Love, Support, and Teamwork Help Toddler Find His Words

Monday, July 15, 2013

Earlier this year a homeless mother and her two-year-old child enrolled in the Early Head Start program. The child had no language skills, and communicated only by grunting and pointing. The family had no stable home and moved from one friend’s house to another; they had no idea where they would be staying on a daily basis. 

The first day the child came to class, the teacher submitted a speech referral for special education services.  Because it takes time for the first speech therapist’s observation, the Head Start teachers began working with the child immediately, showing him to use signs along with simple words (e.g., “help” and “more”). 

The Family Resource Specialist and Site Supervisor began the process of finding a stable place for this family of two to live. 

The teacher gave the child’s mother techniques to use at home to help develop the child’s language skills. This partnership of Head Start staff with client families is what creates success. With love, encouragement and support from teachers and his mother, this child now says “stop, help, bye, mom, and hi.”  The family has a stable living environment, and mom is planning to take college classes next semester.