Well, I neglected to mention that last week our lovely friends the Bumps came to town for the weekend and we all had a fabulous time. They brought cookies and birthday presents and played a lot with A. He was quite sad when everyone went home and C went back to work and it was only me and him.
I'm tired. He's asleep, so I feel like I should blog, but I'm not sure what to blog about.
He's doing super great in swimming. We signed him up for classes--the place we've been taking classes is moving to a swim school where we pay monthly instead of in sessions, so that'll be good for him. And they'll still have the advanced class in the morning so all of us can go, which is nice.
Group is going well. Last time the teachers told me to get out and they'd talk him down from crying. He screamed and cries and I went to a more far-away room where I couldn't hear him, but he did great. He follows directions, cleans up, participates in the activities, so that's all super. One of the other parents (a grandma, actually) told me, "He is really smart. I've been watching him and he's very smart." Yes, I know. It makes me wonder what all the rest of the kids are in there for.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Speech pathologist (finally)
We met with the speech pathologist today. It's the same song and dance we've done the rest of the time: A plays while she asked me questions, then she played with him for a bit. She confirmed what everyone else has been saying; A has a mild to moderate developmental delay in speech.
She's the gate-keeper to all the services, though, so now we get to be on the track for services. He's wait-listed for the Communication Group, which is like the group he goes to now, only smaller and specifically for speech. He'll get a hearing test the next time the hearing test cavalcade rolls into town (once every two months). C and I will get to attend a parenting class to determine how to help A.
The one new thing today was a referral to Regional Services. The department we've been going to is a stop-gap measure to help kids who are a little behind catch up so they're prepared for preschool/kindergarten. There's another department that offers more extensive services for kids who need more help. A is borderline between the groups, mild to moderate. The criterion he's being assessed against is the 24-27 month old criterion, and he's at the beginning of the range. So the pathologist asked me if I wanted to get the paperwork rolling to get him into Regional Services or if I wanted to wait and see how he did in his groups.
I thought about it for maybe thirty seconds, then said, "Let's get the paperwork started." I know that it's a lot harder to get someone into a program than it is to take them out of it, and even if he does great, I want him to have all the resources he can.
He seems to be liking Group; there's lots of toys and books there for him to play with. He's not done at the end of class and has to be convinced that it's time to go home. The facilitators say he's doing really well, pays attention, remains on task, cleans up. I still waver (worry) about the qualities of the other parents, but he's getting playtime with other kids and attention from trained teachers, and I figure that can't hurt.
Oh, and he's got two new words: baby and bear.
She's the gate-keeper to all the services, though, so now we get to be on the track for services. He's wait-listed for the Communication Group, which is like the group he goes to now, only smaller and specifically for speech. He'll get a hearing test the next time the hearing test cavalcade rolls into town (once every two months). C and I will get to attend a parenting class to determine how to help A.
The one new thing today was a referral to Regional Services. The department we've been going to is a stop-gap measure to help kids who are a little behind catch up so they're prepared for preschool/kindergarten. There's another department that offers more extensive services for kids who need more help. A is borderline between the groups, mild to moderate. The criterion he's being assessed against is the 24-27 month old criterion, and he's at the beginning of the range. So the pathologist asked me if I wanted to get the paperwork rolling to get him into Regional Services or if I wanted to wait and see how he did in his groups.
I thought about it for maybe thirty seconds, then said, "Let's get the paperwork started." I know that it's a lot harder to get someone into a program than it is to take them out of it, and even if he does great, I want him to have all the resources he can.
He seems to be liking Group; there's lots of toys and books there for him to play with. He's not done at the end of class and has to be convinced that it's time to go home. The facilitators say he's doing really well, pays attention, remains on task, cleans up. I still waver (worry) about the qualities of the other parents, but he's getting playtime with other kids and attention from trained teachers, and I figure that can't hurt.
Oh, and he's got two new words: baby and bear.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Global group
That's what we went to today. It's like mini-preschool. All the kids in the class are two, but he's the youngest and smallest. They have some structured arts and crafts activities, some free play time, they wash their hands and get cookies and water, then they read books and sing songs and are done. There's only five kids, all boys, and two teachers.
He did good. He needed some reassurance at the beginning that I was still around, and when they came out to wash their hands, he latched on and wouldn't let me go, so I came back in for the last part of group. But he had fun and threw a tantrum when we tried to go.
