited or even avoided for young children, but since Gemiini is actually helping to heal the brain, it doesn’t have the negative concerns associated with screen time.  I use Gemiini with Yirmi for up to an hour a day, up to six days a week.

    I spoke with a blog reader a year ago and mentioned we were using this program. She told me of a friend with a child with Trisomy 21 who was nine years old and nonverbal, and asked if the mother could contact me.  That person did call me and I told her about this program. Two weeks after starting Gemiini she called me back , and with emotion told me her daughter – who they assumed was unable to speak – had begun to talk.

    Gemiini is a company with a huge heart and sense of mission.  It began with a mother of a large family being told her three year old twins were autistic and that one was beyond help (they’re now about 19 and in college).  She spent endless hours researching a way to help her own children and this video modeling approach now helps many, many children.

    The program is a paid monthly subscription, with an option to try it out for a month and even have a free 20 minute consultation with one of their representatives to discuss how to use the program for best results for their child’s specific needs. They don’t want children to be denied this help because of financial constraints and finances and as such offer scholarships to make the program accessible to everyone.

    In the word of speech therapy, this program is a huge advance and for me and many other parents, offers tremendous hope. It can be used in conjunction with a speech therapist or as a stand-alone program.  (In case you’re wondering, I don’t receive any compensation or benefits by mentioning this.)

    The website is Gemiini.org and you can get more information there!

    Avivah