Speech Therapy

About nine months ago I was at a play group and noticed that there was something "different" about Samuel from other kids...and it wasn't just that he was taller, cuter (OK, WAY biased there!), or more energetic than other kids.  What I noticed really raised a red flag with me...and made me take note for the next 5 months.  As I watched, observed, and asked around, I noticed that Samuel wasn't talking like other kids his age.

 

I know you aren't suppose to compare your own child to other kids...but sometimes you HAVE to.  My mommy intuition told me something just wasn't quite right.  So I spent the next few months just observing.  I know kids develop at different rates...but when I noticed that Samuel's language skills weren't developing at all, then I decided it was time to do something about it! 

 

Now, you would think finding help for your child would be an easy task...but it isn't!  Whenever I would mention my concern to others, I got a lot of: "You are a first time mom...You are overanalyzing things...He's fine...He'll figure it out...It's in your head, stop worrying."  But as the months past, I saw other kids Samuel's age saying sentences while Samuel was still saying one word at a time.  Don't get me wrong, I know people were TRYING to be helpful by "comforting" me by telling me Samuel was fine...but I didn't need comfort, Samuel needed to be heard (both figuratively and literally) and Eric and I were his only voice.

 

At this point, one of those mommy powers that you don't know you have came out...I refused to take no for an answer.   So I googled, called, and visited every person I could think of to get Samuel checked out.  My pediatrician said he thought he was fine, but he could refer me to a speech therapist if I didn't see improvements.  A couple agency's told me to give it more time.  Finally, I called Infants and Toddlers, an agency I had worked with when I was a social worker.

 

I was told up front that to have services through their Birth to 5 program, that Samuel would have to qualify.  Qualification was based soley on ability and age, not monetary.  I was relieved!  So arrangements were made for a early childhood educator and a speech therapist to come out to house and adminster a battery of tests to Samuel.  It wasn't as bad as it sounds, it was mainly just asking me a ton of questions and playing with Samuel to see what he could and couldn't say and do. 

 

I was nervous...what if Samuel didn't qualify...where would we get help?  Did we even need help???  Was I really pulling a First Time Mom card? 

 

After a very long battery of questions and games, it was determined that Samuel did indeed have a speech delay.  He is going to be 3 next month and talks on an 18-month level.  So we qualified for services through Infants and Toddlers.  Not only are these services FREE, but they come into OUR HOME to work with Samuel!  This is amazing because Samuel is definately more comfortable in our home than in an office!

 

Once a week we have either Dana or Sue come into our home to work on speech and communication skills.  I am just so proud of Samuel!  He is really thriving and over the past two months we have really seen a lot of great changes!  I've always known Samuel is a super smart kid, but now that he can express it...it's really blowing us away!  He knows his numbers to 63, almost all shapes (including hexagon and pentagon!), and a lot of his colors! 

 

The speech therapist has also been SO kind in reassuring me that it's nothing that we've done wrong as parents (who else to blame but the stay at home mom!)...apparently speech delays are genetic (Eric didn't talk until he was 4!) and boys are much later talkers than girls! 

 

Samuel really loves speech therapy too!  He loves that he has someone who visits him each week just to play fun games with him!  Speech therapy has come a long way!  It involves IPads, games, getting new books every other week, stickers, and playing!

 

Miss Dana and Miss Sue have been such a blessing for our family!  Both work so great with Samuel!  I don't care if Samuel never talks...I love him no matter what!  But at the same time, a parent always wants what is best for their children, so I'm glad I pursued speech therapy.  I am also so thankful for the support of my family who agreed and supported my decision to pursue speech therapy for Samuel!  Not many people were supportive, mainly people I spoke to on the phone, but eventually we got the help we needed!  We love Infants and Toddlers and Miss Sue and Miss Dana!

 

Here is Samuel and Miss Dana playing games on Ipad!  Seriously...fun stuff!