The other parents waiting in the hall give me the shivers. Really. The one teaching her baby to play with the light switch, the one reeking of cigarette smoke who yelled at her five-year-old for waking up the baby after the mother started a tickle fight, yeah, they scare me. But they are there at the center, waiting while their kids get enriched, so they're doing something.
These are just so not the people we hang out with. I usually run with the mommies who debate organic vs. local and Montessori vs. Waldorf. It reminds me of what my mom used to say: the only time in your life you ever have all levels of society together is in the public school system.
A needs a nap and we need to go to the store. Store's lost every day this week, but it's going to win today.
He did good. He needed some reassurance at the beginning that I was still around, and when they came out to wash their hands, he latched on and wouldn't let me go, so I came back in for the last part of group. But he had fun and threw a tantrum when we tried to go.
The other parents waiting in the hall give me the shivers. Really. The one teaching her baby to play with the light switch, the one reeking of cigarette smoke who yelled at her five-year-old for waking up the baby after the mother started a tickle fight, yeah, they scare me. But they are there at the center, waiting while their kids get enriched, so they're doing something.
These are just so not the people we hang out with. I usually run with the mommies who debate organic vs. local and Montessori vs. Waldorf. It reminds me of what my mom used to say: the only time in your life you ever have all levels of society together is in the public school system.
A needs a nap and we need to go to the store. Store's lost every day this week, but it's going to win today.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Developmental Assessment
At A's two-year check-up, (he's fine, btw), I talked to our pediatrician about A's speech. He used to use more words than he does now; he used to use two-word phrases and he stopped. This is one of those autism signs that gives me the heebie-jeebies, but he's still very tuned into people and situations, so I thought, no, not autism.
But it's something.
And our super-cool pediatrician agreed that it was odd and so last week we started out on the journey of assessment.
And so here we are. I figured I'd blog before it got to be too much to describe. He's got the first of the playgroups tomorrow. We have a more in-depth meeting next week with a speech pathologist who will assess him in more detail and set goals.
The last specialist recommended a specific communication-focused play group, an audiology test, and a parenting class for us to be able to help him specifically with communication, but all of those have to be seconded by the speech pathologist.
The audiology test is to make sure he's hearing us since the specialist noted a delay between when A hears a request and when he acts on the request. The suspicion around here is that the delay is the time A takes to decide whether or not he's going to follow a request, but it's good to get him tested anyway.
We're all ambivalent here. I'm glad we got early intervention; I just want to know what's up with him. C still thinks, much like walking, that A just needs to decide he wants to talk and he'll talk. I think assessment is always a good thing, and the earlier the better. But every specialist has taken great pains to tell me: he's smart. He's really really smart. And I say, well, duh.
But it's something.
And our super-cool pediatrician agreed that it was odd and so last week we started out on the journey of assessment.
- Tuesday: initial screening: a questionnaire, asked verbally of me, to determine a general development level in five categories: gross motor, fine motor, personal/social (interactions), cognitive (problem solving), communication. He's off the charts for everything but communication, where he's in the 12-24 month category. Ouch. Come back tomorrow to meet with a speech specialist.
- Wednesday: not the speech specialist. This is a more thorough general screening, done by someone who questions me and plays and talks with A. He's in the 30 month range for everything but communication, where he's in the 15-18 month range. Come back tomorrow and meet with another specialist to do a speech assessment, plus we're going to put A into some monitored play groups to make him play with other children and force him to develop communication skills in self-defense.
- Thursday: Speech assessment, general. This is one-hour where the specialist talks mostly to A and some to me and asks him to say things, accomplish tasks, play. He's in the 15-18 month range for expressive communication (him talking) and the 18-21 month range for receptive communication (him listening to what people say).
And so here we are. I figured I'd blog before it got to be too much to describe. He's got the first of the playgroups tomorrow. We have a more in-depth meeting next week with a speech pathologist who will assess him in more detail and set goals.
The last specialist recommended a specific communication-focused play group, an audiology test, and a parenting class for us to be able to help him specifically with communication, but all of those have to be seconded by the speech pathologist.
The audiology test is to make sure he's hearing us since the specialist noted a delay between when A hears a request and when he acts on the request. The suspicion around here is that the delay is the time A takes to decide whether or not he's going to follow a request, but it's good to get him tested anyway.
We're all ambivalent here. I'm glad we got early intervention; I just want to know what's up with him. C still thinks, much like walking, that A just needs to decide he wants to talk and he'll talk. I think assessment is always a good thing, and the earlier the better. But every specialist has taken great pains to tell me: he's smart. He's really really smart. And I say, well, duh.
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