A Rant

A speech delay is not always an obvious condition.  Because of this, people find it hard to understand.  Honestly, I'd say that 50-75% of people who find out that Kevin is in therapy don't understand why or flat-out don't agree with it.  I'll give you an example.  This conversation occurred today.

Kevin told a lady "Wah!"  I explained to the lady that that's how Kevin says hi.  The lady asked if he was still in speech therapy.  When I said yes, she asked if he'd be in it for a couple more months.  I told her that he'll be in it for a few more years.

She replied that her nephew didn't talk until he was three or four years old.  When I tried to explain to her that Kevin has a special condition that he needs help to overcome, she started telling me how easy it is to spoil children, that giving them too much attention, such as therapy at such a young age, can actually harm them, instead of benefiting them.  Basically, she feels that I'm overreacting. She said, "He looks just fine!"

This is the way many people that I talk to feel about Kevin's therapy.  More often then not, people feel that all children learn at their own rate and that I have absolutely no reason for concern.  Personally, I find it hard not to take offense or feel hurt at some of the comments I hear.

I will honestly admit that I have trouble understanding all of the different conditions or delays that children can have.  For instance, when I go to speech therapy and hear other mothers talking about "sensory disorders," "food therapy," and things like that, I can't pretend that I really understand.  But what I do know is that these mothers love their children very much.  They see something in their children that may not be immediately obvious to the rest of us.  But just because at kid may be beautiful and appear to act normal, this doesn't mean that there may be an underlying issue that needs attention.  And as an outsider, we certainly don't have the right to tell other parents what's right or wrong for their kids.

There.  I've had my rant.  The good thing about ranting and raving out to cyberspace is that a computer screen just listens and doesn't interrupt!  And thanks to all of you loyal supporters out their who are encouraging us on this journey through Apraxia of Speech.

The diagnosis

This morning, after Kevin's therapy session, the therapist pulled me into her office.  She told me that, after having worked with Kevin for several months now, she feels that he does have Apraxia of Speech.

Apparently, she was hesitant to talk with me about this, since many mothers tend to freak out when they receive a diagnosis regarding their child.  Having already done my research, however, I was fully expecting to find out that Kevin has apraxia.

It's good to know exactly what's going on with Kevin so that I can find better ways to help him progress.  Realistically, though, having a name to Kevin's problem doesn't really make a difference in our lives.  We'd be going to speech therapy one way or the other!

What the therapist did tell me is that she feels that Kevin is progressing nicely so far.  She feels that he will learn to speak correctly.  Her guess is that by the time he goes to school, he'll be able to express himself nicely, although he'll probably still be in speech therapy at that point.

As a reminder to all of my readers (few that they may be!), Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a condition that is caused by, basically, a lack of coordination between the brain and the mouth.  Kevin understands everything that's said to him and knows what he wants to say.  However, he is not sure of how to move his mouth and tongue in order to produce the right sounds.

So, it looks like we'll be in speech therapy for the long haul!  I'll keep everyone posted as time goes on.

A dream

Last night, I dreamed that I had purchased a big dumpster to replace my laundry basket.  Seriously, I had THAT MUCH laundry in my dream!  Can you tell that I'm a little behind on laundry right now?

Quick Speech Update

It's been a little while since I've mentioned Kevin's speech.  I feel that he's made a nice improvement after only about 2 months of speech therapy.

He now calls me "Mama," not just "BahBah."  He says "Da-dey," instead of just "DaDa."  He can say a variety of words that use the O sound.  Also, he now notices how many syllables are in a word.  For instance, if he's trying to say butterfly, he'll make a word of 3 syllables, such as "luh-luh-lah."  Before starting speech therapy, he'd only say words of one syllable.  I know he still has a long ways to go, but it's good to see improvement!  There are some words that he now says extremely clearly, such as "Dora!"  Also, he will greet people when he sees them.  When he tries to say hi, it comes out more like "Why!"  But, before, he wouldn't take the initiative to greet people.  It's all small steps, but we're seeing a lot of small steps.

I'm happy!