Many of you probably remember our ongoing speech issues with ds, now 3yo. Things have gotten dramatically better the last 6 months, but it is still making me crazy.
One day I feel totally fine about his progress and the future. The next day I am freaked out and don't know what to do.
We had yet ANOTHER speech evaluation. Like everyone else, she found no problem, but thought he should be in speech therapy. Okay, here's the problem with that: Of the four we've seen, two I hated. The third one I liked, but she is going on maternity leave and not seeing new clients until next January. The fourth I liked, and we spent a few months seeing, but her approach is just not working with ds. He likes her and will engage with her, but I can just tell it's not the right person/approach for him. The child development specialist we saw doesn't think there is a thing wrong with him at all. In fact, she thinks he's gifted, and thought he was just the most charming child she had seen in a long time (and she's run a highly respected preschool for over 20 years).
I've contacted our local EI dept. They sent out the paperwork for me to fill out. Then they will contact us within 50 days. So at least two months before we even get an assessment. I talked to the director of a non-profit speech center here, and she said that based on the evaluations we've gotten so far, she doesn't think he will even qualify for EI, based on his high functioning in all other areas. Oh, and the non-profit program is booked until at least September. We have been on the waiting list for the 'renowned' child development center in our area since October. We've had the hearing test done.
And none of this has been covered by our insurance. Not one penny.
Like I said, one day I'm convinced that he's fine. The next I freak. We've narrowed down the problem to issues of pronunciation. So of course the term 'mild apraxia' has been tossed around, but to be honest, he really only meets the most vague of symptoms for apraxia. His mispronunciations are consistent - it's not like he can say a word one day but not the next. He can say "ow", like when he gets hurt, or "meow" for a cat, but when he says "down" it sounds like "don't." But it's consistent. He can say "ride the choo choo with daddy at the zoo," but he can't say "gramma." He can say "No, don't do that", but he can't say "cat." He can say "yes" and "snow," but then "stop" is "bop." The times I really freak are when we're reading or something, and we see for instance a giraffe, and I'll say "Can you say giraffe?" And he'll come out with "gaba", or something equally unintelligable and not even close. But then the next minute he'll perfectly mimic dh saying "yeah baby" while watching a baseball game.
I'm just feeling so stressed about this. I feel so frustrated that not only can I not seem to get any help for him, I can't even decide if he actually needs help.
And to make me feel even worse, I told my dad today that we were considering preschool for him in the fall, and he said "one for kids with problems?" And I said no, a regular preschool. And he said "well, he has a problem." And he said this right in front of ds too. It just broke my heart.
One day I feel totally fine about his progress and the future. The next day I am freaked out and don't know what to do.
We had yet ANOTHER speech evaluation. Like everyone else, she found no problem, but thought he should be in speech therapy. Okay, here's the problem with that: Of the four we've seen, two I hated. The third one I liked, but she is going on maternity leave and not seeing new clients until next January. The fourth I liked, and we spent a few months seeing, but her approach is just not working with ds. He likes her and will engage with her, but I can just tell it's not the right person/approach for him. The child development specialist we saw doesn't think there is a thing wrong with him at all. In fact, she thinks he's gifted, and thought he was just the most charming child she had seen in a long time (and she's run a highly respected preschool for over 20 years).
I've contacted our local EI dept. They sent out the paperwork for me to fill out. Then they will contact us within 50 days. So at least two months before we even get an assessment. I talked to the director of a non-profit speech center here, and she said that based on the evaluations we've gotten so far, she doesn't think he will even qualify for EI, based on his high functioning in all other areas. Oh, and the non-profit program is booked until at least September. We have been on the waiting list for the 'renowned' child development center in our area since October. We've had the hearing test done.
And none of this has been covered by our insurance. Not one penny.
Like I said, one day I'm convinced that he's fine. The next I freak. We've narrowed down the problem to issues of pronunciation. So of course the term 'mild apraxia' has been tossed around, but to be honest, he really only meets the most vague of symptoms for apraxia. His mispronunciations are consistent - it's not like he can say a word one day but not the next. He can say "ow", like when he gets hurt, or "meow" for a cat, but when he says "down" it sounds like "don't." But it's consistent. He can say "ride the choo choo with daddy at the zoo," but he can't say "gramma." He can say "No, don't do that", but he can't say "cat." He can say "yes" and "snow," but then "stop" is "bop." The times I really freak are when we're reading or something, and we see for instance a giraffe, and I'll say "Can you say giraffe?" And he'll come out with "gaba", or something equally unintelligable and not even close. But then the next minute he'll perfectly mimic dh saying "yeah baby" while watching a baseball game.
I'm just feeling so stressed about this. I feel so frustrated that not only can I not seem to get any help for him, I can't even decide if he actually needs help.
And to make me feel even worse, I told my dad today that we were considering preschool for him in the fall, and he said "one for kids with problems?" And I said no, a regular preschool. And he said "well, he has a problem." And he said this right in front of ds too. It just broke my heart.
