Today Sarah had a speech evaluation done. I knew she was a bit delayed in her speech. I was not prepared for exactly how delayed they say she is.
First of all; Sarah was 8 weeks premature. She has always been behind in something. When she was 5 months old we attended physical therapy 2x a week for 6 months--related to torti colis (neck contracture) and other weakness issues...with time all of her issues resolved and she graduated.
One of the problems we knew we would encounter is "how" they grade for developmental milestones. When you have a preemie; they always adjust their age to determine how level evelopmentally they are on. Until that is--the child hit the age of 24 months. Then they do not adjust for age anymore. So basically, you can have a normal 20 month old child whose adjusted age is 18 months--and they are doing everything NORMAL for being an 18 month old technically....THEN you hit 24 months---and your child is automatically "delayed". They are considered to be able to be on par with other normal 24 month olds. And that just sucks.
So they tell me today---Sarah's language skills are estimated to be on the level of a 16 month old. ??????? Really??? I knew she was behind, but---really?????
I am so sad. I did not think she would be that far behind. I mean she talks. She uses words appropriately. But she doesnt seem to have the vocabulary a "normal" 2 year old should have.....
So onto speech therapy we are heading....it will take about 2-3 weeks to get everything arranged and approved. Then it look like 2-4 tmes a week for 30 minutes we will be in therapy...I'm just glad to get this resolved before she is school aged.... It just doesn't seem fair sometimes though......
6 comments:
I can really relate to this...Destiny is developmentally delayed by about six months, and is speech delayed too. I have to remind myself that she's barely on a 3 year old level, even though she'll be 4 in December.
She'll be going to preschool this year, and will be getting speech therapy also.
Baby N is about 5 months behind. I always knew it, but hearing it can be hard.
It is hard to hear the news but good you will get her caught up. My sb adjusted age is 4 months younger than her birth age due to premie status and her speech is still delayed but I have been working with her on her motor skills and she is caught up to her birth age - so it can be done!! I am not praying for some bbb and mmm sounds!!! and a couple words by Sept. 1st.
NOW praying!!!!
Our daughter (21 months) just tested behind in speech this week. We are in the process of getting everything in place for speech and debelopmental therapy. Our son, 3, will also be evaluated for early intervention services in a month. He has already qualified for speech 2 times a week. As a special education teacher, any help early on is good. It is hard to hear. I knew our children were behind as well, but seeing just how much is hard. The positive thing is that she has you in her life. Parent support and love make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in school.
I have two foster boys - 7 months and 17 months. The younger one was born 2 months premature and weighed in at 3 lbs. 13 oz. He is now up to 15 lbs, and is in OT once a week for high muscle tone issues (mostly in his arms and back) and some developmental delays. But the therapy is working great - he's now sitting up on his own, rolling over from front to back and vice versa. I'm sure we'll have some speech issues later on, but I believe so much in therapy - it really helps! Keep your head up!
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