At three years old, most children are able to communicate with parents and caregivers. Young Elliot, however, struggled with communication and his mom, Rebekah wondered if they would ever get to know each other because of the lack of communication. She noticed he was falling behind on milestones and couldn’t say many words intelligibly.

When Elliott began therapy at 321go Kids, he couldn’t sit for a full minute, communicate verbally, or focus. Speech-Language Pathology Assistant Allison Ayotte began working with Elliott. Her initial goals for Elliot targeted verbal words, sustaining his attention, and combining three buttons on his Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. Allison and Elliott explored the AAC device to communicate his wants, needs, and ideas. 

Elliott and his mom kept showing up to therapy, and one of the biggest breakthroughs came when Elliott combined multiple buttons on his device to create a sentence. Now he’s working on two-word commenting statements.

“His mom always makes sure that he is at therapy,” Allison stated, crediting Elliott’s success to Rebekah’s perseverance. “For the longest time, her voice was his only voice. She’s really good about making sure he has what he needs, going above and beyond for him no matter what.”

Through therapy, Rebekah experienced a huge reward for her persistent advocacy: Elliott used his AAC device to call her “Mom.” 

“That first time, it was like it just clicked for me, too,” Rebekah said. “It’s been a huge relief to have a tool to enable communication with his wants and his needs, and he’s much more relaxed and happy being able to communicate those things.”

Today at age five, Elliott plays more independently. His pretend play has “skyrocketed,” and he can have full conversations and play with others, something he wasn’t able to do before. Elliott’s progress demonstrates his determination to keep learning. His personality shines through, too.

“One of my favorite memories is when I went out to the waiting room to get him, he had the biggest smile,” Allison said. “He ran back over to Mom and to his device and said, ‘I want to go see Miss Allison.’” For Allison, hearing Elliott use her name was a milestone she never expected.

“When I think of his journey, I am most proud that he is just willing to learn. No matter what, he will always try, whether it’s hard or not,” Allison expressed.

Rebekah shares this advice for parents who have children with communication struggles who are seeking help: “Just don’t give up. It’s a beautiful journey, and the kids deserve it.”

The team at 321go Kids believes every child deserves the opportunity to communicate, connect, and be understood. Discover hope and unleash your child’s potential by contacting our team today at 321gokids.com.