We are in the process of starting speech therapy for Charlie. I am so ready, and excited, to get the ball rolling. The frustrating days of not knowing what this boy is saying will be behind us, and that gives everyone in this house reason to celebrate!
Charlie had an evaluation at school with Mrs. Benning, who will do his "intervention." He was very shy and whispered the whole time. He fully cooperated, just in a very quiet voice. We also learned during that time that he has adapted to his major speech impairment by gesturing, pointing, shaking his head yes and no, and avoiding. This is probably due to the fact that his sisters speak for him when he doesn't know what to say, the way that I tell him to "show me," and just being a human being who learns their way to work things out. Mrs. Benning made a lengthy list of sound errors, and got in contact with the next gal who came this morning.
Jenny came to our home this morning and did a very in depth evaluation. There is so much more to speech therapy than just what they say. She looked at the posture of his mouth, they did all sorts of things with his tongue, mouth control, drooling, eating, looked at his adenoids, etc. We will be getting his adenoids/tonsils/ears checked out, as well as hearing, due to what she observed today. While the medical side of things won't be a "cure all," it could be a boost and something that has been hindering his speech development. Who knows!
She was very impressed with his smarts. His vocabulary is excellent, and she was thrilled (and thought it was so cute) how he made connections with different things. He would run up to his room and get something similar to the object she was showing him, or tell her a story about fishing, etc. One really funny interaction that made us all laugh...
Jenny gave him a feather (the word he is to say). "What is this?"
Charlie: "Me don't know."
Me: "Sure you do, Charlie."
Jenny: "What comes from chickens?"
Charlie: looking at feather and feeling it, replies, "Eggs."
Laughter all around, including him.
We found that he drops the first letter or syllable off of most words. He has a lot of very common sound errors (like making a "v" into a "b"). But, he has some really strange things, as well. She said his speech problems (what do you call it?) are severe. We were not surprised of this, and either would anybody be who has talked with him. :)
It is important we do this soon, as she explained he will qualify for not being able to fully get benefit from education without making some progress. Reading will be very hard and frustrating for him at this point, so I am so thankful we have time to make some corrections!
Interestingly, this runs in family, especially from dad to boy. Again, can I say fascinating?! Genetics absolutely amaze me. Dallas had speech problems as a little boy too, and he fully understands the frustration of Charlie. Dallas still struggles with reading (both the ability so to speak and desire because of how hard it was for him) and writing. But, if I must say so myself, he is so incredibly smart and I am amazed how God has used him. I know the same things are true of my boy.
Jenny was so sweet to assure me that there is no real reason as to why some kids struggle with this. She said that there is about 25% drop in language when kids don't get read to and such (aren't in a language rich environment). But, his language is very good and it's strictly his speech. Jenny affirmed me that he is such a good, cooperative little boy, and she can tell we have done a fine job with him. She said that you could tell we read to him a lot, and nothing we did brought this on. Phew.
The other thing we talked about, and I didn't realize how thankful I am, is his desire to "be heard." He gets frustrated, yes, when we don't understand him. But never once has he yelled and yelled the word/s out that he is trying to get across. He doesn't throw fits or get angry when he isn't heard. He has a super mild temperament that lends well for this. He will simply say to me, "You aren't listening to me," but never feels frustrated to the point of tears or screaming.
We were told we will meet weekly for what they call "intervention," for years. So, when she left and told him that we will see Mrs. Benning soon for speech, he told her, "Me already did that two times." Again, we all laughed.
I'm so thankful for the wonderful people and resources to get him help. It's hard when your child isn't "perfect," but when I see all the problems around us, I'm very grateful this is it for us. It's fixable and minor in the grand scheme of life.
(side note...)
Jenny could not believe what a farmer boy Charlie was! He read her the book Big Red Barn, and told her all about the process of farming. He said first it's in the field, then you combine, put it in the wagon, next the semi to the auger, from the auger into the bin, then the semi takes it to the "candy elevator". She asked how old he was again? Three years old, and absolutely, positively, crazy about farming.
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