I SEEM 2 BE AT THE TOP OF MY TALKING CYCLE AGAIN (I DO KEEP TRACK, & RECORD MY PRACTICE INFO FOR MUSIC THERAPY), & THOUGH I SEEM 2 BE IN THE BEGINNING STAGES OF THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL, I’M FIGHTING IT, BY TRYING 2 TALK MORE THAN I SIGN. I HAVE TRIED THIS B4 & FAILED BY GIVING IN & SIGNING, BUT I HOPE I WILL DO BETTER NOW THAT MY SPEECH IS GETTING BETTER.

LAST WEEK WAS A TALKING WEEK: I HAVE TALKED SO WELL, NON-FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO DON’T SEE ME MUCH, COULD TALK 2 ME (I.E. FRIENDS WHO VISIT, THE PIANO TEACHER, A COMPUTER GUY, ETC.)! I STILL SIGN & WRITE, BUT FRIDAY WAS ESPECIALLY EXCITING, BECUZ I NEVER TOLD MY MUSIC THERAPIST 1 THING W/O TALKING (USUALLY, I WRITE 2 HER, SINCE SHE DOESN’T SIGN). & SUNDAY, I ACTUALLY ATTEMPTED 2 SING AT CHURCH, & SINCE IT WAS A TALKING DAY, 2 MY DELIGHT, SOUND ACTUALLY CAME OUT ON OCCASION, & WAS ON PITCH—USUALLY, I CAN’T GET OUT OF MY LOWER, “CHEST” VOICE!

I HAVE BEEN DOING 1-2 “NO SIGNING” DAYS (WHERE I CAN’T SIGN & CAN ONLY TALK) EVERY WEEK—I ALWAYS DO WEDNESDAY, NO MATTER WHAT. THERE ARE OCCASIONS WHERE I CHEAT, BUT I TRY NOT TO. “NO SIGNING” DAYS ARE GOOD CUZ THEY FORCE ME TO PRACTICE TALKING. (THE TONGUE IS A MUSCLE, SO IT NEEDS PRACTICE.) HOWEVER, THOUGH IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING 2 HAVE 2 TALK, ONCE AGAIN, THXS TO “SENTENCE SHAPER 2,” I’VE LEARNED 2 SLOW IT DOWN, SEPARATE THE WORDS (EVEN 2 MAYBE SAY JUST 1 WORD AT A TIME), & ENUNCIATE (AS I LISTENED 2 RECORDINGS OF MYSELF, I’D NOTICE HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS 2 SAY EVERY CONSONANT IN A WORD). 4 EX., WHEN WE SAY FAMILY PRAYERS, WE DON’T SAY THE SAME THING EVERYTIME. SO IF I PRAY OUT LOUD, INSTEAD OF SIGNING IT, SINCE MY FOCUS IS NOT ON SLOWING DOWN 2 CAREFULLY FORM EACH LETTER & SPACE APART THE WORDS, ALL THE WORDS SLUR TOGETHER.
LET ME LEAVE U WITH SOMETHING I HEARD ON MY 1ST “NO SIGNING” DAY:
“… patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort
Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed.
…. God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways… Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness.
Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most.”
April 2010, Continue in Patience
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/continue-in-patience?lang=eng