Just say something!!!

I really need to jot this down on a piece of paper and keep it tucked in my pocket or something. It's an excerpt from an article given to me by a Help Me Grow nurse:

"It is...important to realize that you as a parent are not to blame for your child's delay in talking. It's not that you have been raising your child wrong. Rather, your child is in need of that special help partly because of his own individual differences in the way he perceives and reacts to his environment."

I say I should write it down and look at it often because for the past year I have wondered DAILY what I did wrong...what I didn't do...what I could've done better. And while I'm thanking my lucky stars that this is our biggest concern with Brody, and it's not something like a serious health issue that many parents do have to deal with...I am just at a loss, and I am very frustrated!

Typically, by the time a child reaches two years of age, he/she has a speaking vocabulary of around 50-300 words and is stringing words together to form sentences. Brody is not even in the ballpark here, but what remains to be seen is whether or not a true problem exists. It may be that he's just a late talker (Kris was as well--not that it's hereditary), or he may have a condition called apraxia of speech.

Simply put, children with apraxia have trouble planning and producing the series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and palate that are necessary for speech. He will begin seeing a SLP (speech-language pathologist) named Deb very soon for private therapy. She is WONDERFUL with little ones...we know this already because she did a short evaluation with Brody back in August. Brody warmed up to her immediately, which is rare for him...it normally takes him awhile to be comfortable with someone new. I think these private sessions are no more than an hour once a week.

In addition to the private session, he will be attending a group play-based therapy twice a week from 9-11. We totally lucked out here...there was one spot left for the morning session. The other time given was from 1-3, and--you guessed it--that is during Brody's nap! I think he will eventually enjoy going to this group, but it will take some time. He will likely cry a good long while each time after he is dropped off :(

We have gotten a bit of flack from some people thinking we're "jumping the gun." However, I have seen little to no improvement in the past few months, and if the issue does in fact happen to be apraxia, intervention between the ages of 2 and 3 are the most beneficial. The private therapy is mostly covered by insurance, and the group therapy will definitely be a good experience for him, so I really think we have nowhere to go but UP!