This post details about our son's journey and growth in speech therapy throughout all of his surgeries. Please check out past blog posts to read about his previous surgeries and everything leading up to them.
When my son was born, it was obvious that he would be needing some intensive speech therapy. His lips, palate, and gums were not fused and he would have to have it repaired. His anatomy would be much different than the "norm" and he would have to adapt to use his anatomy to speak. I knew that he would not be able to do this on his own, so we knew that he would need the assistance of speech therapy.
He did not start speaking words until he was around 18 months old. He was making some sounds and things that sounded like he was trying to say some words. Usually I could and my mom could determine what he wanted or needed because we were with him the most. Once he was 1 year old, I started teaching him sign language. We used the program called "Signing Time." When I was in college, I was a director of an afterschool program. This is actually where I met my husband! He worked at the same program. We had an inservice about inclusion and how to communicate with children who cannot communicate. This is where I met Rachel from Signing Time. She was telling us her story and how her videos and DVDs could help with teaching basic signs to be able to communicate with those who cannot talk. I loved the idea and I was going to school to get my teaching degree. I was working on my Associate's Degree at the time, but education was the field I was planning on going into. I decided to buy her entire set of DVDs and CDs because I figured it would be helpful for me when I started teaching. I kept them for years knowing that one day I would use them, if not for my classroom, but for my own children in the future.
I still had them when I had my son and decided to pop them in for him to see how he responded to them. He absolutely loved them. We watched them consistently and he was able to pick up the signs very quickly and I was able to determine what he was saying because I learned them with him. We communicated this way until he was about 3. As he got older he would attempt to say words, but they never matched the word he was trying to say completely. You would have to speak his language to know what he was saying. The sign language was key.
At 18 months, I learned that our area offered Early intervention for children who qualified for services. They came out to the house and did an evaluation on him. He only qualified in speech and language (which was considered the same area) and children typically need to score in two areas of need for interventions. Since he was born with a cleft he automatically qualified. So we started his speech therapy once a week at home. The therapist came to our house every week and worked with him. She worked on signs and helped me learn to communicate with him more. This focused on parent and family involvement as well. She told me what we could do at home with him to develop his speech when she was not there. His speech was developing, but not as he should be.
When he went to preschool, he struggled with communicating with his teachers. They did not understand what he was trying to say and he was starting to act out as a result of them not knowing what he was saying. He was signing, but they did not know what his signs meant. I remember making a book for him to communicate with his teachers and so they could learn his signs. I printed out how to diagrams on certain signs like "play," "drink," and "bathroom." I put the word and a picture to go with it. I put it all in a photo album and included every sign he knew and would use for school. He brought this in his backpack every day and it helped a lot. Soon when he was in early intervention VPK, he did not need it anymore! This was a great tool for him. At this time his speech therapist would go to his school and work with him rather than at home.
He was then aging out of the program as he turned three. He was evaluated at the county evaluation center to see if he qualified in areas for early intervention VPK. That means that he would start pre-k a year early and would do his interventions and speech therapy there. At the evaluation, they diagnosed him to have a severe speech disorder and a moderate pragmatic language disorder. This means that he did not have the vocabulary for social situations and for every day needs. He would attend an elementary school. He started in the integrated VPK class, but was moved to the ESE class since he was so young and needed that consistent therapy to develop his speech and language. He was at my elementary school and I loved having him there. He was finally able to say the S sound and it I remember it being a huge deal because he struggled with it so much! He started using signs less and less because people were able to understand him more!
He continued his speech therapy and language therapy during VPK and remained in a self contained ESE classroom. Our program that he would be in at my elementary school was moved and he had to go to a different school for class. I'll share more about his VPK year in a later post. At the end of this year he tested out of Language therapy and no longer needed it. He would continue with his speech therapy.
He attended the summer program with his speech therapist that he had when he was in VPK at age 3. Several teachers and therapists at my school host a summer camp that has the therapies that the children would need throughout the summer to set them up for a good transition to kindergarten. He rarely uses signs at this point. Sometimes I catch him using them without thinking about it, especially when he is trying to make a point. Since his surgery, he has made leaps and bounds in his speech! At the end of the kindergarten year, he was moved down to only needing speech once a week! This is such a change in where he was!
We are so thankful for those that have helped him develop his speech throughout the years. Without them this would not be possible!
Our next post will focus on our journey with sensory processing disorder and his diagnosis.
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