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After being told I would never be able to have children, I am now a stay-at-home Mommy to Maddie who happens to have Down Syndrome. I've been married 16 years to my best friend, having the time of my life. Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our little journey through life.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

A Girl and Her Dog



These two are starting to build a really special relationship. The first couple of weeks we had Belle, her occasional barking would send Maddie screaming and crying, slamming doors behind her and leaving Kyle and I looking at each other like, "what just happened here?" We sent Belle off to boarding school to get trained and now that Belle's been back from training, things are very different. Maddie doesn't feel so out of control and Belle is learning her place in Maddie's world. The other day I had to get on to Maddie for something and through her tears she said she needed Belle. Belle came over and Maddie hugged her and felt better.

Maddie always brings a "friend" along for homeschool each day.

On this particular day, she chose Belle to have alongside her.
We've also seen improvements in Maddie's speech and confidence levels since Belle's been back.

As simple as it sounds, repeating words back, like with a memory verse, is something that Maddie has struggled with for a long time. As part of Sensory Processing Disorder, Maddie has the added complication of Central Auditory Processing Dysfunction where she has a difficult time recalling what's been said and discriminating between different sounds.
But you can see in this video, she strokes Belle with each word and is able to repeat back the entire verse!
The big yawn at the end proves it was hard work for her, but she did it!

I'm so excited to see how this new friendship will continue to affect Maddie's life!