In the first, ‘Leaf!’, you met my friend Sammi, with delayed speech, and read about our friendship and how after almost 1 year of her and I enjoying the outdoors together, she demonstrated to me her understanding of all the times I showed her plants and leaves by tearing up a houseplant and saying ‘leaf’ with each rip. 

This story is ‘Leaf! Part 2’.

In May 2016, Nicole and I took Sammi and her parents out to where our horses live for some family play time. Sammi was on the back of Ajax, a chestnut quarter horse gelding, with Dad and I holding her legs for safety, Nicole leading the horse and mom walking alongside. We walked under a tree and Sammi looked up, grabbed a leaf and said, ‘leaf’.  This action continues to demonstrate her understanding and capabilities.  For some of our upcoming playtimes, I’m going to do some leaf focused activities to take advantage of her interest and encourage more verbal communication. Perhaps she will be a botanist when she grows up!

Leaf!
by Catherine
This is my friend, Sammi.  According to mom, Sammi is speech delayed.  I’ve known Sammi since she was a baby and we have a special relationship. She and I love getting dirty in the outdoors together. Before she could walk, I would carry her around and point out various plants and point to the leaves and say, ‘leaf’. I’d let her pull a leaf off and I’d repeat, ‘leaf’. Through the past year and a half, Sammi and I have had several outside adventures where she pulls me by my finger and leads me to plants. She doesn’t point or say anything, she just waits for me to say ‘leaf’ and to talk to her about the plants.  A couple weeks ago, she was visiting me at my home and from the living room I could hear her in the kitchen say ‘leaf, leaf, leaf’. I walked into the kitchen and there she was pulling apart the leaves of one of my houseplants. She had a big smile, pulled another piece off and held it up for me to see and said ‘leaf’.  I was elated, ‘Yes, Sammi, leaf!’. We did a little happy dance in the kitchen. (the second picture is the houseplant proudly showing off its tattered edges)