WHEN MY DAUGHTER , SOPHIA STUDIES FOR HER SPELLINNG TESTS, SHE LOVES TO HAVE ME READ A SPELLING WORD TO HER, SO SHE CAN GUESS THE WORD & SPELL IT 4 ME. IT’S A CHALLENGING, BUT FUN, GAME 4 ME…& SOPHIA HAS A WAY OF MAKING ME LAUGH, SO I REALLY ENJOY IT. LUCKILY IT’S WEEKEND, SO SHE WON’T NEED ME 2 SAY HER WORDS BECUZ ON FRIDAY I LOST MY VOICE. KIND OF FUNNY WHEN THE GIRL WHO CAN’T SPEAK, COMPLAINS ABOUT LOSING HER VOICE! LOL BUT, AS MY MUSIC THERAPIST POINTED OUT, IT SHOWS THAT I HAVE A VOICE TOO LOOSE, SO 3 CHEERS 4 THAT!

BUT ON THE SUBJECT OF TALKING, WHEN I DO TILT TABLE, I COUNT MY KNEE BENDS, SO MY HELPER/ASSISSTANT, ANGIE KNOWS HOW I SAY MY #’S. A WHILE AGO, I COUNTED TO SIX FOR ANGIE, WHILE LAYING DOWN. ANGIE WAS SHOCKED AT HOW WELL I DID! I ACTUALLY INCLUDED MY “S’S” & “T’S.” BUT RECENTLY, WHEN I DID MY KNEE BENDS, I SAID “SIX” & “SEVEN” W/THE LETTER “S” SOUND WHILE STANDING! I FLIPPED OUT! HAVEN’T DONE IT SINCE, BUT IT’S THERE! & NOW I OFTEN ALSO SAY MY “T’S”—THEY JUST SEEM 2 SOMETIMES “POP OUT!” “G’S” ALSO SOMETIMES “POP OUT” WHEN I SAY “GOODMORNING/GOODNIGHT. IT’S ALL VERY EXCITING!

LAST SEASON , I WAS WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL & A CONTESTANT WAS TOLD THAT U BREATHE DIFFERENT LAYING DOWN, & THAT IF SHE PRACTICED LAYING DOWN, IT WOULD BUILD HER BREATH SUPPORT…THAT EXPLAINS A LOT! I SAY “S,” “T,” “G” & OTHER LETTERS THE BEST IF I LAY DOWN. THEN IF I BREATHE BETTER & DIRECT MORE AIR AT MY NOSE, MY NOSE PLUGS, SO I CAN SAY MORE OF THESE LETTERS WHILE STANDING, OR WHILE IN MY CHAIR!

MY MUSICAL TRANING REALLY HAS HELPED ME TOO! THERE R LETTERS I AM LEARNING ONLY BECUZ OF EXPERIENCE IN DIRECTING AIR 2 MY “HEAD VOICE.” & KNOWING THE DIFFERENT WAYS 2 BREATHE.

SPEAKING OF MUSIC THERAPY: I ALWAYS TAKE THESE BIG INVOLUNTARY BREATHES EVERY NOW & THEN, LIKE MY BREATHING IS NORMALLY SHALLOW, SO I NEED 2 “CATCH UP.” I TRY 2 CONTROL THESE BREATHES, BUT MY PBA MAKES ME GIGGLE WHEN I HEAR HOW LOUD I AM, FROM SUCH A BIG BREATH.
THANKFULLY, MY PBA MEDICINE IS HELPING W/THIS (I AM LOVING THESE MEDS!), & RECENTLY (IN MUSIC THERAPY), I TOOK A BIG BREATH, & THIS TIME I “SANG” & CONTROLLED THE RELEASE OF AIR! (I “SING” IN MUSIC THERAPY. REALLY, I SOUND AWFUL, & I JUST TRY 2 MATCH PITCH). BUT CONTROLLING AN INVOLUNTARY BREATH WAS SUPER EXCITING! MY THERAPIST FREAKED, & WONDERED IF THE MEDS HELPED. I SAID “I KNOW IT DOES” (THE MEDICINE HELPED ME CONTROL MY EMOTIONS ENOUGH, THAT I COULD IGNORE THE GIGGLE & KEEP DOING WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO!) & SHE SAID, “THOSE ARE SOME GOOD MEDS!”

I DO SING 2 STUFF ALONE AT HOME THOUGH — & IT’S SUPER HARD 2 GO DOWN A SCALE, & GOING UP REQUIRES A PUSH OF AIR. FAMILY HAS HEARD ME TRY 2 SING, BUT I SOUND AWFUL. RIGHT NOW, I DO BEST W/FAMILIAR STUFF, LIKE “OLD MCDONALD” (I MOO, ETC.), OR CHRISTMAS SONGS. BUT WHEN I STARTED MUSIC THERAPY, I HAD A DREAM. IN THE DREAM, I SAT AT MY COMPUTER DESK, AND I WAS SINGING WHAT I NEEDED 2 SAY TO MY KIDS, EVEN WHEN I DISCIPLINED THEM…I HAVEN’T HAD LUCK YET W/DOING THIS, BUT I HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED TO DO THIS EXACT THING 4 MY MUSIC THERAPY “HOMEWORK!”

ONE MORE EXCITING “TALKING” STORY: 8/31 WAS A “TALKING DAY” & I HAD “WARMED UP” IN MUSIC THERAPY . MY FRIEND CAME OVER & WE CHATTED…& I SPOKE ALMOST THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION W/HER FOLLOWING A FORMAT SIMILAR 2 “SOPHIA’S FORMAT!” WHAT’S FUNNY IS HER SON WENT ON A 2 YEAR MISSION 4 OUR CHURCH, & B4 HE LEFT, HE SAID I’D BE TALKING IN SENTENCES BY THE TIME HE CAME HOME! THAT WAS ALMOST 2 YEARS AGO!

BTW, MY VIDEO IS ALSO ON YOU-TUBE, & THOUGH I’M NEW 2 THIS YOU-TUBE THING, I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW 2 ADD TAGS—SO IF U MISSED MY VIDEO, IT’S ON YOU-TUBE, & NOW IT HAS TAGS LIKE “STROKE, LOCKED-IN SYNDROME, 2012, RECOVERY, 2004, JENNY LYNN, MARK LYNN, JENNY’S STORY, & JENANNLYNN(WHICH SEEMS LIKE THE BEST TAG)”.