Monday, June 23, 2008

Yeah, she IS delayed!

It is official, Elizabeth is speech and language delayed with a mild to moderate articulation disorder. YEAH!!! At first reading you might be thinking, "What kind of mother is this, she is happy her daughter is delayed?" I am sad for Elizabeth that she had to spend so much of time in the orphanage that this is the result but I am excited for a couple of reasons
1. I am now not crazy. I didn't make it up. The developmental Ped, the wonderful speech therapist who provided the second opinion and best of all the insurance company all agree that things are right.
2. My special education degree and my decade in the classroom didn't fail me. I knew there was something wrong and I knew not to stop until I found the people to agree with me (See Mom and Hubby ~ that characteristic does pay off sometimes:)
3. Most importantly, Elizabeth can now get the help she needs to grow and develop into the best little person she can be. Without identifying the problem, you just can't fix it.

We had our first speech session today after our evaluation a couple of weeks ago. Elizabeth did great. I am so thankful to be able to do the private speech therapy for as long as the insurance holds out. Ms. Robyn is fantastic. We are working right now on one word to whatever she says such as help now becomes need help or need help becomes I need help. We are working on the pronoun I and naming pictures in books. I think with a little expert advice and guidance, Sam and I will really be able to focus on specific objectives at home. I got a little teary eyed during the therapy watching her listen and doing so well. Some moments it just seems a bit overwhelming to think about how far she has come in just 9 short months ago when she couldn't pick up a cheerio or walk up a small step. I am so relieved to know begin to conquer the language.

No entry is complete without a few pictures of my beautiful baby!

4 comments:

Mama Darling said...

Well, it looks like we may be in the same boat...I had ECI come back and re-evaluate DB for speech. I wanted something for sure before she turned 3. She was being carried by ECI as a "follow-along" case, but they really hadn't be following along. When she turns 3, the public school will take over, but at least we've got the process started. She should be evalutated by the school district's speech therapist within a couple of weeks.I wonder if DB could qualify for private therapy. Guess I need to ck with my insurance co. We are still trying to work things out in order to see you guys in August. I sure hope we can get it all arranged.

Jana said...

So glad you're on your way to getting her the help she nees -- it must be a relief to know you can be proactive in her development. LOVE the photo of your sweet girl -- she's a doll.

a Tonggu Momma said...

I found you via RQ and I had to comment because I had the same reaction to our daughter's SPD diagnosis a few years ago. It's wonderful to know you aren't wrong/crazy/whatever, isn't it?

Shannon said...

Isn't it always great to get a confirmation on something? And to have it be an articulation related-well that's certainly something that can be resolved! I understand your relief. =)