and that always gives me time to think. Now, this usually is a bad thing but this morning I have been thinking about how far Caleb has come in terms of his speech and what will happen next year with school and the potential of speech in school.
Firstly, speech has been a large part of our lives for almost 3 years now. I understand now why the parents of my students panic when it's time to end a service. I feel like I'm losing a person who has been a part of my life for 2 years now helping my child find a part of him that would otherwise be lost. Listening to Caleb's constant talk and use of phrases like, "The state police have been dispatched to route 30 to clean up a tri-axel accident." it's really hard to believe that he ever needed speech to begin with. I remember being at a wake for a family member and having another family member talk to me about one day Caleb saying, "I love you mommy." At that time I had no positive indicator that would happen. I was told that Caleb "will spend a long time, years in intensive speech therapy" and even then the hope that could possibly be shed was weeks later introduced with an augmentative communication device (ACD). Clearly, Caleb is a pretty bright kid and sickly loved the activities being pushed at him by 2 therapists 4 times a week until he was 3. He enjoyed the time and followed through with drills in private therapy and worked hard with his early intervention therapist who, we were so fortunate to have since she identified the potential CAS 3 months in. I still remember that October day at his 3 month review being told that Chris, his therapist, and the caseworker believed he had CAS and I would need to get more evaluations completed. This usually required something simple, like a recommendation/prescription to have further evaluation from the pediatrician. I'll skip the anger I hold for Caleb's former pediatrician and his lack of knowledge or desire to treat children not make money but by mid-October we had a hearing screening to ensure it wasn't a hearing issue interfering with communication (I knew this was a non-issue since I requested this when he had his tubes put in at a year old) and then soon heading back to have an intense speech evaluation. By mid-December I was told that Caleb should go to pre-school (near impossible for a 2 year old who was not potty trained) and that he should enter private speech therapy. Now fast-forward a little more than 2 years and a lot of work of everyone (Caleb, us, my parents, Matt's mom and step-dad, and really a crew of the best therapists) and Caleb never stops talking.
With this idea that private therapy may soon end, I requested that the Intermediate Unit (IU) re-evaluate him as he had qualified for services last school year but had things get in the way due to the IU. They were very quick to remedy this and he'll be re-evaluated on Friday. The best thing, and something I never thought I would hear, is that his pre-school teachers don't understand why we're having him re-evaluated because they don't notice a thing wrong with his speech. They believe that all his errors are age-appropriate.
I guess we'll see how the evaluation goes! If he somehow manages to qualify for services (articulation only) he'll then transition to school age services in the spring when he turns 5. I worry about kindergarten. Caleb loves school right now, and while I dislike his teacher he likes her. I worry that next year he might now. I'm again handing my child over to someone else but this time someone I share a profession with. I have high expectations for this person and I almost feel sorry for the pain I may cause them in the near future. So here is my apology in advance - I will be a pain in your a$$ but know that my intentions, as yours should be, are only for the good of my child. I will ask you questions, share my concerns, and probably give my advice on things with my child you won't want to hear. I will not care. I hope that you too are a parent and can possibly understand how hard it is to watch your child struggle with things. Again, I'm sorry now because I know what it is like to have a parent like me. I'm sure that you will hate me at times and will sometimes wish I never existed. You will enjoy my child and say things like, "Too bad his mother is such a pain in the a$$." You will mean this but remember it is the pain in the a$$ parents who actually care. The parents that never ask a question or share a concern are those you need to watch out for. Maybe this is a different idea in a traditional brick and mortar school.
Christmastime, 2010 video
Christmastime, 2011:
