Little Learners Speech Pathology in Newcastle, New South Wales | Medical and health

Little Learners Speech Pathology

Locality: Newcastle, New South Wales

Phone: +61 413 357 657

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• Medical and health
• Speech pathologist

23.01.2022 Emily’s journey as Hamish’s mum has had so many downs and ups, she is thankful for the many gifts it has given her, My eyes have really been opened to different it isn’t wrong or not normal, it is so beautiful. Emily explains that she hadn’t grown up or had any contact with children with disabilities before Hamish. Having Hamish in our lives has opened our eyes to gifts we would have never had experienced. At times it has been difficult to find strength, strength to a...ttend another medical appointment, another therapy appointment, to get out of bed, to keep being the optimist. Emily explains that doing this journey with Joe has given her so much strength. Watching him with Hamish and with Isabelle fills her with happiness and gives her the fuel she needs to keep keeping on. During the conversation, as Hamish grabbed Emily’s face and smiled, she continued, Hamish, just Hamish himself gives me so much strength, we spent so many months focused on his development and the unknown, we didn’t quite see this gorgeous little boy right in front of us. It took a while to be able to enjoy him.

20.01.2022 Emily and Joe had always imagined that their family would be made up of themselves and two daughters, they had both pictured a life with two girls. Emily laughs as she tells this story, she has no idea why they both thought their family would look like this. So, when their first baby, Isabel was born, they were expecting her, yep, their first daughter just as they had predicted. Emily’s pregnancy with Isabel was easy and full of excitement, they were relaxed, and the weeks ro...lled by smoothly. But from the moment they began trying for their second baby, constant loss, grief and anxiety followed them closely. After suffering several miscarriages Emily fell with Hamish. Emily found herself living from scan to scan, one appointment to the next, and at each, something seemed to go wrong. Finally, they had made it to the second trimester, the 12-week nucal translucency scan showed a beautiful baby boy! But their relief was short lived. The 12-week bloods and scan found an issue with Hamish’s kidney function and it also revealed a high risk for Edwards Syndrome. Waiting for these results was all encompassing, though Emily used all of her energy to remain positive. Emily and Joe were relieved when the results showed their baby boy didn’t have Edwards syndrome, but the worry of Hamish’s kidney function continued to weigh heavy on their minds. Hamish had to be closely monitored throughout the pregnancy and at 35 weeks, he had stopped growing and it was advised that Hamish be delivered.

19.01.2022 Ever considered food play as a play activity? Do you put aside a small amount of time to read or play or chat or do an activity with you little one/s? If you would like to expand the variety of foods you little one eats, I’d love to encourage you to choose an activity using food every few days, in the place of what you are currently doing #everyotherdayfoodplay. You may choose to do food painting with food (cut them into different shapes and use Greek yogurt mixed with differ...ent fruits to create different colours as the paint), maybe you can involve them in cooking dinner, making a snack or a smoothie or perhaps have a picnic with pretend food or read a book about food? All exposure to food will increase a child’s likelihood of giving it a try. Children do their best learning while engaged in play for older children, to start this new routine, tell them you have an idea for a new game today, they are going to become a food scientist or a food explorer (@mymunchbug) of course a prop or two can always get you a bigger buy in (maybe an apron, or a pair of pretend glasses, or a magnifying glass?) Why does playing with food increase the likelihood of a child adding it to their preferred foods or even taking a bite? - the pressure is off - builds positive interactions and positive associations with food - allows their sensory system to process overwhelming senses slowly, at their own pace, so after many exposures, these senses become easier and easier to process - play is the most powerful vessel you can use to help your child learn It’s amazing what they might put in their mouth when the activity doesn’t require this of them . Here’s my little food explorer/food scientist studying a mango. He has a huge preference for crunchy, cold foods. The squishy mango is a food he is learning to like. We talked about how is feels (wet, squishy), how it smells (sweat, fruity), what it looks like (round, yellow/orange), we also talked about where it originated comes from. See more

11.01.2022 Hamish remained in the NICU for a few weeks after, when Emily would visit, she would walk the halls of the hospital, trying to process what had been said, what was to come, crying with exhaustion, grief, anxiety and love. The life they had all pictured felt worlds apart in comparison. When Emily talks about the highest point of their journey, you can see her mind and heart deeply reflect over the past year and a half, she smiles a true nostalgic smile. Every time Hamish doe...s something new, it’s an extra, they all make up our highest points. The highest points are simple and small from the outside, but Emily and Joe do not take any small milestone or win for granted, not even for a moment. They embrace and relish in the little things, the ones that they wouldn’t have previously thought were so truly precious. Emily’s favourite memory of their journey with Hamish is their family trip back to her family home in Scotland, last Christmas. After having the most difficult year of their lives they found a breath of fresh air, a pinnacle moment of feeling like they could reset and move forward into a time of acceptance, love and celebration. She smiles and giggles as she recalls seeing the wander in Hamish’s eyes when he saw the snow and felt the freshness in the air. His pain and discomfort immediately dissolved when he was outside, Hamish definitely inherited the Scottish blood.

11.01.2022 Emily had an emergency caesarean section with Isabelle and opted for a planned caesarean with Hamish. Emily describes Hamish’s birth as peaceful, it felt like the one part of the journey where, finally, something hadn’t gone wrong. She was relieved to deliver him, the pregnancy made her feel an intense amount of responsibility to protect him, one that a mother could only know. Emily was prepared by the medical team for Hamish to spend some time in the NICU as his birth weight... would likely be low. In the weeks that proceeded, Emily’s heart was heavy from not being able to be with her baby at home, to not have this family she had worked so hard for under one roof, getting to know each other, living their happily ever after. After a week in the NICU and several tests, with no answers as to why Hamish’s growth had stopped, Emily and Joe were visited by a geneticist who undertook extensive genetic testing. A few days after the testing had been undertaken, the phone rang, Emily and Joe were at home, the geneticist asked them to attend the hospital. Immediately they knew something was terribly wrong. Emily asked what they had found, hoping to be told something that reduced the feeling of complete overwhelm and anxiety, the specialist insisted they attend the hospital to discuss the findings. When they arrived, Emily and Joe were directed to a meeting room, when Emily describes what happened next, you can feel the darkness creep in, she shares the moments that felt like hours. The geneticist’s words fell on their ears sharp and sterile, Hamish has a chromosomal syndrome known as trisomy 9p and monosomy 7q. I haven’t worked with anyone with this syndrome. There are a few things that are probable for Hamish; intellectual deficits and abnormalities in head size. Emily described this moment, the time in this room, as the darkest point in their journey, It was horrendous. like nothing anyone would have ever expected.