My little buddy is still going to the preschool for his motor-speech delays. We recently added occupational and physical therapy to the speech therapy he was already receiving through his school. I started pushing for some one-to-one speech therapy. We found a therapist. They sent me paperwork to fill out before his assessment. It asked about when my boy made his milestones. I had to go to his baby book. With all the knowledge I've gained, I could see his delays as early as 24 weeks old in the words I had written. We recently were approved for insurance-paid private speech class (as we call it.) This has been a huge blessing in every way possible. It's providing me with some up-to-date tools for at home.
I had a giggle moment today with my friend, a former speech therapist. She asked me how my son was doing with all his therapies. I told her, "The wheels on the bus go round and round round and round. ALL. DAY. LONG." She laughed and said to me, "This is what you asked for..." She was so right. I did. I've prayed for these words, this music, and these giggles since we were told about the delays! I am so thankful for the wheels on the bus...
It wasn't to long ago I was telling my friend a different story. When he was diagnosed with motor-speech delays, I changed how we did everything from how we dressed him in the morning to our daily activities to our bed time routine. I didn't think about it or process this diagnosis. I didn't think about what it would mean for our family. I just put in the time. I knew what had to be done.
His challenges were once mine. I did what I was taught to do. I did it all on auto-pilot. I knew I didn't want him to have the same experiences throughout his years in school like I did. I spent my entire education playing catch-up and/or having melt downs over doing homework. (I probably drove my semi-patient mother crazy.) I am determined for my son's experience to be less frustrating, if I can.
Sometimes this healing progress do is exhausting. It caught up to me recently. I will continue to do it all for me/him because he is worth it. It's been 2.5 years of therapy, meeting strangers in my home, starting/running a daycare for my boy to be around other little kids who talk, run, jump with out a second thought, and putting him in a therapy-rich daycare four mornings a week. None of these things were in the cards I had envisioned for him.
I saw a kid half my boy's age talking in clear sentences today and I felt jealous over those words. Those very understandable syllables strung together so simply for that boy. My son he is exactly who he needs to be in this moment. These challenges we face right now will not be for nothing!
