TalkTools Straw #1

Straw #1
It's a blue straw with a duck that serves as a built-in lip block - to prevent too much of the straw to be in the mouth. Before starting, I trimmed the duck end of the straw to 3/4-inch, which was how much straw he usually had in his mouth when drinking from any straw.

He started with straw #1 after Christmas as part of his individualized NACD (National Association for Child Development) program. He was on it for 2 months. He would've been on it for much less time if I had been more consistent with it and if I didn't run into a problem.

The Dilemma

He bit the straw tip and flattened it. He did the same to the spare #1 straw in the kit. I tried to save the straws by re-rounding them. I was successful the first few times then the tips of the straws started cracking, making them unusable.

I cut off the duck and improvised with a makeshift lip block. But then I realized that cutting the length was probably not ideal. It made it easier for Matthew to drink with the shortened straw but it probably wasn't ideal for the objectives of straw therapy.

Moving On
After consulting with the speech therapist via our NACD coach, I got the green light to move on to the next straw. At that point, he was drinking with only 1/4-inch straw tip in his mouth, which meets one of the criteria for moving on to straw #2.

Straw #2 started at the beginning of March.

Related post:
TalkTools Straw Hierarchy Kit