Look Who's Talking!

So, in my last update, Isaiah was saying "buh" for ball. Well, he is now using "buh/"buh-buh" for book, bubble, boom-boom (fireworks), baby, blanket, pillow, broken, poo-poo, and boo-boo. In addition to mama, dada, more, and "zz-zz" for music. As he has been in speech therapy for six months now, we had a re-evaluation at our last meeting. At 17 months old, he was evaluated at a 6 month level in expressive skills. And now at 22 months old, he's at a 12 month level, but with many milestones on the 15 month level. That's a lot of progress! From barely babbling to over a dozen words/word approximations! Last night, he was getting all comfy cozy in bed, when he said "buh-buh" in a very sad voice. I saw that he had his pillow and blanket. Ah, his baby had fallen on the floor. Once they were reunited, he rolled over and fell asleep. A few months ago, the same scenario would have just brought tears, and lots of them (with the occassional scream), as I took random shots in the dark to figure out what was wrong. This is COMMUNICATION, folks!!!! YAY!

Isaiah's Speech Evaluation

We had Isaiah's EI evaluation today. He's doing excellent in most areas, scoring at or above his age level. They just couldn't get over how bright he was. Of course, then there's the speech area where he's only at a 6mo level. So, yeah... definitely needs some help in that area. We're having a speech therapist come out to the house once a week to work with him. We met with her today, and she's absolutely wonderful. We made our goals for the next year. Our long-term goal is 50 understandable, consistant words. (Seeing as how he has ZERO now, this is very exciting!). I'm really looking foward to this. She kept saying how it's great that I called so early. And rarely does she see kids this young, but with his delay, he definitely needs it. Expecially since he's not making any consonant sounds, it'll be hard for him to progress until he learns those. (DH was being a negative ninny this morning... but hasn't said anything since. Hopefully he sees that is a very beneficial thing, if not neccessary, at this point.) Oh, I do need to make an appt. to get his hearing checked. She said she prefers it in all speech cases. We missed having the newborn screening done, since he was born at home... and we never got around to making a separate appointment. (Yeah, talk about mucho guilt when she asked about this. He doesn't *seem* to have a hearing problem... expecially since his receptive skills are spot-on for the most part.) I really hope this will help him communicate his needs better. He still cries SO much during the day. Not only fustrating to him, I'm sure, but to me as well. Makes me feel like a horrible momma, when he seems so miserable and unhappy. So, keep your fingers crossed!

A Boy of Little Words...

Today, a couple ladies from Early Intervention came up to the house. We're seeing if Isaiah (almost 17m) qualifies for any services since he still isn't talking at all. I've really been back and forth on this decision. I've had people tell me "Yes, call immediately! The earlier they catch problems, the better" and others say "No, he's perfectly fine. My kid didn't talk until X years old." But, after putting it off for a couple months and seeing very little progress, I decided to call. Both of them were REALLY nice. The main one who is in charge of everything was super-friendly. She's a SpEd teacher, so she was all on the floor, playing with Isaiah. He took right to her, and hugged her right away. Lots of paperwork. Felt like I was signing over my soul, not requesting an evaluation. LOL. She said that while he's VERY bright and does have great receptive skills, she does feel like he has a delay, expecially since he's not using any consonant sounds. She's going to talk to the speech therapist and we're going to have an official evaluation here at the house next Tuesday. And if need be, set up an IEP for future services. After today's meeting, I'm feeling a lot more confident in my decision. It seems they focus on teaching the parent how to work with the child through their daily routine. Which is what I'm all about. It's NOT going to be him going to a strange place with a strange person, sitting down at a little desk, doing flashcards. Actually, how she was describing it, it was really meshing with my thoughts on unschooling, so that was reassuring. I'll keep post an update after the evaluation, as well as progress!