More please

Alyssa was eating dinner which was cheeseburgers and macaroni salad . We are working on trying to get her to independently communicate she needs something . Whether it’s a sign , a verbal attempt / approximation ,
Or a combination .

It’s like she knows exactly what she wants but can’t tell us . I don’t mean because she is non Verbal .
She will just wait and look and wait for you to notice .

I always prompt her now . In the hopes that eventually we can break this . Tonight she had a cup with dinner and I asked her what she had . ( she usually has a water bottle ) She said Coke ( in her way ) and I’m thinking that can’t be right , so I said that’s Coke ?? She smiled and signed yes . I look up at her Dad and he nods . She finished her burger and my husband says what do you want ( proud bc he always does things for her instead of prompting her ). She says more please ( and signs more ) I then ask her more what ? I know I’m pushy …

Here is the thing , she gets confused . She says more please and then we will have to prompt her what it is she wants ( If we know ) in this case we did. Sometimes we take the more please because hey it’s two words together used appropriately.

She looks at us and says more burger .. That has never happened . More burger .
We cheer and tell her good job and she smiles and is so proud .

We give her the burger and she keeps pointing and saying burger . She is smiling , and then points to her macaroni salad and says pepper . She is loving letting us know .

These milestones take perseverance.

I didn’t hear words for 20 years .

We still modeled , and repeated and asked. Over and over again.

So many times , so much repetition.

So much waiting and hoping

Communication is the goal

Giving her a voice , a choice

It happened when I least expected it . Sometimes I still can’t believe it .

But two words is better than one

Keep trying , keep modeling , keep prompting

Never give up

I am so proud of this girl .

She is so proud of herself which makes that much sweeter ❤️