after school speech part 34

SJ had his weekly speech therapy session on Tuesday.  His therapist went over conversations with SJ.  She gave him a sheet on conversations and explained to him what a conversation is.  She underlined that a conversation is a talk about a topic between two or more people.  She also underlined that you do not interrupt and you take turns.  He then had to read sentences and decide if it is a conversation or not.

For example:  You ask a salesperson in a shoe store to get you shoes in your size.  SJ correctly answered that it was a conversation.  Your teacher tells you your homework assignment.  SJ correctly answered that is was not a conversation.

However, he did have some trouble with a few others.  He got confused on "A stranger sitting next to you on the bus asks you what time it is.”  He answered that it was a conversation, but it is not.  He also had trouble with this one.  "The checker in a grocery store tells you to have a nice day."  He also thought it was a conversation.  We will have to continue to work on this at home.

The therapist also worked on a Problem Solving activity.  She had him read a story and then answer questions.  This was the story.

Max and Frank are twins.  They do almost everything alike.  They look alike, they walk alike, and they even like the same foods.  There is one thing that they do that isn't the same.  Max is a great singer.  Frank, on the other hand, can barely carry a tune.

Frank loves to hear Max sing.  There are times, though, when he gets jealous.  Max is a professional singer.  He has performed with the city symphony.  He has also sung with several bands.  Frank thinks there's nothing special about him.  He thinks Max gets a lot more attention.

Frank likes to think that everything about them should be the same.  He knows, though, that Max will always be known as "the singer".  Luckily, Max does not let all the attention go to his head.  Max is just a regular kid.  No matter how famous he gets, Max knows Frank will always be his twin brother and best friend. 

He then had to answer the questions.  He had some difficulty with these.  What is the main idea of this story?  He thought it was that Frank is a very popular kid, but he should have answered that Max and Frank are twins with a difference.  He also didn't understand how to answer this question.  What does Max think about all the attention he gets?  He told his therapist he didn't know.  His choices were a. He thinks he's very special.  b. He is embarrassed by it.  c. He doesn't let it go to his head.  The answer was "c", but SJ didn't understand the expression "go to his head".  His therapist explained to him that it means they think they are better than you.  She told him to think of famous people who are nice and don't let their talent "go to their head". 

This is something we will have to explain to him.  He doesn't necessarily connect with famous people (or people in general).  He is more connected with cartoon characters.  She assigned us to finish the remainder of the questions for homework.  Hopefully that will go smoother than the first few questions.