For months now I have been begging the school to give Leah one-on-one speech services. It just didn't make sense to me to have her do group sessions with other children who were non-verbal. But eh...what do I know? The school told me Leah wasn't able to handle the transition of being in a small room with just a therapist. She threw a major fit the first time they tried and they just gave up. I know my child can be challenging to say the least but I did expect a lot more effort than this. Finally, I was able to get her in to a private speech therapist twice a week and BOOM! Her use of words has been exploding! At first, she would say one word with lots of prompting and then one word spontaneously. Then two word requests with lots of prompting and modeling but tonight she blew us away!
We were eating dinner with our usual non stop conversations. With a twelve year old and five year old fighting for our attention, our conversations are like a chaotic race of who can get their thoughts out without being interrupted...I try very hard to keep my attention on one child's thoughts while holding up my hand to stop the other from interrupting. All this, while still being able to use my free hand to actually eat. Leah kept trying to steal broccoli from my plate and I brushed her hand away several times with a quick "no Leah, eat your food". As I was trying desperately to listen to the girls chatting away about their day, we all heard "Mom More Broccoli". All conversations came to a screeching halt. We were all in shock for a moment and then burst into a thunderous applause as we realized those words came from Leah. My baby girl who has struggled to say any word, now just said three in a row and they were crystal clear! Music to our ears! I knew that she could do it! I knew she was right there just waiting for someone to help push her! I am so thankful that I did not stop searching and pushing for more for her! Tonight my heart is full with hope and anticipation! Thank you God for hearing our prayers and guiding me to the right people. For giving me the strength and the wisdom to know that when one door closes you will open another. And for trusting me with this precious child. I will do my best and let you do the rest. Amen
