"Wajuh"

Today I spent my clinic hours working with some of the most adorable children, I’m convinced, in the entire world.  In addition to my clinical placement at Vanderbilt Children’s I work at the National Center for Childhood Deafness and Family Communication on Thursdays.  All of my clients are preschool-aged and they either wear hearing aids or have received cochlear implants.  We work with them on various speech and language activities ranging from specific articulation tasks to functional classroom language development.  And though I know I am supposed to treat all of my clients in the same way and not have favorites….well…I have a favorite.  Due to privacy concerns I probably shouldn’t tell you his name so I will just call him RC.

Some of my little friends at the Mama Lere Hearing School 

            RC is four years old and Asian.  Okay, so maybe it’s not politically correct to just come out and say that he’s Asian and even more un-PC to say that this only makes him that much cuter, but I’m saying it anyway.  Because it is true.  RC has a unilateral hearing aid in his right ear and as a result he has trouble with articulation as well as a general language delay.  And little RC is a “no R” kid (or in SLP talk he demonstrates the phonological process of “gliding”).  So when you ask him what his name is, his reply is “Wajuh.”  So freaking cute…and I bet you can guess his name now!

            Today, RC came in with a new haircut.  He told us that his mom had cut his hair and he liked it because it was “fancy.”  Well, RC’s mom should not quit her day job.  His hair looked as though she had just chopped off his bangs, straight across his hairline.  It was the kind of look that only this adorable little guy could pull off.  During therapy, RC and I worked on 5 critical element directions, using attributes, categorizing, and identifying sounds in initial, medial, and final word position.  It’s not so much what RC says during our activities that makes me love him but his little side comments and the hysterical questions he asks that make me what to put him in my pocket and take him home with me.

Just a few of my favorite interactions with RC:

RC:  “What are these?” (rubbing his hand on my tights)

Me:  “They’re called tights, RC.”

RC:  “Hmmm…I think they are long socks.”

Me:  “Hey RC.  What’s up?”

RC:  “Good.” (WH questions are a challenge for my bud)

RC:  “I like dogs because they have ears.”