Communication gap

Nikki lags in expressive language skills. It's the biggest delay she has; but until the last few months it wasn't a problem in relation to her peers.

Now it's becoming a problem.

At home we are trying to expand her vocabulary using both words and signs from ASL but daycare has been left out of the loop a bit when it comes to her sign vocabulary. We made sure to let them know the signs for basic needs -- more, eat, drink, play; but as we added new words we've forgotten to teach daycare the "sharing" signs.

As a result Nikki is walking around with a bite mark on her cheek. She apparently signed 'give me please' and reached for what she wanted - the other child, not recognizing her request bit her when she took a toy.

So over the weekend I'll be creating a sheet of signs and our daycare center has agreed to send them home with her classmates. We're also going to see if her speech therapist will go to daycare once a month to work with Nikki and teachers.

Maybe we can bridge that gap.