Just A Little Ole 'H' Sound

I have some exciting news from yesterday. This is so subtle that I truly don’t believe anyone would have ever noticed it but me. And I made Cooper repeat the action so I could make sure it was real.

We were reading book number 4 before bed last night. It was this big book about Sesame Street. Lots of colors and pictures and actions. Per the usual, I ask Cooper to point to different things. ‘Cooper, where is the red balloon? Where is the blue car? And so on.’

I had just flipped to the page about Grover (which is Coop’s favorite page) and he pointed to a hat and said the ‘H’ sound. I had instant tears in my eyes because I knew what I heard. I pointed to the hat and said, ‘what is that?’ He responded with the ‘H’ sound.

This is the first time Cooper has ever done that. There is a different between mimicking a word…which Cooper rarely does. And there is a difference between prompting him to say a word. Which we do often and usually get a blowing noise from him. And then, there is talking on his own. Meaning, HE wants to tell US something. Cooper has ‘sounds’ for up, off, in, out (all start with vowels) and will use them appropriately.

But, this was different. He pointed to a hat and wanted to say the word. Holy Cow.

Here is a video of Cooper that shows his language skills right now. When I ask him to say a word he usually purses his lips and makes a blowing sound, get frustrated, screeches and moves on. He has negative Attention Span when things get tough.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/4Yp058t5H-Y]

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Kate Swenson

Kate Swenson lives in Minnesota with her husband Jamie, and four children, Cooper, Sawyer, Harbor and Wynnie. Kate launched Finding Cooper's Voice from her couch while her now 11-year-old son Cooper was being diagnosed with autism. Back then it was a place to write. Today it is a living, thriving community of people who want to not only advocate for autism, but also make the world a better place for individuals with disabilities and their families. Her first book, Forever Boy, will be released, April 5, 2022.

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15 Comments

  1. Jenny Michelle Rapson on March 20, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    That is fantastic!! Go Super Cooper!



    • Avatar photo findingcoopersvoice on March 20, 2014 at 8:01 pm

      Super Cooper rocked it! I hope you are doing well!



  2. naptimethoughts on March 20, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    hooray!



  3. thjuliepeterson on March 20, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Wooooohoooo!! Oh Kate, this just made my day!! Yay, Cooper, keep up the great work buddy, you little rock star ?⭐️⭐️⭐️



  4. Meg C. DeBoe on March 21, 2014 at 12:16 am

    Awesome!



  5. Amber Perea on March 21, 2014 at 12:18 am

    Get ’em, Coop!



  6. mamajoyx9 on March 21, 2014 at 3:19 am

    Woo Hoo, Cooper!!!!! How’s that for moving in the right direction?!?!?!

    Blessings,
    Alyson



  7. Tomonica on March 21, 2014 at 3:46 am

    That’s awesome! Keep up the good work momma 🙂 I’m following along and cheering you both on!!



    • Avatar photo findingcoopersvoice on March 24, 2014 at 12:57 pm

      Thanks lady!



  8. Farmer Farthing on March 21, 2014 at 7:31 am

    Fantastic!! Go Cooper! xx



  9. Diane Swenson on March 21, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    Yeah, horray, woopie. What great news. That little guy will speak



    • Avatar photo findingcoopersvoice on March 21, 2014 at 2:57 pm

      Hooray is right grandma! We were pretty excited too.



  10. theblackberryboys on March 22, 2014 at 10:44 am

    Super great! Way to go Cooper! 🙂



  11. Julie S on March 23, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    What a great job! I love the video! I can see Cooper has excellent non-verbal communication skills. He’s already answering questions by pointing. Awesome! Stephen’s combined vision and hearing impairment added to his language delay. One thing we struggle with is getting him to use more conventional communication – like pointing vs. using songs on his iPod. Pointing is clearly communicating where using songs could be listening or expressing (depending on the interpretation.) Stephen’s just beginning to strengthen his conventional communication skills like pointing at age 7! Of course every kid is different and each has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. It doesn’t make sense to compare them except in a way that would be beneficial – i.e. recognizing the strengths and building upon them!

    We’ve had over 10 days of stomach bug in my house 🙁 so I haven’t been doing as much writing as I’d like – I’ve been busy just catching up and responding to comments. I’m going to check out your resources page now. (I’ve been wanting to put a list together myself!) Who knows what we’ll find when we network!



    • Avatar photo findingcoopersvoice on March 24, 2014 at 12:55 pm

      Yay! I am so glad you like it. Cooper does have amazing nonverbal communication. I just said that yesterday to someone. The way his therapist described it is he understands that by using ‘communication’ he can get ‘something’ for some one. I guess that is the first step. Thank you for this comment. It seriously warmed my heart! I hope you are all feeling better! This winter is dragging on horribly in Minnesota and we seem to get the same colds over and over again. YUK!